M-P beats Oak Harbor 47-43, claims Wesco North No. 3 seed

Published 11:32 pm Wednesday, February 6, 2008

OAK HARBOR — Considering the last time Marysville-Pilchuck and Oak Harbor matched up — a 79-75 double-overtime win for Oak Harbor — Wednesday’s Wesco North finale figured to be a close hard-fought match.

And this one lived up to its billing, though Marysville-Pilchuck’s 47-43 victory on Oak Harbor’s Senior Night was more of a defensive showcase than an offensive exhibition for both squads.

After trailing for most of the contest, the Tomahawks outscored Oak Harbor 19-10 in the fourth quarter to pull out the come-from-behind victory and finish tied with Oak Harbor at 11-5 in Wesco North play.

Marysville-Pilchuck claimed the No. 3 seed into the District One tournament by virtue of its regular season victory over Wesco North second-place finisher Snohomish. Oak Harbor secured the No. 4 seed for the second straight year.

“It’s so nice (to be the No.3 seed),” said senior guard Anna West, whose breakaway layup with 1:38 remaining gave the Tomahawks a 42-39 lead. “We just picked up the intensity and we knew it was do or die so we picked it up.”

Britt Harris scored 12 points and grabbed 18 rebounds to lead the Tomahawks, who overcame tough first half defensive pressure from the Wildcats — who forced 16 Marysville-Pilchuck turnovers — to win the contest.

The Tomahawks also benefited from a dreadful Oak Harbor performance at the free throw line, as the Wildcats shot 12-for-27, including 11 misses in the first half.

Despite that, Oak Harbor led 35-28 early in the fourth quarter before Marysville-Pilchuck went to work. Jessica Masters’ 3-pointer with 2:25 remaining pulled the Tomahawks to within one at 39-38, and back-to-back layups by West and Shaelei Lucas gave Marysville-Pilchuck a 42-39 lead — one they would not relinquish.

“We were feeling pretty good about it, and then we have a couple of defensive breakdowns and they’re a good team and they take advantage of it,” Oak Harbor coach Brett McLeod said. “A couple of times we don’t box out and they get easy buckets and they’re back in the game.”

It was a stunning turn of events for Oak Harbor, which held Marysville-Pilchuck without a field goal for a 9:30 stretch spanning the first and second quarters. Oak Harbor forced eight turnovers during the run and dominated the glass.

“We did not block out well at all (in the first half),” M-P coach Julie Martin said. “Our emphasis actually at halftime was to completely block out.”

But Oak Harbor’s poor performance at the free throw line and its inability to convert M-P turnovers into points allowed the Tomahawks to stay close. Oak Harbor entered halftime with just an 18-14 lead.

The Tomahawks came out more focused on rebounding in the second half as Harris scored six points and Morgan Martiniz added a 3-pointer to take a 23-20 lead moments into the third quarter.

“We played together more, had more ball movement and (tried) not to penetrate so much,” Martin said of her team’s second half effort. “(We tried) to get them to give us what we wanted, working the ball to get the best possible shot.”

At Oak Harbor H.S.

M-P68149— 47

OH991510—43

M-P—Lucas 11, Juco, Fordon, West 3, Enberg, Peterson 5, Masters 10, Harris 12, Heckendorf, Martiniz 6, Adams. OH—Tubo 2, Thiel 10, Henricksen, Denmon 7, Smith, Russell, Jansen 2, Smollack 22, Baeyen, Brothers. 3 point goals—Masters 2, Martiniz 2, Denmon 1, Peterson 1. Records—M-P 11-5 league, 16-5 overall. Oak Harbor 11-5, 14-6.