MOUNT VERNON — Cole Erikson didn’t need much time to get South Whidbey started.
Erikson slipped undetected to the far left corner of the court, caught a pass from a fellow Falcon and launched a three-pointer just eight seconds after the start of their District 1 playoff game against Archbishop Murphy.
Nothing but net.
It was that kind of night for South Whidbey, which avenged a late-season loss two weeks to Archbishop Murphy with a 68-55 shellacking of the Wildcats on Tuesday.
Falcon coach Chris Ferrier praised the defensive efforts of South Whidbey, which rebounded from a 84-63 loss to Burlington-Edison in the first round of the Northwest District 2A tournament.
“Defense carried the day for us,” Ferrier said.
“We played phenomenal defense. We worked and worked and worked and played with excellent composure, and battled and fought. Take every basketball cliche and you can apply it, because we did it tonight,” he said.
South Whidbey cruised to a double-digit lead after one quarter, leading Archbishop Murphy 21-11, with Erikson and lead scorer Riley Newman providing much of the Falcon offense.
Erikson grabbed an errant Tiger pass and motored the length of the court to put the Falcons up 7-4. A Newman jumper from the top of the key gave South Whidbey a 9-4 advantage, then Erikson sank another long-range bomb from Threepointville and the Falcons led, 12-4.
Erikson and Newman scored again on the following two Falcon possessions, and South Whidbey was in front by 10 points, 16-6.
The Tigers’ Anker Anderson cut into the Falcons’ lead with a three-pointer, but any Murphy momentum ended there after Newman drove the lane and lofted a loopy circus shot that drew a chorus of “ooohs” from the crowd. He then uncorked a three-pointer on the Falcons’ next trip down the court and South Whidbey led, 21-9.
Archbishop Murphy challenged in the second quarter after Anderson canned another three-pointer and teammate Zach Smith nailed one of his own to pull the Tigers within four points at 23-19 at the 4:08 mark.
Tony DeGrazia then caught the three-point fever and pulled Murphy to 23-22.
Newman and Erikson reignited the Falcon offense with drives that resulted in successful trips to the free-throw line, and South Whidbey led 28-22 at halftime.
The Falcons shot 44 percent in the first half, making 11-of-25 attempts. The Tigers were noticeably cooler, hitting just 8-of-23 (34 percent).
“We were really keying on their shooters, and not allowing them a lot of good looks (at the basket). And I thought we did a really good job of taking away their shooters,” said coach Ferrier.
The Falcons got an early spark in the second half by the physical play of Shelby Ball, and a baseline move and bucket by the senior put South Whidbey ahead 30-24. Newman picked the pocket of the Tigers on the next possession and scored on the steal, giving the Falcons an eight-point edge, 32-24.
Tyler “Chuck” Norris split two Archbishop Murphy defenders in the key for another Falcon score, and another Newman steal then pass to Erkison put the score at 36-24 midway through the quarter.
South Whidbey would lead by 10 or more points the rest of the way. Archbishop Murphy went to a full-court press often, but the Falcons were able to break free time and again.
“We have struggled with their defensive looks,” Ferrier said.
“But we worked on it in practice a little bit, and lo and behold, we got it done. We got the ball to where it needed to be,” he said.
Newman led the Falcons with 21 points.
With the win, South Whidbey will play Lynden at 6 p.m. tonight at Mount Vernon High School.
The winning team will get a berth in the state 2A tournament.
