Falcon girls' time runs out

While a South Whidbey 13-1 run in the third-quarter put the fear of God into the girls from Lynden Christian, South Whidbey's offensive pressure was not enough to keep their state tournament hopes alive Tuesday night.

Playing the Lyncs in a loser-out game in the second round of the District 1 2A tournament at Mount Vernon High School, the Falcons found their rhythm in only one period all night. Though it was enough to bring them within one point of the Lyncs by the end of the third quarter, they could hardly get a shot to drop during the remainder of the contest and fell 35-23.

The game was one of the wildest of the year for both teams. After losing twice during the regular season to the Lyncs, the Falcon girls looked like they were going to get steamrolled early. Concentrating almost solely on their defensive play, the Falcons fell behind 11-1 in the first quarter. While his team's half-court defense was everything he asked for, Falcon Coach Sam Lee said 10 percent first-half shooting was not in his game plan.

"We were just really tight," he said.

After a locker room talk at halftime, Lee told Lynden Christian's coach the second half would be different.

"I told him, 'I'm gonna scare you this quarter,' " he said.

The scare tactic worked, but only for eight minutes. Down the stretch, the Falcons could not make their shots drop. While Hilary Wick nailed two three pointers on the night and Julie Robinson and Lauren Johnson had one long shot each, field goals were in short supply as offensive play cost South Whidbey the game.

Lee said his girls, who finished 9-13 overall this year, will be back next year with the state tournament in their sights.

"Next year, we're going to Yakima," he said.

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