Falcon boys trip over themselves at Sultan

Published 6:00 pm Saturday, December 23, 2006

There’s an old sports cliché that goes something like this: “If you give the basketball to your opponent 44 times in one game, you will surely lose.”

Well, if it isn’t a familiar sports phrase, it should be. And it was a lesson learned by the South Whidbey boys team Tuesday at Sultan, where the Falcons lost 78-51.

“The reason for the turnovers is because somehow we’re losing our concentration,” said Falcon forward Kyle Hoch.

“Maybe we’re thinking too much and that’s causing us to make mistakes,” he said.

Junior inside shooter Blake Blakey said the team was unprepared for the Turks’ full-court press.

“We weren’t ready for it and it showed,” he said. “They were just solid on execution and played consistently even though they didn’t have all that much height.”

Observing the Falcons down at the half by only seven points, senior Chad Anderson felt the team held their own until then.

In the second period, the Turks’ league MVP all-state forward RJ Perkins entered the fray and showed why he’s so good.

“Yeah, Perkins is a good ball player,” Anderson said.

“He’s all we expected,” Hoch added.

Perkins scored 27 points on the night.

For the Falcons, Anderson scored 11 points, Blakey nine, CJ Baker and Adam Hosmer added six each, and Hoch, Eric Stallman and Chris Carey contributed four apiece.

The boys take on a national team from Australia at 12:30 p.m., Dec. 18 at Port Townsend.

On Jan. 2 they travel to Coupeville for a wind-delayed makeup game.

Jeff VanDerford can be reached at 221-5300 or sports@southwhidbeyrecord.com.