The Friday Harbor girls basketball team solidified itself as a title contender with a 53-33 rout on the road Tuesday over Mount Vernon Christian.

Junior Maggie Andersen tallied a game-high 16 points and senior Kayla Short tossed in 14 as the Wolverines, who couldn’t buy a bucket before the break, ran away with the victory by outscoring the Hurricanes 31-14 in the second half. Kelsey Barnes added 11 points to the team total.

“We shot really poorly in the first quarter,” Head Coach Eric Jangard said. “We were something like 3-for-22 and most of those shots were from 10 feet away. The shots just started to fall after that.”

Kaylin Wedinbach scored 12 points to led the Hurricanes on the offensive end.

With the victory, Friday Harbor clinched its fifth win in a row in Northwest 1A/2B League play, improved to 5-1 against league competition and set up what will no doubt prove to be a pivotal match up Friday at home against La Conner. They snagged a share of first place in the league standings as well, as Darrington dealt the Braves (5-1 league) their first league loss on Tuesday with a 48-36 upset on La Conner’s home court.

On Friday, sole possession of first place in the league standings will be up for grabs when the Wolverines and La Conner square off in Turnbull Gym; tip off is 4 p.m.

A victory over La Conner would give Friday Harbor pole position in the race for the Northwest 1A/2B League title, as the Wolverines will host four of their final six league games, including a Jan. 29 showdown against Darrington.

“The second time around has us playing La Conner and Darrington at home,” Jangard said. “We’re excited about that. Who would’ve thought that halfway through the season we’d be tied for first place.”