Oakville High proved — once again — to be a tough nut to crack despite the third-quarter squeeze the Rangers put on the Acorns during their second matchup of the season last week in girls varsity basketball.

Oakville prevailed, 27-18, despite an offensive explosion by Quilcene  and the Rangers blanking the Acorns in the third quarter.

The game was much closer than than the Rangers’ fall to Oakville the week before, where the Acorns won 62-22 at home.

In the rematch in Quilcene, the Rangers took an early advantage before the Acorns’ offense answered, which sophomore Carolann Black answered with six points in the quarter.

Down 9-4 entering the second stanza, the Rangers struggled on the offensive end, with just three points from Chloe Hack. The Acorns outscored Quilcene 11-3 in the second, with five points coming from Ava Boyd.

The Rangers rallied in the third, however, with two clutch three-pointers — one from Savannah McBride and the other from Brianne Evans — to close the gap to 20-17 with 1:11 left to play in the first half. A free throw cut the gap to two points, 20-18, with 17 seconds left in the quarter.

In the fourth, it was all Oakville. The Acorns outscored the Rangers 7-0 in the quarter to escape with the win.

Rangers Coach Mark Thompson said Quilcene rose to the challenge during their second meeting with the Acorns this year.

“They battled hard; they played well on defense,” Thompson said. “The pressure didn’t get to them this game like it did the last time.”

“We just had to make some shots, we’ve got to make some free throws,” he added. “We’re going to be in better shape when we do that.” 

Some mixed shots from the line combined with some second-chance opportunities under the net that just wouldn’t fall for the Rangers.

“We got some good looks we missed, also,” Thompson said. “I think we missed a lot of free throws today. That was kind of, I think, a lot of the story.”

Indeed, the Rangers went just 4-of-21 from the line.

The Acorns shot 50 percent, 5-of-10, from the free-throw lines. 

“We make good free throws — we’re in that game at the end. And we give ourselves a chance if we make those free throws,” he said.

Unlike their first matchup a week before, the Rangers responded well  to the Acorns’ full-court press, causing Oakville to fall back to half-court defense in the second quarter.

“I was happy with just the way they responded in the fourth quarter after a tough third quarter. And we weren’t getting too many calls,” he said.

“I felt like they were getting a lot of fast-break points,” said Acorns Coach Kevin Cavanaugh. “I wanted to get back on defense.”

Cavanaugh said he was happy his team kept its composure in what turned out to be a physical matchup.

“I was happy with just the way they responded in the fourth quarter after a tough third quarter. And we weren’t getting too many calls,” he said.

Quilcene had a depleted roster in their home-game rematch, as well.

“We’re missing (forward) Kaetyn Riley, our eighth-grader. We’re missing (guard) Sierra Graunke, who’s a starter. We’re missing (guard) Kaydence Yeoman, who’s a captain,” Thompson said.

“But I’ve got a lot of eighth-graders running in and out of there, and they are playing hard. And I’ve got two senior captains who are just rocks for our team,” Thompson noted.

“They are showing the eighth-graders how to conduct their business, and the eighth-graders are learning from them,” he added. 

Ashley Jones finished with six points for the Rangers and led the team in scoring.

Evans added five points, McBride contributed four, and Hack had three.