Lady Falcons cruise by Sultan Turks

Published 1:00 pm Saturday, December 23, 2006

The Sultan girls basketball team came to Erikson Gym Dec. 19 expecting to dominate, and they had the weapons to do it.

Or so they thought.

At 5 feet, 11 inches, Sultan forward Breianna O’Hara was fast, sharply aware of her position on the court and showed great leadership.

But when she couldn’t get inside the Lady Falcon defense, O’Hara either shot for the score or fired the ball to post player Krystal Paszkeicz. Paszkeicz, who was permanently stationed under the net, showed the pair’s inside-inside routine was no joke as they accounted for 70 percent of the Turk’s numbers.

And it worked, for one quarter at least. That’s how long it took for South Whidbey to get their offense in gear.

“As soon as I saw what they were doing, I told everyone to double-down on 42 (Paszkeicz) and stick like glue on 15 (O’Hara),” Falcons Coach Henry Pope said.

“Once we had them covered, the weaker players were left open and we could concentrate on the real danger,” he said.

South Whidbey’s Erica Johnson said the coach had identified the shooters before the game.

“He told us they were the powerhouses inside the three-point line and what to do,” Johnson said. “We made it as hard for her to shoot as possible.”

Lindsey Newman and Meagan Rawls found themselves fouled repeatedly in the first quarter, allowing South Whidbey to keep pace; the score at the first break was 25-24.

“Lindsey and Meagan did a great job,” Pope said. “Lauren (Sandri) is so fast, she was able to roam the court and help keep the other players from doing any damage while we concentrated on 15 and 42.”

Newman was lead scorer with 34 points. She shot 17-of-21 at the free-throw line, made three treys and recovered 19 rebounds, split between defense and offense. Add to that impressive total nine assists and four steals.

“Lindsey is a force to be reckoned with, in every game,” Pope noted. “She also stopped her first charge of the year by getting in the way of a Sultan player on a fast break.”

Unfortunately, Sultan’s coach let his emotions run away from him in the second quarter, snarling at his own girls and shouting abuse at the referees and even some Falcon players — he had to be warned repeatedly to back off.

Back on the court, Erica Johnson had 15 points for South Whidbey, shot eight of 15, fired a single three-pointer and five assists. Sandri had eight points, Samantha Pope added seven (and nine rebounds) and freshman Alannah Alber chipped in six points and two rebounds.

In fact, the entire roster scored as South Whidbey ended the night winning

79-60.

It was the first Cascade Conference win; the girls are 1-0 in the league, 3-1 overall.

Before he took over the program, Pope admits he heard some negative comments about the team.

“To this date, I am so pleased with the effort, attitude, team chemistry and teamwork I’ve seen from these girls. There has been an absolute absence of negative vibrations,” Pope said.

He’s been realistic, though, with himself and the girls.

“They’re very smart and they have a lot to learn; four games does not a season make,” he said. “But things look good.”

Newman feels the same.

“I think most of us get a little nervous at first,” she said. “But once we get in the groove we pump it up by the second half.”

Wednesday the girls had a light practice, watched game films and shared pizza. Next week they travel to Port Townsend for the three-day Christmas Classic — first up will be Sequim at 11 a.m.

Jeff VanDerford can be reached at 221-5300 or sports@southwhidbeyrecord.com.