Boys Basketball 12-31-08 vs Coupeville

In the final game of the abbreviated boys part of the Santa Slam basketball tournament, the Wildcats faced off against Coupeville at the OHHS gym.
Over in the fieldhouse, the Wildcat freshman dominated the Coupeville team. The Wildcat starters for this game are normally bench players, and the usual starters didn’t see much playing time in this game. In the first period, OH scored 16 points while holding the Wolves scoreless, and at the half the Wolves had only scored 1 basket. By the time it was over, Oak Harbor scored 43 to Coupeville’s 9. During the game, the ball was spread around and all the players that were suited up saw significant action. Of the 15 players on the Oak Harbor roster, 9 scored points. Leading the Wildcats was Patrick Bell with 8, then Matt Reith with 7 and Peter Franssen with 6. Michael Mack, Josh Ekberg, Matt Burgoyne and Kevawn Brooks had 4 each, and Jared Davis and Corey Houck scored 2 each.
In the JV game, the boys played one of their better games. The first period was back and forth, with the Wildcats holding 4-point leads on two occasions and ending the quarter with a 12-10 lead with the Wildcat points spread out over 4 players. The team slipped a little in the 2nd, with Stevie Bratt hitting a two and a three, but those were the only field goals scored. The other 6 points were all on free throws, but Coupeville was also cold from the floor and at halftime the Wildcats held a 23-20 lead. Coupeville came out fired up in the 3rd, scoring 18 points against the Wildcats’ 12 to take a 38-35 lead going into the final quarter. The ‘Cats started out quick, getting scores by Blake Schulle and Trace Paul to take a 39-38 lead just one minute into the 4th. Coupeville fought back to build a 47-42 with 3:03 left in the game. The Wildcats didn’t give up, and with 1:50 left Bratt was fouled while shooting, and hit the free throw for a 3-point play to make it 45-47, then hit another at the 1:39 mark to tie the game at 47. Coupeville scored with just 1 minute left, and Oak Harbor was not able to get the ball in the hoop in the final seconds and lost 49-47. Steven Bratt scored 7 each in the 2nd and 4th to lead the team with 14 points. Ryan Fakkema and Colby Anter scored 8 each, and Denzel Hardin hit for 4. The Paul twins, Trace and Connor had two each as did Nate Young, and Chance Gill had 1. As a team, the boys were 10-for-17 from the free throw line.
The varsity game against Coupeville was exciting. It was back-and-forth, with the Wildcats leading 7-3 at the 6 minute mark and Coupeville leading 14-9 with 1:45 in the 1st, when Coach Washington called a timeout. After the timeout the ‘Cats went on a 8-0 run behind 5 points from big Josh Fikse and led 17-14 at the end of the 1st. The 2nd period was similar, with a couple of lead changes, but a buzzer-beater shot by Aaron Boesch let the Wildcats go into the half with a 30-26 lead. In the 3rd, the Wolves were able to re-take the lead 38-37 with 1:38 left, but Mike Washington, Jr. reeled off 11 straight points, including a 3-pointer with just 1 second in the 3rd to give Oak Harbor a 48-38 lead, a lead they would not give up. Coupeville tried in the 4th, but could not close the gap to less than 8 points. When it was over, the Wildcat left the gym with their first victory of the season, 63-51. Mike Washington, Jr. led the scoring with 26 – 15 of them in the 3rd period. Jay Stout, Josh Fikse and Beaux Haley scored 7 each, Aaron Boesch 6, Rashaad Smith 4, Phil Nadeau and Zac Cole 2 each. In addition to the final score, another bright spot in the game was the free throw shooting. From the line, the team was 15-for-18, with both Stout and Fikse 3-3.
The boys’ next game is January 6th at Arlington and then will be at home against Stanwood on January 8th.

Sorry, no photos from these games.

Select video clips can be found HERE.