Fouls too much for Falcons to overcome against Sultan

South Whidbey was flummoxed by foul trouble and lost 47-31 to Sultan High in girls basketball.

The Turks (3-5 in conference; 3-10 overall) were in the free-throw bonus with 3 minutes, 49 seconds left to play in the first quarter. The early foul trouble led the Turks make 23-of-36 free throws against the Falcons’ 4-of-8 and was too much for South Whidbey’s offense to overcome.

South Whidbey junior Jessica Manca scored a team-high eight points. Junior co-captain Makenzie Peterson added five points. Sophomores Hayley Newman, Ellie Greene and Annalies Schuster scored 6, 5 and 3 points, respectively. Lacy Williams, Madi Boyd and Maia Sparkman each scored two points.

Falcon head coach Andy Davis moved freshmen Boyd and Sparkman up from junior varsity. He said he liked their fearlessness and hustle. Boyd and Sparkman are the only freshmen to play varsity this season.

“They’re not scared of anything,” Davis said.

Sultan junior forward Dani Markwood scored a game-high 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. In South Whidbey’s last meeting with Sultan, Markwood dropped 32 points en route to a 52-34 rout. Davis credited the defense and his forwards Williams and Schuster for slowing Markwood’s productivity.

“I thought Lacy did great,” he said. “When Annalies got in there, she did fine, too.”

Junior point guard Brittany Wood didn’t score and played limited minutes after missing practices earlier in the week. Still, Davis is pleased with the progression of his offense, and praised Wood’s leadership as co-captain and her hustle plays to chase down loose balls and push the offense.

“She’ll bring effort every second she’s out there,” he said.

The loss dropped South Whidbey to eighth place at 1-7 in conference games and 1-10 overall. South Whidbey hosted seventh-place Lakewood (2-6; 3-10) on Friday, Jan. 21 after the Record went to press.

Contact South Whidbey Record Sports, South Whidbey School District, South Whidbey Fire/EMS Ben Watanabe at bwatanabe@whidbeynewsgroup.com or 360-221-5300.

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