Hot Spartans stop cool ‘Cats / Girls basketball

By Jim Waller • January 22, 2020 1:30 am

The visiting Stanwood High School girls basketball team was hot and Oak Harbor wasn’t, and, predictably, the Spartans beat the Wildcats 47-28 Tuesday, Jan. 21.

Oak Harbor (0-9, 6-9) will try to break a seven-game losing streak when it travels to Marysville-Pilchuck (0-8, 2-12) for a 7:15 p.m. game Thursday, Jan. 23. The Wildcats defeated the Tomahawks 53-25 in a non-league game Dec. 10.

Stanwood was particularly hot in the first quarter, gunning to a 20-9 lead. The Spartans sank four three-pointers in the frame, two each from Shelby Lund and Madison Plautz.

Behind baskets by Grace Waite, Payton Parks and Mikhaela Cortez, Oak Harbor cut the gap to 8 points, 24-16, with 2:01 left in the second quarter and then went ice cold. The Wildcats scored just 2 points over a 10-minute span the bridged the second and third periods. The Spartans tallied 17 during the run.

Stanwood led 28-16 at halftime and 41-18 after three periods.

Parks’ basket with 3:40 left in the third quarter was the only Wildcat hoop in the period.

Oak Harbor outscored Stanwood 10-6 in the fourth with the help of two three-balls by Cortez.

Cortez finished with 13 points, Parks 6, Anna Jones 4, Olivia Waite 3 and Grace Waite 2.

Oak Harbor’s cold shooting extended to the foul line where the Wildcats made only two of 13 free throws.

Plautz led Stanwood with 14 points.

“I thought we played well, especially on defense; we just shot poorly,” Oak Harbor coach Jon Atkins said. “Tiana (Jackson) did as good job stepping up (replacing ill starter Jasmine Ford), and Mikhaela played well.”