By Courtney Oldwyn
Special to the Journal
Boys basketball
The Friday Harbor boy’s basketball team broke even this week with one loss and one win. The Wolverines lost to cross town rival Orcas by just two points in Tuesday’s home game Jan. 5. Friday Harbor was down by 17 points after the first half but rallied in the second quarter to tie it up. In the final seconds Orcas player Miles Harlow sank the game, winning the game with a two-point shot.
Coach and Athletic Director Rod Turnbull said the boys played hard and put forth great effort in the second half of the game to overcome the 17 point deficit.
“It was a full team effort,” said Turnbull.
In Friday’s conference game against Mt. Vernon Christian the Wolverine’s led the entire game ending in a 54-42 victory for Friday Harbor. “It was a good overall team win,” Turnbull said. The team played a strong first half and though they only scored two points in the third quarter they were able to stretch it into a win.
This week the Wolverine’s play another longtime rival team at their away game Friday at LaConner. LaConner has consistently been a tough team to beat but Turnbull is confident if the boys are able to execute their offense and play strong defense they have a good chance at a win. The boy’s team also has a home game against Cedar Park Christian this Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.
Girls basketball
The Lady Wolverines girls’ basketball team won big twice this past week beating rival Orcas on Tuesday, Jan. 5 by 18 points and Mt. Vernon Christian on Friday, Jan. 18 by 20 points. Tuesday’s home game against Orcas ended at 38-20 in favor of the Friday Harbor team. High scorers were senior starter’s Madi Kincaid with 12 points and Alli Galt and Lili Wood with 10 points each.
The win against Orcas was “really a collective team effort,” according to assistant coach Travis Mager. “We have four starting seniors this year who have been playing together for a long time which really helps a lot.”
On Friday’s conference game in Mt. Vernon, the Friday Harbor girls beat Mt. Vernon Christian 41 to 21. The Lady Wolverines have two upcoming conference games this week including an away game against the consistently tough-to-beat LaConner Braves on Friday, Jan. 15 at 4:30 p.m.
In order to make it to state the girls need a win against LaConner. They also play Cedar Park Christian at home on Tuesday, Jan. 12 at 4 p.m.
Wrestling
Wolverine’s wrestling team is going strong, having “placed in the medals” against state ranked wrestlers at every event so far this season.
Saturday’s 15 school tournament in Sultan, Wash., saw five Friday Harbor wrestlers with wins. Junior James Guard placed second at 113 pound weight class and fellow junior Hunter Rustad placed third in the 170 pound class. Junior Jesse Payne, and seniors Ben Ware and Thomas Synoground all took fifth in their weight classes.
“The majority of our pins are coming from armbars, but Ben Ware executed a beautiful lateral drop at Sky Valley,” said third year head coach Taine Pyle. Guard, Ware and Rustad have been working hard to make the cut in their respective weight classes with Rustad wrestling in the 170 pound category for the first time this past week.
“Everybody is a little banged up by this time in the season but there’s no quit in these kids,” said Pyle. “We have great parents and loyal fans here in Friday Harbor.”
The team has a league match at Concrete at 4 p.m., Jan. 13 and Saturday they are off to the King of the Mountain Tournament at Darrington where last year Friday Harbor brought home five medals. This year’s tournament is Jan. 16 at 10 a.m.
