Falcon girls basketball team survives three-point barrage by Lakewood

LANGLEY — Bleeding from her lips, Ellie Greene needed a minute before she could speak after her South Whidbey Falcons defeated the Lakewood Cougars, 50-46.

In a physical game Tuesday that unusually was also a three-point shootout, South Whidbey survived horrid perimeter play and a barrage of three pointers by Lakewood. The Falcons made only one three-point field goal, while the Cougars sank 5-of-20. The game's flow was similar to the previous meeting when South Whidbey led by as much as 15, only to have it dwindle to single digits in the final minutes before free throws cushioned the lead.

The Cougars (3-8 Cascade Conference; 7-10 overall) challenged the Falcons (5-6 Cascade Conference; 10-8 overall) in the third quarter. Lakewood whittled down a four-point lead with three pointer, a putback, an inbounds layup and a backdoor layup. Within five possessions, Lakewood had cut South Whidbey's lead to 35-34.

Falcon senior Ellie Green took over as the closer, scoring seven of her game-high 14 points in the fourth quarter. Greene sank 5-of-6 free throws in the final quarter and hit a jump shot on an inbounds play.

South Whidbey's offense was out of sorts, despite attempting 68 shots. The Falcons converted only 16 of those field goals, and were a paltry 1-of-10 behind the arc. Free throws bailed out the Falcons, who had 12 more trips to the line than the Cougars. Greene made 8-of-10 free throws. Falcon senior Hayley Newman was a perfect 4-of-4 at the line and made South Whidbey’s only three pointer, while fellow co-captain Annalies Schuster struggled, converting 3-of-9.

 

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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