It was a stretch of five minutes unlike any South Whidbey High School girls basketball coach Andy Davis had seen all season.

The Falcons, playing against Mount Baker in the elimination round of the 1A District 1 tournament on Feb. 11, committed more turnovers during that time span than they had all year. The shaky play by the Falcons led to a 26-point second quarter for the Mountaineers, who went on to beat South Whidbey, 67-47.

It was a flip from the Falcons’ opening game in the playoffs, when they had Nooksack Valley on the ropes but lost in overtime 54-45 on Feb. 8.

“It was kind of just a fluke,” Davis said. “And they were the worst kinds of turnovers.”

“And it wasn’t due to them pressuring us, it was just us making mistakes,” he added.

Though the loss left a sour taste with both Davis and the players, the team still considered the season as a success. The Falcons reached the postseason for the first time in three years and finished 9-13 overall. South Whidbey won nine games combined in its previous two seasons.

“There was a hundred times more good stuff than bad stuff, without question,” Davis said. “These guys focus on the end result where they lost that game and feel like they didn’t play well, but that’s just a moment in time. That’s like having a bad test in a class. We’ll try to avoid that next year.”

Based off the way the Falcons played against Nooksack Valley and film they had seen on the Mountaineers, South Whidbey entered confident they would compete well. South Whidbey held a 16-10 lead over the Mountaineers after the first quarter. It was during the second quarter when Falcon juniors Megan Drake and Kacie Hanson got into foul trouble that momentum shifted. By halftime, the team had committed 17 turnovers. Their shooting percentage, which was nearly 50 percent in the first half, dropped severely in the second half.

“We thought it would be pretty intense and it was the first half, but in the second half we just lost it,” junior Emily Turpin said.

The Falcons trailed 36-27 at halftime. For the remainder of the contest, the Falcons pressured the Mountaineers but couldn’t translate their efforts into points.

“I think we just played tight because we were so anxious and we wanted to do good,” said junior Bailey Forsyth. “We never really relaxed at all.”

Davis attributed the Falcons’ inexperience in the postseason as a contributor in the loss.

The Falcons were led by a strong ensemble of juniors this season and are poised to make a return to the postseason next year. They will lose only one senior to graduation in Morgan Davis, Andy Davis’ daughter.

“I think we’ll probably even go further next year,” Turpin said. “I feel like we could do it. Our group of girls have been playing together since second grade.”

Turpin highlighted sophomore Kolby Heggenes as one of the team’s most improved players, while Forsyth credited the program for its growth over the past three seasons.

Davis but couldn’t help but feel lingering emotions for how the season ended.

“I’m not over it yet, I’ll tell you that. And I’m not angry, I’m just like they are, they’re disappointed that we had that stretch where we didn’t play well and we got behind, and it was tough. They’re the right kind of team. Those guys all play for each other, they don’t care who scores. Nobody cares who gets the credit. They just love being around each other.”