Missing three players, the Falcon girls basketball team was dumped by La Conner 61-16 on Saturday.

Without starting forward Abby Hodson, freshman Emily Turpin or junior Kristen Schuster, the already inexperienced South Whidbey squad struggled at La Conner High School.

The 45-point defeat was one of the worst of South Whidbey’s season, in which lopsided losses have been all too frequent. South Whidbey averages 24 points per game but allows 45.

“It was one of those things where we went in short handed against a pretty good team,” said Falcon head coach Andy Davis. “They’re the same team this year that went to the state tournament last year.”

Davis said his team had a major reshuffling because of the missing players, which led to some Falcons playing out of their normal position on offense and defense.

“We’re so gosh-darn young,” Davis said.

Only one senior, Madi Boyd, is on the roster. Boyd missed most of the week’s practices because of an illness, but she returned to play La Conner a bit fatigued. Boyd, Hodson and Schuster are the only returning varsity players from last year’s team.

However, neither the depleted roster nor the inexperience explained the girls’ lack of effort on defense, he said.

La Conner is 3-3 overall and beat Lakewood, a Cascade Conference school like South Whidbey, to start the season. La Conner will face another Cascade Conference school, Coupeville, on Jan. 3.

The Falcons took the entire week off following the loss, a planned reprieve during the school’s winter break. Davis hoped the time off would allow his players to get well and regroup before games resume in early January.