The first holiday basketball tournament hosted by an Oak Harbor team turned out to be a success for the girls as the Wildcats overcame some early mistakes to defeat Shorecrest 47-35 in Friday’s championship game of the 2006 Santa Slam.
Jessica Denmon got things started in a big way for Oak Harbor (7-1) hitting the first of her three 3-point goals at the 7:43 of the opening period but after that, the first eight minutes went back and forth between the two teams.
The score was tied twice, 5-5 and 9-9, before baskets by Clair
Thiel and Janay Baeyen gave the Wildcats a narrow 13-12 advantage after the first eight minutes of action.
In the second period, Oak Harbor’s pressure defense tied up the Scots’ offensive attack and a 7-0 run put the Wildcats ahead for good.
Shorecrest was held scoreless from the floor until Gina Adams knocked down a basket with 2:45 remaining before halftime.
Oak Harbor held Shorecrest to seven points in the quarter and went into the break with a 25-19 lead.
“It feels good now that it’s over,” coach Brett McLeod said. “I thought we got a little bit tougher
as the game went along and we started making some plays.”
Oak Harbor once again held the Scots to single digit scoring in the third quarter and cruised into the final eight minutes with a comfortable 10 point lead at 35-25.
Baeyen nailed a three-point basket in the period and Mietra Smollack tallied five of her game-high 14 points.
“It was a physical game and we needed to adapt to what we’re not used to,” Baeyen said. “We came together and we took it. We won our own tournament and it was super sweet.”
The game got physical in the second half, but Thiel and Roshaunda Smith, Oak Harbor’s post players, were up to the task.
“They were really physical down low and we had to really step up and do what we had to do,” Smith said.
McLeod said he was pleased with the way the Wildcats played.
“I thought we gave the ball away too many times on offense, but overall we did OK,” he said. “I thought there were times when we wasted possessions and didn’t get shots, and then didn’t get to the offensive rebounds as much as I would have liked. It was the defense that won it for us.”
In the fourth period, Smollack hit five shots from the charity stripe and Denmon nailed two to seal the victory.
Denmon was the Wildcats’ second player in double figures with 11 points. Baeyen and Thiel scored seven points each.
Nicole Dodson led the Scots with 10 points.
Oak Harbor returns to WesCo North action tonight playing at Stanwood and returns home to play Lake Stevens at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
Oak Harbor 47, Shorecrest 35
Shorecrest 12 7 6 10 — 35
Oak Harbor 13 12 10 12 — 47
Shorecrest (35) — Dodson 4 2-3 10, Adams 3 1-3 7, Tseng 0 0-0 0, Gibson 1 0-0 2, Riordan 1 0-0 2, Osborn 2 0-0 5, Reisinger 2 0-0 4, Towles 1 0-0 3, McCorkell 0 0-0 0, Hagood 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 3-6 35.
Oak Harbor (47) — Smollack 4 6-8 14, Denmon 3 2-2 11, Thiel 3 1-2 7, Russell 2 0-0 4, Baeyen 3 2-2 7, Chong 0 0-0 0, Smith 1 0-5 2, Hendricksen 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 11-19 47.
Three-point goals — Shorecrest 2 (Towles, Osborn), Oak Harbor 4 (Denmon 3, Baeyen).
