Falcons fail to Foster a victory

Published 8:00 am Wednesday, January 28, 2004

“Once they turn you over a couple of times, it’s like blood for sharks.”

That opinion, voiced by Falcon boys basketball coach Andy Davis, may be the most concise way to describe South Whidbey’s 75-45 home loss to Foster Saturday night. Outmatched by the fastest team they’ve seen all season and with their starting point guard nursing a tender ankle during his limited minutes in the game, the Falcons were simply without tools they needed to keep pace.

But for the home crowd at Erikson Gymnasium for the weekend evening game, the Falcons put on the best show they could under the circumstances. During the first half of the game, Tornga — who sprained his ankle a week ago and was still hobbling as late as Friday night’s practice — put up all of his 15 points to keep his team close. At halftime, the score was 37-31 in favor of Foster, but it looked as though though the Falcons could stay close enough to make their three-point victory over the same team last season look like more than a fluke.

Coming back from the break, it was clear that this was not so. From the opening whistle, the press was on South Whidbey. Using a near impenetrable zone defense, Foster limited South Whidbey to the perimeter, forcing the Falcons to put up a number of long shots that simply turned into defensive rebounds. It also limited South Whidbey to an 18-for-45 game from the field.

And when the home town boys did make it into the lane, they paid for it. Kyle McGillen, South Whidbey’s second leading scorer on the night, picked up two fouls in the opening minutes of the second half to bring his total to four and earn a place on the bench until the fourth quarter. With him out, what little offense the Falcons had sputtered.

On their own end, the Foster players found every loose ball there was, grabbing 11 offensive rebounds to the Falcons’ six for the game. That advantage grew exponentially on the scoreboard, as they outpointed South Whidbey 24-6 in third quarter.

Still, the Falcons were able to mount several defensive challenges. Switching between man-to-man and zone coverage, they forced Foster to shoot long distance — which would have been an effective strategy had the visitors not sunk eight treys on the night.

Up by 22 by the start of the fourth quarter, Foster finally took the pressure off South Whidbey. This allowed freshman point guard Chad Anderson to at least set up a few plays without fear of losing the ball at mid-court.

Davis gave his team credit for playing a tough game against an opponent that had no weaknesses to be exploited.