In the first quarter against Lakewood Friday night, the Falcon boys basketball team dug a hole so deep they were selling Chinese noodles at the snack bar.

With 30 seconds left in the first quarter Ian Ward snagged a layup for South Whidbey’s first two points.

Yeah, that’s right — by the first break the Cougars led 21-2 and the run on chopsticks began in earnest.

“It was a pretty ugly first quarter,” Falcon Coach Andy Davis noted with tight-lipped eloquence.

South Whidbey (2-4) lost 68-39 and dropped to fourth in the league behind Sultan (2-3). Lakewood (6-1) sits comfortably just behind undefeated King’s (6-0).

It wasn’t that Lakewood Cougar Drew Scott was three inches taller than anyone else on the court, or senior Ryan Fure’s unerring eye, quick hands and smooth delivery getting the ball into the bucket.

It wasn’t even Lakewood’s nearly impenetrable interior defense.

It was all about attitude, focus and concentration.

Or the lack thereof.

“Lakewood’s pretty good and we didn’t prepare for them. Maybe that’s my fault, I don’t know,” Davis said.

Things didn’t improve much in the second.

Josh Gulvin added two points with 6:20 left in the half and Kyle Asay came off the bench and hit for three before a frantic Chad Anderson effort finally moved the team into double digits.

Most exciting, but Lakewood managed to keep something of a lead, 41-16, at the half.

Watching from the sidelines, athletic director John Patton was explicitly sanguine.

“There’s a lack of tempo on our side, but it seems Lakewood really wants to win,” he said.

Displaying a conspicuous inability to rebound and make shots — and also unable to convert steals or rebounds into points — the Falcons floundered with remorseless intensity as the Cougars deftly defied all efforts to stop them.

Staring a Cougar 30-point lead in the face, the Falcons did try to recapture their game plan in the fourth but it was too late.

Gulvin led with 11 points, Blake Blakey and Ward both picked up six on the night, Anderson had five.

By contrast, Cougars Anthony Wiederkehr and Bryan Connor combined for 27 and every Lakewood player hit the bucket at least once.

“The good thing about basketball is we don’t have to wait a week to put a bad game behind us,” Davis said as the team prepared to welcome King’s Tuesday night.