South Whidbey girls basketball played a bit of “hot potato” in a 43-29 win at Coupeville on Saturday night.
Though all of the Falcons on the court were seasoned upperclassmen, none felt comfortable with possession of the ball. They couldn’t help but pass quickly to another player whenever it came to them. And around it went along the outside of the key, back and forth, back and forth.
That was until they turned the ball over to the Wolves, which happened more than a few times.
“The one thing I was most critical about with the girls at halftime was our choices once we gained possession of the basketball,” head coach Andy Davis said. “There were several times in the first half where we were going so fast that we got ahead of ourselves, which led to turnovers.”
Davis is optimistic the Falcons (1-2 overall, 0-1 in the Cascade Conference) can correct the issue, as they are just three games into the season.
“Offensively, we need to create more rhythm,” Davis said. “That’s something that’s a typical thing early in the season.”
“We want to play fast, not in a hurry. That’s kind of what we’re working on,” he added.
Senior Kinsey Eager, who converted four of her five field goals for 10 points while also grabbing seven rebounds, said the Falcons were especially shaky on fastbreak opportunities when the Wolves were most vulnerable. She thought the Falcons would naturally fix their tendency to pass quickly as the team gets more games under its belt.
“The more we play, the more comfortable we’ll be with the ball,” Eager said.
Senior Kacie Hanson, who scored six points and had five rebounds, said that in addition to their discomfort with the ball, the Falcons were also slow to respond.
“We slept all day and kind of walked in there and played,” Hanson said. “We were definitely sluggish.”
“Our bodies were just a little slow,” she added.
While not as consistent nor energetic on offense as they would have liked, the Falcons showed flashes of cohesion. The Falcons scored six points on three possessions with 55 seconds left to go in the half, causing two Coupeville turnovers in the process.
“We finished well in the first half,” Davis said. “It was a nice finish to the second quarter after we bogged down in the middle of it.”
South Whidbey has also cut down its fouls that plagued the Falcons all of last season, most notably so in a district loser-out playoff against Mount Baker.
“It was one of those games where you have good moments and bad moments,” Hanson said. “We try to focus more on the positives.”
South Whidbey played Sultan (2-3 overall, 0-2 in league) after The Record’s deadline on Tuesday night. The Falcons will travel to Seaside, Ore., to play in the Seaside Tournament on Dec. 15-17. They return home on Tuesday, Dec. 27, to face off against Marysville-Pilchuck, a class 3A nonleague opponent.
