Wolverines stumble in 45-39 loss at home to Darrington | Girls Basketball

The well ran dry down the rest of the way, as Darrington (9-1) scored nine the next 11 points to hand the Wolverines their second-straight defeat, a 42-39 loss, in a pivotal clash between Northwest 1A/2B League title contenders Tuesday in Turnbull Gym.

The Friday Harbor girls basketball team erased a 10-point halftime deficit and grabbed their first lead of the game, at 37-36, with just over four minutes left in regulation.

But the well ran dry down the rest of the way, as Darrington (9-1) scored nine of the next 11 points to hand the Wolverines their second-straight defeat, a 45-39 loss, in a clash between Northwest 1A/2B League title contenders Tuesday in Turnbull Gym.

With the loss, the Wolverines, the defending league champ, fell to 6-2 overall and 3-1 in league. The Loggers, at 4-0, remain undefeated in league play.

Darrington’s Hailey Wales tossed in a game-high 17 points. She scored 12 in the opening half, including a buzzer-beater from beyond the 3-point arc that put the Loggers up by 10 at the break.

Darrington tallied the first two points of the second half as Wales grabbed an offensive rebound and laid it up and in.

Friday Harbor chipped away at the lead, however, and drew within a single point, at 34-33, after outscoring Darrington 15-4 in the third period.

Senior Kelsey Barnes paced the Wolverines with 15 points and Maggie Andersen contributed 11. Point-guard Mandy Turnbull scored five of her seven points in the third period.

Trailing by a point, Wales knocked down a pair of free-throws to put the Loggers back up by one. Darrington stretched its lead to three with a bucket down low, but Barnes answered by taking a bounce pass from Turnbull in the paint and laying it up and in to knock the deficit back down to a single point, at 39-40.

But that’s as close as the Wolverines would come. The Loggers scored five unanswered points down the stretch to clinch the victory and grab the upper hand in the league title chase.

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The Wolverines are on the road at Mount Vernon Christian on Friday; tip off is 3:30 p.m. They travel to Meridian on Saturday; tip off is 3:30 p.m.

— Scott Rasmussen