By Courtney Oldwyn

Journal reporter

Friday Harbor’s boy basketball team will join the other top seven teams in Washington to battle it out for the State title March 4-6 in Spokane at the 2016 Hardwood Classic.

The team beat Ocasta High School 62–52 at the Regional round of the State tournament in Mt. Vernon on Saturday, Feb. 27 earning them a place at this weekend’s “Elite 8” State tournament.

“These kids just showed a great amount of determination,” said head coach Rod Turnbull. “They did not want to end their season in Mt. Vernon.”

The first half of the game saw Ocasta dominating the ball and beating the Wolverines in speed. At half time Friday Harbor was down by six points, 29–35.

“The first half Ocasta was winning the loose ball game but the second half we reacted to the pace of play better,” said Turnbull. “We were able to persevere and come back to play a good third and fourth quarter.”

By the end of the third quarter the Wolverine’s were up by two at 44–42 and led until the end of the game.

Senior Luke Stromberg lead the pack with 18 points, Junior John Gustafson had 13 and Senior Kyle Jangard scored 11.

The boys take on Mossyrock at 9 p.m. Thursday, March 3 in the Spokane Arena. “Mossyrock is a solid team, they took second place in district 4. It should be a good match up but we’ve got a good shot,” said Turnbull.

The winner will advance to the semifinal round at 9 p.m. on Friday, March 4.

The Lady Wolverine’s closed out a great season after falling to Wahkiakum during the first round of the tournament.

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