It wasn’t the most clean game by the Sehome girls basketball team Monday against Oak Harbor, but the Mariners got the job done in a 43-30 win over the Wildcats.
With the win, Sehome raised its record to 7-8 overall and 7-6 in the Northwest Conference.
The Mariners jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead, but then allowed an 8-0 run from the Wildcats.
Sehome trailed 11-10 after the first quarter.
The first half of the game was highlighted by turnovers from both teams. Sehome and Oak Harbor struggled to find a flow on offense as a result.
With a 19-18 lead at halftime, Sehome put a bigger emphasis on defense in the second half. The Mariners brought a full court press and the Wildcats couldn’t get past it, creating opportunities in transition for Sehome.
“We needed to slow things down,” Sehome coach Kim Kirk said, adding that her team fared better when they were more patient. “If we started attacking the zone we’d start finding open players. It wasn’t pretty, but we did a better job than we did in the first half.”
The Mariners limited the Wildcats to only four points in the third quarter and built up a 30-22 lead heading into the fourth.
Splish splash Natalie Brewer drilled one from deep. She’s got five straight points for the Mariners.
Sehome with a 24-18 lead with 6:01 left in the third. pic.twitter.com/jNfQIWL8pJ
— CDN Sports (@CDN_sports) February 1, 2022
Oak Harbor was able to find the basket more in the final frame, but mostly traded baskets with Sehome as the Wildcats weren’t able to defend on the other side of the court.
“Our coaches were telling us we needed to bring out the energy and frazzle them a bit,” Mariners senior Maddie Schumacher said.
Limiting Oak Harbor’s Heidy Hurtado’s looks at the basket in the second half was a point of emphasis.
“[Hurtado] had a really good night,” Kirk said. “We were not getting out on their shooters. We were not doing a good job on our close outs. I thought in the second half we did a better job closing out and making them make bad decisions on some shots.”
Sehome’s offense was led by junior Mac Cooper who scored 10 points. Schumacher added nine with six of those coming from the free-throw line. Sophomore Emmy Hart added six.
The Mariners have one game left on their schedule Saturday against Nooksack Valley.
Playing the top team in the conference means Sehome isn’t quite yet looking ahead to the postseason next week.
“[Nooksack Valley] is going to bring their A-game and we have to bring our A-game or it’s going to be a whole different story,” Kirk said. “I think Saturday is a great opportunity for us to see where we’re at because they’ll highlight the things you need to work on.”
