LANGLEY — Fast and furious doesn’t begin to describe the boys basketball game between South Whidbey and the Anacortes Seahawks on Wednesday.

Between the two, 165 points were scored over 32 minutes and, though the Falcons played brilliantly, they lost 84-81.

Ten seconds into the first quarter, Falcon Jordan Thornley snagged a three-pointer and South Whidbey was off to the races.

Fellow starters Riley Newman, Shelby Ball, Cole Erikson and Andy Bennett were unstoppable inside the paint, but Seahawk guards Mark Medalia and Cory Geffe kept pace — with 4:03 left in the period, the game was tied 11-11.

It quickly became apparent that Anacortes, lacking much height, was concentrating on speed through fast breaks and quality layups.

The first quarter was a seesaw affair but the Falcons — helped by good rebounding from Jordan Dibble and a couple of classy steal/score combos from Newman — led 25-17 at the break.

South Whidbey then started making mistakes, marked by timing errors and several missed passes; overall, the boys seemed a bit sluggish compared to earlier.

Some failed free-throw attempts and a couple of successful three-pointers from Seahawk Jackson Kirkpatrick closed the gap, and the Falcons were down by two at the half, 44-42.

But then both teams exploded as the second half began, with each team taking, and making, shots; within minutes the score was 58-58. Free-throw percentage remained high as Falcons Ben Cary, Sam Lee and Newman kept the pressure on with successful tosses to the twine. The third ended with the Falcons back on top by six, 69-63.

Just when the huge crowd thought the game couldn’t get more exciting, South Whidbey kicked it up few notches, preventing the Seahawks from scoring for the first 90 seconds, an eternity in a fast-paced game.

But Anacortes wouldn’t fold, coming back from the brink by tying it up at 79-79 with 2:15 left, then taking the lead as the Falcon defense sputtered and cracked.

With 1:02 left, Thornley scored South Whidbey’s final points as Falcon coach Chris Ferrier ended his pacing on the sidelines and sat down — it was up to the players now.

The Seahawks engaged in a little stall ball until eight seconds were left on the shot clock, then Anacortes scored once, got fouled and moved ahead, 84-81.

Last-ditch efforts by Thornley and Newman failed and the buzzer sounded.

“They scored 84 points on us, including six uncontested layups in the fourth,” noted Falcon guard Shelby Ball.

“I think we just got lazy, too comfortable, and the defense rested in the final minutes; we have to learn to play the whole game.”

Thornley said that the Falcons played tough on offense and simply gave up too many points.

“We need to contain the other guys on every play, every quarter, every half,” Thornley said.

Newman kicked himself for several lost free-throw attempts.

“I’ve been working hard on that, maybe too hard,” he mused. “Possibly I’m thinking too much instead of just doing it. But the defense has got to eliminate the easy shots the other team takes, tighten the outside lanes. We’ll get better.”

Anacortes head coach Brent Senff said he knew the game was going to be an up-and-down contest and felt the two teams were evenly matched.

“That’s how we play all our games,” he said.

“We also concentrated on containing Newman in the second half, but it wasn’t easy because he’s tough to defend against.”

Newman led South Whidbey with 31 points, fellow Falcon Thornley had 15, Ball added 10, Erikson chipped in seven and Dibble and Sean George contributed four each.

Friday night, the boys opened Cascade Conference action against Coupeville.

“They have a good team this year,” Thornley said. “There’s a cross-island rivalry, and serious bragging rights are at stake. We intend to give it all we’ve got.”

The boys host Mount Vernon at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 30, then travel to Cedarcrest on Friday,

Jan. 8. On Tuesday, Jan. 12, the boys host the Sultan Turks.

Jeff VanDerford can be reached at 221-5300 or sports@southwhidbeyrecord.com.