GBB 12-1-2009 vs Mountlake Terrace

The Oak Harbor girls basketball team opened the 2009-2010 season on December 1^st with a non-league game at home against the Mountlake Terrace Hawks.

Over in the field house, the Freshman team started strong, jumping to a 12-7 lead, but the Hawk offense came alive in the 2^nd period to cut the OH lead to just two points, 25-23, at halftime. Both teams played fairly even in the 3^rd, but MLT was able to score 4 more than the Wildcats at take a 45-43 lead into the final period. Taru Ahonen, a junior foreign exchange student kept the Cats in the game during the 4^th period, scoring 10 of her 25 points, but the Wildcats came up 3 points short, 61-58, at the buzzer. Ahonen was the top scorer, followed by Jalani Bobo with 17, Marissa Lewis with 9 and Morgan Young with 7.

In contrast with the Freshman game, the JV game was low-scoring. At the end of the 1^st period it was 10-4 for OH, with 7 of the points coming from Naomi Walker. Walker continued to be steady in her scoring and led the JV to an 18-11 halftime lead. Coach Burleson got his defense back in gear after halftime as the girls held MLT to just 4 points while scoring 9. In the end, the JV held on for the 10-point lead, 33-23. Walker was the lead scorer with 18, Lia Pantoleon scored 7, Kaitlynn Rossman and Emilie Renninger 3 each and Dominique Jackson scored 2.

In Varsity action, the Wildcats dominated from beginning to end. Using a smothering defense, the girls leaped to an 11-0 lead, preventing the Hawks from scoring until a stolen ball was put in the hoop halfway through the first quarter. It wasn’t until there was 2:30 left in the period that Mountlake Terrace scored their first points from an offensive play. That play sparked the Hawks, and they cut the OH lead to 14-9 at the first break. Oak Harbor went a little flat in the 2^nd period but still outscored MLT 11-9 to take a 25-18 lead into the locker room at the half. The defense was back in full action in the 2^nd half, holding Terrace to just 7 points for the half. When the dust settled it was Oak Harbor 52, Mountlake Terrace 25. Nicki Mowbray led all scorers with 20, followed by Jessica Denmon with 17. Molly DeLeon scored 7, all in the 2^nd half, and Addy Royal, Tatiana Cumming, Clarissa Abadesco and Emilie Renninger had two each.

Next up for the Wildcat women is a trip to Bellingham on Thursday. Their next home game is Monday, December 14^th against Snohomish.

42 photos, from the freshman, JV and varsity games can be found HERE.

5 highlight video clips are posted HERE.