GBB - Santa Slam Tournament day 1 - Jan 2nd.

The 3rd Annual Oak Harbor Santa Slam was held last Friday and Saturday with teams from Yelm, Wenatchee, Sultan, Puyallup, Skyview, Snohomish, Archbishop Murphy, and Anacortes. Some of Friday’s games were delayed, as Wenatchee had to wait for Stevens Pass to become safe for bus travel, but they made it!
While an 8-team tournament, the brackets were divided into a purple and gold side, each with 4 teams. WIAA only allows one game per day in season, and to have a ‘true’ champion would require a 3rd day of the tournament.
In the Gold bracket, the first game was between Anacortes and Skyview, which Anacortes won 61-53. The Wenatchee-AB Murphy game, originally scheduled for 4:30pm was moved to 9:15pm, and Murphy won that game 54-37. The Oak Harbor varsity played in the Purple bracket, which was started with the Yelm-Sultan game at 2:45, Yelm winning 57-47. The Wildcats faced off against the Puyallup Vikings at 6:15pm in the gym, and it started out looking bad for Oak Harbor. Jessica Denmon sank a basket at the 5:33 mark for the first score of the game, but Puyallup tied it at 4:45, then took the lead at 4:17, at one point building a 9-4 lead. The Wildcats were able to chip away at the lead, eventually taking a 1-point lead with 1 minute left in the 1st, and ending the period with a 15-13 lead when Denmon sank a 3-pointer with 3 seconds left. The Vikings tied it back up for a short time, then Nikki Mowbray scored to give OH a 17-15 lead. As the 2nd period progresses, the Wildcats added to their lead and went to halftime leading 33-21. Halfway through the 3rd, Kathryn Fisken had a nice score, and hit a free throw 20 seconds later to give the Wildcats a 17-point lead – their biggest of the game. From there, Oak Harbor continued to play good, solid basketball and cruised to a 57-45 win to move into the championship game. Every player got on the board, with Denmon leading with 18 and Mowbray with 12. Cori Henricksen and Jen Jansen each had 9, Fisken 3, Cheyenne Tubo, Clarissa Abadesco and Jessica James 2 each.
Friday’s JV game was against Sultan, and it was about as big a mismatch as there was all tournament. At the 7:15 point in the 1st, Sultan got their first score, but didn’t score again until 4:42, and scored only once more, a free throw, while Oak Harbor hit for 22 points. By the middle of the 2nd, Oak Harbor built their lead to 35-5 and ended the half leading 45-11. By the time it was over, the Wildcats scored 71 points to Sultan’s 19. Every Wildcat player scored, and four players were in double-digits, led by Tiffany Earnhart with 15. Molly Deleon hit for 14, Janelle Yoshimoto for 12 and Mariah Ferguson for 10. Tatiana Cumming and Adrianna Royal each scored 7, and the low scoring Wildcat, Shantae Young, had a respectable 6 points. All of Sultan’s points were scored by only 3 girls.
The Freshman team played Anacortes as part of a single 4-team freshman bracket. It was an exceptionally low scoring game, with the first period ending with an Anacortes lead, 4-0. The ‘Cats played some ball in the 2nd, scoring 8 points while holding Anacortes to just 5, but went into the locker room down 9-8 at the half. In the 3rd, the girls got cold again, with only Dominique Jackson scoring, but Anacortes was also cold and scored 4, but in increased their lead to 13-10. In the 4th, the Wildcats made it a 2-point game late, but had to resort to fouling the Seahawks to stop the clock. The Anacortes player made both her free throws and the Wildcats couldn’t score again, ending the game with a 22-18 Anacortes win. Erika Flores led the Wildcat scoring with 5, but what really sank the girls in this game was the 0-for-8 free throw shooting.

Photos from the freshman game can be found HERE.

A few video highlight clips are HERE.