The shooting was great Friday then abysmal Saturday.

So went the first two home games of the year for the Falcon boys basketball team as they soundly beat one old rival — Lakewood — 56-42 in their home opener Friday, then came back to lose to Coupeville 46-42 in Erikson gymnasium the next evening. Against the former, South Whidbey hit a season-best 45 percent of their shots on the way to the win. Against the latter, 28-percent shooting and a four-point opening quarter signaled “game over” long before halftime.

At 1-1 going into the opener, the Falcons showed plenty of spark from the tipoff. Having gone back and fourth with North Cascades Conference rival Lakewood over the past few years, the Falcons made a fast start, going up 13-8 in the first quarter. Early signs of success included a perfect airborn swat block under the basket by senior Kyle McGillen and several aggressive charges down the lane and to the basket by Travis Tornga. The senior would go on to lead the team with 24 points in his breakthrough game of the new season.

The Falcons outscored the Cougars in each of the first three quarters, before letting up in the fourth and allowing their opponents to get within eight at one point. That got their coach, Andy Davis, concerned for the first time during the game.

“I was actually pretty happy with everything up to the last few minutes,” said Davis, who made some adjustments in the lineup to stem the bleeding until the final buzzer.

A big part of keeping Lakewood at bay was Austin Reisman. The 5-10 senior grabbed eight rebounds on the night and three steals.

The following night’s game was a different story. Between poor shooting from the field, a slow first quarter and 1-for-17 three-point shooting, the Falcons went deep into the hole early against Coupeville. At one point in the second quarter, South Whidbey found itself down 21-4 to its closest neighbor to the north.

Though they crawled back into the game on the strength of Kyle McGillen’s 15 points and senior Nick LaVassar’s 11 rebounds, to come within two in the fourth quarter, the Falcons could not counter Coupeville scoring leader Alan Black and his 16 points, nor get past the opposition’s ability to control the tempo of the game. The Wolves managed to hold South Whidbey back down the stretch for the four-point win.

Coach Davis said he did not underestimate the now 4-0 1A Wolves prior to the game.

“They’re always pretty scrappy,” he said.

Davis said his team will be working hard this week to correct its shooting shortcomings and first-quarter defensive weaknesses.

Now 2-2 overall and 1-0 in the NCC, the Falcons play next at home against Sultan Friday.