Falcon boys can call past season a good one

Published 4:00 pm Wednesday, March 10, 2004

Statistically speaking, and in just about every other category, the 2003-04 boys basketball season at South Whidbey High School was better than any in recent memory.

Though the team was eliminated from the Northwest District 2A tournament last week by two teams that went on to play at state, the Falcons finished the season with the best numbers they’ve put up in at least four years.

Andy Davis, the team’s coach, said the team surprised its fans with a 9-14 overall record and a 7-9 mark in the North Cascades Conference. After losing big-point players such as Tim Gabelein and Forrest Holder during the past two seasons, there seemed to be no dominating players on the team at the start of this past season. The records, which gave the team sixth place in the NCC, were the team’s best since Davis took his coaching job four years ago.

“People didn’t expect a whole lot,” he said.

But the Falcons did. Taking one of the biggest steps up was senior Kyle McGillen, who led the team in multiple categories. The team’s top scorer with an average of 16.3 points per game, he also was the top rebounder with 5.7 per game and proved himself a near-perfect shot at the free-throw line, hitting 78.3 percent of the charity shots he attempted.

Also pacing the team was senior point guard Travis Tornga. A runner-up in the team’s scoring averages with 14.3 points per game, he, along with McGillen, was one of two North Cascades Conference second-team selections this season. Tornga and McGillen paired up to provide most of the Falcons’ offensive punch: the South Whidbey player with the third-best scoring average was junior Tanner McInerney, with 4.3 points per game to his credit.

Outside of three lopsided losses — to Anacortes, Foster, and Nooksack — the Falcons proved they could play with any team on the floor. Averaging 50.6 points per game as a team versus the 53.5 scored on average by their opponents, the Falcons were in almost every game they played from beginning to end. Davis said that earned them some respect among the northern teams in the NCC, which have traditionally dominated the conference.

“We’ve definitely improved in the manner which we compete against the north teams,” he said.

Next season, however, the Falcons move to a new combination 2A/3A league as they move up to 3A competition.

Helping the team stay in games was its shooting. The Falcons end the season with a 42.6-percent field goal percentage, and having made 35.4 percent of their three-pointers. Free-throw shooting was even more successful, as South Whidbey drained 60.6 percent of their shots from the line.

But it was turnovers that ruled the season for the Falcons. Starting with a high turnover percentage, the team ended the season giving up an average of 17.2 balls per game, compared with the 16.2 they took away from opponents. Davis said that average dropped to about 14 in the team’s final four games of the season.

Looking ahead to 2004-05, Davis said his team loses its scoring punch as McGillen and Tornga leave the team. Still, with a list of up-and-coming players that includes freshman point guard Chad Anderson and juniors Tanner McInerney, Dustin Sidhu and Connor Adams, he said he is looking forward to the coming season.“We got kids comin’,” he said.