The youngest basketball players on the South Whidbey High School team essentially played two seasons in one this year.

Eleven freshmen and sophomores on the team’s C-squad had one distinct season that was filled with success. That period of time — which included games played before winter break and after three players temporarily promoted to the JV team returned to the lineup — yielded an 8-3 record. The players moved up when a portion of the JV team filled in for varsity players suspended for a portion of the season.

The remaining eight games, which were played shorthanded, yielded only one win.

But, said team coach Greg Coleman, the extra experience for the three players who moved up — Josh Gulvin, Ian Ward and Andrew Hosmer — was good for them and good for the team when they came back. They are the future of the varsity team, and a good future at that.

“I believe this will be a large team,” Coleman said of his still-growing squad.

Led by Gulvin, who averaged 11 points per game through the season, the C-squad was 9-10 overall. Though outgunned by North Cascades Conference competition through the middle of their season, the young group of Falcons — which in large part played together as eighth-graders last year — scored their share of big wins, including a 59-56 overtime win over NCC C-squad champion Meridian in the final game of the season. That win came after getting crushed by the same team 78-46 a month earlier.

“That was a good win, since they only lost two games all year,” Coleman said.

The strategy that worked for the C-squad Falcons included high-pressure man-to-man defense, multiple scoring threats and solid free throw shooting. Coleman said the team shot 77 percent from the free-throw line for the season, even after getting what he called a “terrible” start.

Who led the team in scoring depended on the game. Behind Gulvin, sophomore Michael DeFouw averaged 7.9 points per game, freshman Duncan Adams 6.6 and freshman Joey Souza 6.3. All of the team’s players averaged at least 4 points per game for the season.

Coleman also gave credit for the team’s success to sophomore player Adam Hosmer. Named “Mr. Falcon” at season’s end, Hosmer was not a statistical leader, Coleman said, but was the heart of the team, playing in every position, from point guard to center.

Coleman said he expects his players to be strong on defense and rebounding as they move to the junior varsity and varsity teams.