Falcons fall twice / Girls basketball

By Jim Waller • January 20, 2020 1:30 am

It was a rugged weekend for the South Whidbey High School girls basketball team as the Falcons lost twice, falling to rival Coupeville 34-25 Friday, Jan. 17, in Langley and then 62-21 at first-place King’s Saturday.

The Falcons (2-4, 7-9) take a break from North Sound Conference play to go to Chimacum (6-5) for a 5:15 p.m. non-league game Tuesday, Jan. 24.

Coupeville 34, South Whidbey 25

South Whidbey couldn’t get its offense going in the loss to the Wolves (3-1, 8-3). The shots were there, they just wouldn’t fall, and the Falcons were limited to single-digit scoring in each period.

Coupeville jumped to a 6-0 lead, then buckets by Arianna Briggs and Isabelle Wood, a free throw by Emma Hodson and a three-pointer by Liz Haines helped the Falcons trim the deficit to 2, 10-8, at the quarter break.

The Wolves’ Scout Smith pumped in a pair of long range shots to lead Coupeville to a 10-point second period; South Whidbey mustered only two hoops, one each from the Wood sisters, Ella and Isabelle, and the Falcons trailed 20-12 at the break.

South Whidbey’s the hole became deeper in the third period, as Coupeville increased its lead to 30-18 despite two field goals by Kayla Knauer.

South Whidbey outscored Coupeville in the fourth period behind 4 points by Isabelle Wood and 3 from Ella Wood, but it wasn’t nearly enough to pull off the comeback.

Isabelle Wood finished with 8 points, Ella Wood 5, Knauer 4, Haines 3, Briggs 2, Sami Daly 2 and Hodson 1.

Smith and Chelsea Prescott tallied 13 for the Wolves.

King’s 62, South Whidbey 21

For the second consecutive game, the Falcons failed to score more than 8 points in a quarter.

The fourth-ranked Knights, with four players scoring 4 or more points, put up more points in the first quarter than South Whidbey did in the game, jumping to a 24-5 lead.

The lead grew to 42-13 at halftime and 50-18 after three quarters.

Isabelle Wood ended the game with 6 points; Knauer 4; Haines 3; Briggs, Ella Wood and Hodson 2; and Hadley Eager and Mary Moss 1.

Eleven Knights scored, led by Claire Gallagher, the conference’s co-MVP last year, with 12.

Gallagher, who did not play in the fourth quarter, is a “legit D-1 player,” according to South Whidbey coach Jeff Hanson.

“I thought coming off a tough loss last night, the girls rallied and played really hard,” he added. “The score might not indicate it, but we competed the whole game.

“Isabelle played really well against 6-1 and 6-3 girls.

“I am really proud of them.”