Bigger Oak Harbor High School knocked off Coupeville 44-25 in girls basketball Wednesday, Dec. 4, on the Wildcats’ court.
Both teams tuned up for the Whidbey showdown by winning on the road Tuesday. Oak Harbor defeated Mariner 68-51 and Coupeville slipped by Darrington 42-35.
The Wildcats (2-0) host Sedro-Woolley (0-0) at 7:15 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7, while the Wolves (1-1) entertain Orcas Island (0-0) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
Oak Harbor 44, Coupeville 25
Oak Harbor, a 3A school with five times the number of students as 1A Coupeville, is not only larger in enrollment by also on the court. The Wildcats feature seven players 5-9 or taller; the Wolves have two.
Oak Harbor’s length helped it control the boards and harass the Wolves’ offense.
The Wildcats jumped to an 8-0 lead and led 12-4 at the quarter behind a pair of hoops each from Payton Parks and Anna Jones and a bucket and two assists from Mikhaela Cortez.
Four free throws by Chelsea Prescott and a field goal by Scout Smith helped the Wolves trim the deficit to 12-10, then Oak Harbor turned up the defensive pressure Coupeville turned cold. The Wolves went nearly a quarter and a half before they scored again.
Oak Harbor led 17-10 at the half and then scored the first 10 points of the second half.
Smith finally broke the 15-point Oak Harbor run with a free throw with 1:59 left in the third quarter. The Wildcats went into the final frame with a 31-15 lead.
Cortez dashed any hopes of a Coupeville comeback by scoring 9 of her game-high 17 points in the fourth quarter.
Parks finished with 11 points, Jones 8, Olivia Waite 4, Jasmine Ford 2 and Tiana Jackson 2..
Smith, the only Coupeville player to record a field goal in the first half, led the Wolves with 10 points. Prescott had 4, Hannah Davidson 3 and Avalon Renninger, Maddie Georges, Carolyn Lhamon and Audrianna Shaw 2 each.
The Wolves hurt themselves by sinking only 11 of 27 free throws; the Wildcats sank eight of 10.
Oak Harbor 68, Mariner 51
Five Wildcats scored 9 or more points to lead Oak Harbor to its season-opening win.
Ford scored 9 points and Parks 6 in the first quarter to give the Wildcats a 20-16 lead.
Cortez pumped in 6 points in the second and Oak Harbor was up 37-25 at the break.
Parks tallied 6 points and Ford and Cortez 4 each to help the Wildcats take a 42-32 lead into the fourth quarter.
Ford added 6 points in the final period and the Wildcats hit five of eight free throws to hold off Mariner.
Ford finished with 19 points, Parks 12, Cortez 12, Jackson 9, Jones 9 and Olivia Waite 4.
Coupeville 42, Darrington 35
The Loggers tied the game at 17 at halftime after trailing 9-6 in the first quarter.
Izzy Wells scored 5 points in the third quarter to help Coupeville take a slim 27-25 lead into the last period.
Smith hit three buckets and Renninger, Davidson and Prescott one each over the final eight minutes to help the Wolves turn back Darrington.
Smith had 8 points; Prescott, Wells and Georges all finished with 7; Renninger and Lhamon had 3 each; Davidson and Shaw 2 apiece; and Tia Wurzrainer 1.