LANGLEY — South Whidbey senior Jessica Manca picked the right time to have her best quarter of the season, scoring eight points as the Falcons beat the Sultan Turks 47-40.
In a crucial game with playoff implications, the Falcons relied on their zone defense and veteran scorers. Manca scored 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, junior Ellie Greene put up 11 points and 10 rebounds, and junior Hayley Newman led all players with 19 points and added nine boards.
“We knew this was an important game and so we fought for it until the end,” Manca said.
Sultan led most of the first half behind Turk senior Dani Markwood. She scored seven points to spur the Turks to a 16-15 lead in the first quarter, which would have been a three-point lead had Newman not hit a buzzer-beater jump shot.
Markwood was scoring in the low post, getting rebounds and boxing out the smaller Falcon defenders. She hit a mid-range jumper, too, and forced the Falcons to shoot from the perimeter early.
That changed on the first play of the second quarter. Her legs got tangled as she and Manca battled for a board, and Markwood fell down clutching her right leg as the play continued. Markwood was helped to the training room and her right foot was put into a boot.
“I’m sorry that she got hurt, but it did help us win the game because she’s such a good offensive threat down low,” Manca said.
Her injury initially sparked the Turks to a four-point lead. Then Newman scored back-to-back jump shots to tie the game at 23-23.
Markwood’s injury changed the Falcons’ plan on offense in the second half.
“We went out there saying, ‘Let’s take advantage of that,’” Newman said.
Even with Sultan’s best scorer sidelined, the Falcons struggled to distance themselves from the Turks. They took a quick lead on Manca’s baseline jumper that only touched twine.
South Whidbey kept Sultan at bay by a couple of points for almost four minutes. The fourth- and sixth-place Cascade Conference teams traded 11 scoreless possessions. Sultan came within one point after Turk sophomore guard Jessica Hopkins made a free throw. Greene grabbed a steal and drove the length of the court for a layup to give the Falcons a three-point advantage.
Hopkins answered with a buzzer-beater three to tie at 31-31.
Newman gave the Falcons a three-point lead after she made a layup one minute into the final quarter. Sultan head coach Bill Woolley called a timeout to slow down South Whidbey’s surge. Out of the break, Turk senior Jessica Wiediger made a lofted layup to come within one point.
The Turks took the lead on a layup by Sarah Bryan, 37-36.
On the next possession, Manca returned the lead to the Falcons with two of her eight points in the final quarter. Her jumper began an 8-0 run by the Falcons that gave them their fifth conference victory.
“This win was great,” Manca said. “Everybody on the team was super pumped.”
“It feels good to hopefully go back on another winning streak.”
South Whidbey canceled its game against Lakewood on Tuesday night because of snow and ice-covered roads.
The Cougars (1-7 conference; 1-13 overall) got their first win last week. The Falcons travel north to Coupeville to face the winless Wolves on Friday.
“We like the winning streak, we don’t like the losing streak,” Newman said.
