Archbishop Murphy rained threes and forced turnovers against the South Whidbey boys basketball team Tuesday night in a 64-49 loss on the Falcons’ home court.

The Wildcats forced turnovers, sunk eight three-pointers and forced a fast-paced game that knocked down the recently rejuvenated Falcons. Since the new year, South Whidbey has scored 72 and 76 points after averaging nearly 48 points per game in December through the first eight contests.

South Whidbey stuck to its defensive identity early as a zone defense team that forces teams to find shots outside the key. Archbishop Murphy’s shooters were happy to oblige and sank a flurry of threes, led by sophomore guard Josh Parafina’s 18 points, including three baskets from beyond the arc. By halftime, Parafina had 15 of the Wildcats’ 31 points.

Trailing 31-21 to open the second half, South Whidbey remained flummoxed by the Wildcats’ harassing defenders. On the Falcons’ first two possessions of the third quarter, the Wildcats got two steals.

South Whidbey’s players tried to slow the game down by attacking the hoop with dribble drives and cuts to the rim. It worked for a period as senior Brandon Asay and senior Nick French found points in the paint and at the free-throw line. But the Wildcats answered every basket with one of their own and stretched a 10-point lead to 14 points on the third Parafina three-pointer.

It was a gap the Falcons would not close for the remainder of the game.

Nine Wildcats scored in the Cascade Conference game. The Falcons were led by Asay’s 17 points and junior Parker Collins’ 11.

Losing to Archbishop Murphy dropped South Whidbey to 2-4 in Cascade Conference contests and 2-9 overall.