By Aaron Coe
Herald Writer
Where did this Oak Harbor girls basketball team come from?
The Wildcats, who sit atop the Western Conference North Division standings, have made one of the quickest and largest turnarounds in recent memory.
This is the team that lost its last 12 games of the 2000-2001 season. The final 10 were conference games in which Oak Harbor was outscored by an average of 24 points.
This season, the Wildcats have won their first 10 division games and are 13-1 overall. They are ranked in the Associated Press Top 10 poll and will almost certainly qualify for the district tournament.
Oak Harbor coach Dwight Lundstrom can’t figure it out, either.
He believed they’d be in the upper half of the standings, but never dreamed his team would be undefeated in the division this late in the season.
“It hasn’t just been fun for me, it’s been fun for the girls and the entire community,” Lundstrom said. “I think a key element is they all get along.”
Lundstrom credits the leadership of point guard Valerie Hartman, who has been with the varsity team for all of Lundstrom’s four years at Oak Harbor.
Another factor has been the addition of center Heidi McNeill. The 6-foot-1 freshman gives the Wildcats a defensive presence in the middle that was absent last year. The team gave up an average of 69 points per game while finishing 4-16 overall.
This year, with Hartman harassing ballhandlers on the wing and McNeill shutting down other teams’ post games, the Wildcats are allowing just 47 points per contest.
Shirley Spears, a 5-foot-8 forward, who like Hartman and McNeill averages 13 points per game, was often forced to guard centers 6 feet and taller last season.
“Against a team like Snohomish that has several girls around 6 feet, that was tough,” Lundstrom said.
And boy, did it show. The Panthers crushed Oak Harbor 95-39 last year at Snohomish and 72-36 on the road. The Wildcats, who beat Snohomish 53-40 on Dec. 21, will try to sweep the season series Friday in the Panthers’ gym.
“We need to be prepared for their inside game,” said Lundstrom, who missed the first meeting this season because of a scheduled absence. “If we come focused and shoot the ball well, we should be OK.”
The Wildcats also will have a tough game Wednesday at Monroe.
One Oak Harbor win in its last six games will clinch no worse than a tie for the fourth and final district playoff spot. A win Friday at Snohomish (9-1, 12-2) would go a long way toward claiming the North Division title.
Black Tuesday: The Meadowdale boys basketball team is sick of Tuesdays.
The Mavericks (7-6, 8-7) have not won on a Tuesday since Dec. 11. They’ve suffered four Tuesday heartbreakers since then, each by four points or less.
“I don’t know what it is,” Meadowdale coach Troy Parker said.
Tonight will be no easier. Meadowdale hosts second-place Mountlake Terrace (9-4, 10-5). The Hawks beat the Mavericks Dec. 18. Yup, that was a Tuesday.
Stanwood’s 107 points breaks record: The Stanwood boys basketball team broke a record that stood for more than 30 years when it beat Monroe 107-71 on Friday. The previous record for points scored in a game was 106, which according to coach Nate DuChesne was set in the late 1960s.
“We’ve had a few old-timers come up and say, ‘We still have the record,’” DuChesne said. “I didn’t even know what the record was – we weren’t looking at that. Three of our J.V. kids played in the fourth quarter and (the team) scored 20 points.”
Whistle blowers: Think you’ve got what it takes to be a high school sports official? Virtually any official association would love nothing more than to give you a shot. Experience is not always required. For more information on becoming a basketball official, call Lee Ottini at 1-877-771-7226. For wrestling, call Gary Cease at 425-754-3424.
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