While the varsity team had a few more losses than its players and coach wanted this season, two other Falcon girls basketball teams were doing the winning any program needs.

Making the same number of practices, playing just as many games and working just as hard to be the best basketball players they could this season were the members of South Whidbey High School’s junior varsity and C-squad basketball teams. Made up of freshmen, sophomores and juniors, these two teams combined for a 16-16 record this season as they prepared to be the future of their school’s varsity program.

When it came to winning, the C-squad players were the stars. Eight freshmen, who team coach Greg Hein said were a mix of athletes and pure basketball players, were hot all year long, with the exception of two games after a three-week winter break and their final game of the season, against Mount Baker.

Leading the team were Sara Hicks with 10.6 points per game, Amanda LaVassar with 9.5 and Janelle Iversen with 7.2. Backed by Lucy Brennan’s dependable 5-7 points a game, consistent defensive leadership from Silver Keck, team leadership from Laura Poolman, the team was a match for teams from any school, including 4A Jackson, Stanwood and Monroe, all of who lost to the Falcon Cs.

The team also got solid play from the team’s quickest study, Krista Holmberg, and Cassidy Alber.

The team’s only stumbling block during the season was Mount Baker, which beat the Falcons in the teams’ two meetings.

“The kids couldn’t solve that team for some reason,” Hein said.

Hein said the C-squad players are crucial to the future of the high school program because they are the varsity players of the coming three years.

JV girls beat

growing pains

A slow start did not hurt the JV team for long this season.

After coming out of the gate with three straight losses, the JV Falcons found their rhythm on Dec. 20 when a 64-22 win sparked four straight wins and a good deal of confidence. Coaching a team with players ranging from freshmen to juniors, Henry Pope said his girls learned as much about each other as they did about their sport.

The season, he said, was a success, even though losses outnumbered wins on the final stat sheet. Leading the team were sophomore point guard Brianne Dumke with 10.5 points, five assists and 2.3 steals per game, and sophomore Richelle Rorex with 9.5 points. Specializing in rebounds, sophomore Kelsey Smith grabbed seven balls a game while freshman and basketball newcomer Melissa Mydynski pulled in six per game.

Overall, the stats meant the JV Falcons were never down by more than four points at the half in all but one of their final eight games. The third quarter, said Coach Pope, was where games tended to get away.

He lauded Dumke and Rorex for their offensive skills, and team members Kelsey Smith, Brittany Peterson, Marcella Litwiller and Britta Madison for their defensive toughness.

“These players never backed down and never gave up no matter what the score,” Pope wrote in a season summary this week.

The season might have brought more wins had sophomore Kelsey Broderick not suffered a season-ending knee injury playing Sultan Jan. 30.

Pope said he looks forward to next season for both the possibilities and the personalities of his team.

“I cried when they turned in their uniforms,” he said this week.