MARYSVILLE — Already in the district tournament, the Tomahawks’ playoff future wasn’t exactly on the line.

Nonetheless, the girls played like it was, scrapping and scraping with Oak Harbor to win 42-40 for the win on Senior Night, Feb. 12.

“It was really important to us because we lost there and we lost to Arlington,” said sophomore Dacia Heckendorf, who wrestled down two jump balls with 25 seconds left that prevented Oak Harbor from getting a critical possession as they trailed 41-40. “We needed the win for our confidence.”

With the win, Marysville tied Arlington for second place in the league, but Arlington got the tiebreaker — and a home game for the district tournament opener — with two wins over Oak Harbor.

The Tomahawk strategy — to focus on Oak Harbor shooter Jessica Denmon and to win the beat the Wildcats on the glass. While Oak Harbor came back from an 11-5 first-quarter deficit to close within three points by halftime, the Tommies came out of halftime with a renewed purpose. After allowing Oak Harbor 14 offensive rebounds in the first half, the Tomahawks gave up only three in the second half.

On top of that, Marysville just did a better job hitting their shots.

The rebounding paid off in the fourth quarter as the Tomahawks fought off the first Oak Harbor lead of the game, starting with a Denmon three-pointer at the end of the third quarter. Though the Wildcats lead by as many as six points, senior Britt Harris and freshman Emily Enberg combined to close the gap with a seven-point streak to retake the lead. Freshman guard Becca Lenz grabbed a steal which sent Heckendorf to the free-throw line on the same possession. She hit both shots to put M-P up 39-36 and Oak Harbor would never quite come back.

“(Denmon) had quite a few shots but wasn’t on tonight, which was in our favor,” said M-P coach Julie Martin, adding, “I thought our girls did a good job against them.”

Harris had 12 points and seven rebounds in her last regular-season home game, but it was Enberg who lead the Tomahawks in scoring with a game-high 15 points. She had six boards of her own.