EVERETT — Archbishop Thomas Murphy’s most experienced player stepped up his game at the right time in Tuesday night’s contest against Friday Harbor.

Junior guard Luke Hagel scored the tying basket with 23 seconds left in regulation and then made three of four free throws in overtime to lift the Wildcats to a 46-43 overtime victory in a Northwest A League game Jan. 7 at Archbishop Murphy High School.

Wildcats coach Jerry Zander had an inkling that Hagel, who is in his third season on varsity, might be the player his team turned to in what was a tight game.

“When it’s time to take a big shot you just know. You look into his eyes and just know that he’s the one who wants to take it,” Zander said of his 5-foot-7 guard. “You just love to have that kind of attitude, that kind of drive.”

From the opening tipoff, the Wildcats (1-1 in the league, 3-8 overall) trailed the Wolverines (0-2, 1-5), though the deficit was never larger than seven points.

An inconsistent offensive effort started to come together in the third quarter when Archbishop Murphy started running its offensive scheme.

“For a good part of the game we were kind of playing rag-tag, one-on-one basketball,” Zander said.

But in the second half and in overtime, the Wildcats slowed down the pace of the game and then drove the lane, drawing fouls.

Archbishop Murphy made only five of 13 free throws in the first half but connected on 10 of 12 in the second half.

“I told them it’s going to come down to free throws,” Zander said. “We had guys that stepped up and were able to do that.”

A basket by Andrew Rigby gave Friday Harbor a 41-37 lead with about two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Hagel then was fouled and made both of his free throws to cut the deficit to 41-39 with 1:52 remaining.

The Wolverines then attempted to stall but a pass was stolen by Archbishop Murphy, who then turned the ball right back over to Friday Harbor.

The Wildcats pressured the Wolverines into another turnover and got the ball back with 38 seconds left in the game.

Hagel then connected on a jumper to tie the score at 41.

“I thought I was fouled before it went in,” Hagel said of the shot. “I kind of had to double pump and then I just had to square up and it was good from there.”

Archbishop Murphy then forced yet a third turnover and had an opportunity to win the game but Hagel’s shot was off the mark at the buzzer.

“Throughout the season, our constant has been our defense,” Zander said. “Teams have had trouble scoring on us and we’ve caused a lot of turnovers. We have to get our offense going and once that works and once we make our shots and our free throws, then everything kind of seems to fall into place.”

The Wildcats forced two more turnovers to start overtime and then took a 43-41 lead on a pair of free throws by Chris Mitchell.

Friday Harbor tied the score on a basket by Rigby at the 33-second mark.

Hagel then was fouled while boxing out on a rebound of a missed Wolverine shot with 5.7 seconds left in the game. He made the first free throw but missed the second, which ended up as a jump ball with the possession arrow pointing to the Wildcats.

Friday Harbor again fouled Hagel, who sank two free throws to seal the victory. Hagel finished with 17 points. Wes Taylor and Mitchell each added 11 points.

Another key to the victory was a more focused effort on the boards in the second half by Archbishop Murphy. Friday Harbor had several second-chance points in the first half, something Zander pointed out to his players at halftime.

“We knew that coming into the game that they’re big,” he said. “I just gave the kids a little reminder that if we only give them one shot every trip down the court, it’s going to be tough for them to be successful.

“So I think the kids did a much better job in the second half on rebounds.”