Saving the best for last can be a risky proposition. But against Shoreline Christian, it worked.
The Wolverines tallied win No. 2 of the season with a dramatic 55-49 come-from-behind victory Friday at home over Shoreline Christian, and evened their record in league play, at 1-1, as well.
“It took us a little while to get going,” said senior Parker Lawson, who contributed 10 points to the cause. “We came out flat and they jumped on us.”
Indeed.
The Crusaders (5-2) made the most out of turnovers and a cold-shooting home team to grab a 17-8 edge at the end of the first period and, buoyed by 12 first-half points from point-guard Travis Hudson, took a 28-22 lead into the locker room at the half.
Out-of-synch offensively and down by double-digits just three minutes into the second half, the Wolverines appeared destined for a fourth consecutive defeat. That’s when junior Roy Taylor caught fire and almost single-handily pulled the Wolverines back from the abyss.
In a three-minute span, Taylor buried five straight buckets from long range to jump-start the offense at the end of third period, including a pair from three-point land. He scored 13 of his 14 points in that barrage, and with a bucket from Preston Ukra and a buzzer-beater in the lane by Elliot Howard, the Wolverines trailed 46-41 at the end of three.
“Roy really came through for us,” said Ukra, who scored a team-high 16 points to match his season best. “Coach told us at halftime that we had to start playing our game and to stop playing theirs. So we slowed it down a little and started moving the ball around and running our offense more.”
The Friday Harbor offense was back on track, but it was defense that proved the difference down the stretch. Hudson, who led all scorers with 19 points, and Shoreline Christian’s sharpshooters found few openings in the fourth quarter against the Wolverines’ stingy zone defense. Friday Harbor, backed by a vocal home crowd, gave up just three points in the final period and the game on the line.
“A lot of stuff didn’t really go our way,” Head Coach Rod Turnbull said. “It was one of those games where we just had to grind it out. I know the guys could hear the crowd yelling ‘defense’ and I think that really helped us out.”
The Wolverines took their first lead with just over three minutes left in regulation, at 47-46, on a steal by junior Tanner Buck, who then hit Ukra on the run at center court for a break-away layup. Ukra, who was 6-of-6 at the free-throw stripe in the final period, bumped the lead up to three by knocking down a pair of free-throws after Hudson, whistled for traveling, drew a technical foul for slamming the basketball on the floor following a scramble with Lawson for a loose ball.
Overall, the Wolverines shot poorly from the free-throw line, hitting just 15-of-26 attempts, or 58 percent. They knocked down 8-of-10, however, in the final 90 seconds of regulation to seal the victory.
Next: The Wolverines are on the road Tuesday at Coupeville; tipoff is 2:30 p.m. They travel to Mount Baker for a Dec. 29 contest against the Division 2A Mountaineers, beginning at noon.
