LANGLEY — South Whidbey’s girls basketball team saved its best game for its season finale, a 46-43 loss to Lynden on Wednesday night.

“It was really cool that we were able to host this, so we could let our kids see our girls play their best game,” said Falcon head coach Andy Davis.

The Falcons led for two quarters until midway through the final period, when the Lions took a two-point edge.

The Falcons came within a basket of the lead at 44-42 with 21 seconds left. The Lions made just enough free throws in the final minute to keep the Falcons from their first district playoff appearance in more than four years.

“We competed for as long as we could. It’s really upsetting that we lost in the end, especially when we led the whole game,” said Falcon senior Jessica Manca.

Lynden started the game every bit like the 12th-ranked 2A team in the state. The Lions won the tip and jumped out to a 9-0 run, led by senior Kortney Grattic who scored a floater, a three-pointer and a layup.

South Whidbey’s first score came halfway through the quarter. Falcon junior Hayley Newman hit a corner jump shot that sparked a 9-2 Falcon spurt.

Falcon sophomore point guard Madi Boyd then hit a rainbow shot that banked in for two points, which Manca followed with a three.

“They came out 9-0 on us. We hit a couple of shots to get back into it,” Davis said.

Brittany Wood tied the game at 12-12 with a shot clock buzzer-beater three-pointer that careened in. Boyd gave the Falcons’ their first lead on another banked-in jump shot at 14-12.

Lions senior Amber Stokes stole a rebound and made a layup to tie 14-14.

The Lions went into a zone defense to force a perimeter shot, which the Falcons struggled with all year.

With the shot clock winding down, Falcon junior Ellie Greene swished a three from the top of the arc to take a 17-14 lead. The two end-of-clock shots were not part of the game plan, the Falcons’ coach said.

“We threw up a couple of prayers,” Davis said.

“That was big. A couple things like that gives us confidence.”

The high-flying Falcons came down to earth a bit in the second quarter.

Lynden forced a jump ball against South Whidbey on its first play, then stymied Newman into an air ball and a turnover via a shot clock violation.

The Lions tried to use a trap defense against Greene near the mid-court line, but she passed to Manca for an uncontested layup and a 19-15 lead.

The Falcons gained their largest lead at 24-15 on another Manca three-pointer. With three minutes left, Lynden called a timeout.

“Defensively, I thought we played pretty good,” said Lions head coach Rob Adams. “They hit a lot of what we call ‘tough shots,’ and they hit seven tough shots.”

The Lions shut out the Falcons for more than two minutes during an 8-1 run. Newman followed her own miss for a layup that sent that Falcons into halftime with a 27-24 lead, despite missing a three-pointer after senior reserve Zoey Maeser stole the Lions’ last possession of the first half.

“Going into halftime being up against Lynden, which was a team we thought we were just going to be demolished by, it felt great,” said Falcon senior post Lacy Williams.

The Falcons made 11-of-26 field goals in the first half, and were seven-of-11 in the first quarter.

Hot shooting like the Falcons’ couldn’t last.

In the third quarter, the Falcons’ first field goal fell almost three minutes into the period. South Whidbey continued to keep its lead between four and eight points until the final play. Lynden trailed 35-27 and had missed its last four shots and turned the ball over twice when Lion sophomore Stephanie Somers drained a three from the top of the arc that fell as the buzzer sounded.

“We threw away a lot of easy opportunities to score,” Adams said. “We had been struggling to get a momentum changer the whole game.”

Momentum was slow to swing Lynden’s way, though. South Whidbey started the final quarter with a steal by Wood that led to a jumper by Greene and a 37-30 lead. Physical defense took its toll on South Whidbey. Williams (below) picked up her fourth foul early in the fourth quarter and fouled out soon after. Without their tallest player, the Falcons struggled to rebound and keep the Lions inside the paint.

“We didn’t recognize that they were changing defenses,” Davis said. “Once we got that situated, we kind of handled it and just needed a couple more shots to go.”

Greene got her fourth foul a minute later that led to two free throws for Somers. Grattic stole the ball on the Falcons’ next play and scored a jumpshot to cut the lead to 37-36. Manca turned the ball over to Grattic, who found Somers for an open three and a 39-37 lead.

“Our kids that needed to shoot a little bit better in the second half obviously did,” Adams said.

The scoring drought continued for South Whidbey, which went almost five minutes without a basket.

Wood’s free throw broke South Whidbey’s basket-less run with 1:50 left. Needing to secure some possessions, the Falcons went into a full-court press defense that resulted in a steal by Newman. Manca missed a three-pointer that would have cut the Lions’ lead to two points.

Somers missed the first shot of a one-and-one foul shot that led to Manca hitting a baseline jumper, her final points in a 12-point night.

Greene almost intercepted a pass under the basket, but Lion senior Amber Stokes dove on the ball and called a timeout. Manca blocked Stokes’ shot and forced a jump ball that gave Lynden possession again. Stokes was fouled on her next shot and made one free throw to lead 44-40.

“It was really exciting. Even though we weren’t trying to go into it with doubt, nobody really thought in the back of their mind that we could pull it out,” Manca said.

Manca aired her jump shot but Greene caught the long ball and made a short jumper as she fell to the court with 21 seconds left.

Grattic made two more free throws, her final in a 19-point night. Lynden led 46-42 with 19 seconds left.

Greene was fouled for a one-and-one and made her first foul shot. Her second bounced out back toward the free throw line where Manca almost pulled it down, but Stokes came up with the ball and was fouled.

Stokes missed both free throws with six seconds left, but Greene was smothered by Grattic as she dribbled up the court and heaved a desperate 40-foot shot that sailed past the backboard as time expired.

The Falcons had to beat the Lions to advance to the District 1 playoffs, but Lynden (11-4 Northwest Conference; 15-6 overall) prevailed to face its conference rival Burlington-Edison on Friday.

South Whidbey finished its season 7-7 in Cascade Conference games and 8-12 overall.