“Oh, so close”

"It was all there at the tip of Garrett Stone’s fingers — the roaring crowd, the come-from-behind win. But Stone’s driving, arching shot at the buzzer rimmed off, and the Oak Harbor boys fell to Everett 60-59 Tuesday night."

“It was all there at the tip of Garrett Stone’s fingers — the roaring crowd, the come-from-behind win.But Stone’s driving, arching shot at the buzzer rimmed off, and the Oak Harbor boys fell to Everett 60-59 Tuesday night.“It was a great high school game,” Oak Harbor coach Frank Hunter said. “The kids played hard.”That the Wildcats were even within a point at the end was remarkable, considering Oak Harbor was down 56-48 with under two minutes to play, then 60-56 with 16 seconds left.That’s when Wildcat guard Jay Hartman, 0-for-5 shooting up until then, caught an inbounds pass and fired it from about 6 feet beyond the 3-point arc. Swish. 60-59.Hartman quickly fouled Everett’s John Richer on the next play, and Richer promptly missed the front end of a one-an-one. Eric Marshall ripped down the rebound and passed to Stone (18 points for the game), who ran the floor, drove through traffic, released a running layup … which bounced off the rim.The game started with a bang for the Wildcats — a bang named Duse Dronen. The senior forward (20 points for the game) hit a 3-pointer on the first play and didn’t miss a shot in the first quarter. Dronen’s 10 points in the quarter helped stake the Wildcats to a 17-15 lead.The Seagulls battled back, taking a 20-17 lead when Josh Daniels (sporting a Julius Erving-style afro) converted a three-point play. Oak Harbor answered just as quickly. Eric Collins hit a 3-pointer to tie it at 20-20, then Eric Marshall rejected a Daniels shot, Stone ran the floor and converted a layup.Two more Stone buckets, a Collins jumper and a Dronen free throw gave Oak Harbor a 29-24 lead, but then Everett’s John Richer (game-high scorer with 24 points) made noise, converting two 3-pointers and another jumper to give the Seagulls a 32-31 half time lead.The up-then-down trend continued to start the second half, as the Wildcats jumped to a 37-34 lead behind six points from Dronen. But Everett scored seven straight points, including a 3-pointer by Richer for a 41-37 lead.Oak Harbor entered the fourth quarter on the short end of a 46-41 score. But the Wildcats climbed back with a Stone bucket and a Dronen three.Everett’s Steven Lamar tried to kill the Wildcats from the 3-point line, and almost did by hitting three 3-pointers in a row late in the fourth quarter.But Collins answered with a three for Oak Harbor and Stone converted a three-point play, setting up the last-second near heroics.The Wildcats host Mountlake Terrace at 7:30 p.m. Friday.EVERETT 60, OAK HARBOR 59Everett: Richer 24, Daniels 11, Sowinski 1, R. Limar 6, S. Limar 15. Oak Harbor: Dronen 20, Waller 4, Marshall 2, Stone 18, Hartman 3, Collins 8, Riepma 2, Morgan 2.Everett 15 17 14 14 — 60Oak Harbor 17 14 10 18 — 59”