Mike Martin checks in with some post-game wrap-ups for the Wolverine Boys and the Lady Wolverines from last Saturday’s games at South Whidbey. First, the Ladies… 

(Note: Scroll down for the Wolverine boys)

Lady Wolverines Fall to Falcons in Season Opener

With the youth-movement in full swing, Saturday, the Friday Harbor High School Girls Varsity basketball fell in their season opener to the Falcons of South Whidbey.  33-22.  Four freshmen and two sophomores saw time on the court in what proved to be a tough match-up against a physical opponent.

“We’re right on track with our ‘Team Destination’,” Head Coach, Eric Jangard said after the game.  “I’m encouraged in many ways.  We were sound on defense and that will keep us in most games this year.”

The Lady Wolverines started out strongly with a 5-0 run to start the game.  “In the beginning we were playing our offense,” said Jean Melborne.  “But it seemed like we began to think too much and we lost our offensive continuity.”

As can happen with youthful teams, shots got hurried as communication broke down.  The shots that were going early began to come up short.  “Somewhere, at some point, we just got disconnected offensively,” Jangard said.

Keeping the Wolverines in this game was a commanding performance by Tabatha Keane with a near double-double  “You could really see all of the hard work she has put in during the off season,” Jangard said.

To the naked eye Keane, the Kings Market Player of the Game, may appear to be in mid-season form with filling out the scoresheet (9 points, 14 rebounds, 6 steals, 3 pass deflections, and a blocked shot) but Jangard acknowledged that Keane is just getting started.

Just getting started as well was 6’-0” freshman, Allie Galt.  When asked what it was like going up against Falcon senior Annalies Schuster, who Galt was giving up 2-3 inches to, she smiled and said, “It was a great experience because I had never really encountered someone as tall as me.”

The physicality of Galt and Keane kept the Falcon center in check much of the day, holding her to 4 points.  The Wolverine twin towers also produced a rebounding edge 28-21 as well as swatting away three Falcon shots.

“In the end we just didn’t score enough points,” said Melborne.  True…. but youth has been served.

The Lady Wolverines play Orcas High School Friday, Dec. 7^th at 6 PM.  The game can be heard live on www.fhTinyRadio.com and 1650 AM.  The Ace Hardware PreGame show will air at 5:45 PM.

FH    8        3        2        7            22

SW    7        9       12       5            33

Friday Harbor–Keane 9, Galt 4, Melborne 3, McKay 2, Turnbull 2, Shanks 2.

South Whidbey—Newman 10, Greene 10, Logdon 4, Schuster 4, Hodson 2, Madsen 1.

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Wolverine Boys Claw Their Way to First Win of the Season

The Friday Harbor High School Boys Varsity basketball team won their first game of the season Saturday afternoon at South Whidbey High School, 54 – 47.

The Wolverines looked to be off to the races in jumping out to a nine-point lead midway through the first quarter.  “We were a lot better prepared for this game than our first game of the season, said senior Center Collin Williamson.

“Our defensive intensity was much better in this game,” added junior Otis Cooper-West. Indeed it was. The Wolverines looked, played and felt very much like their old selves in the first quarter with their pressure defense creating fast break opportunities for their offense.

The Wolverines maintained the nine-point margin through much of the second quarter.  However, Friday Harbor may taken their foot off of the accelerator a bit early as the Falcons chipped into the lead with a buzzer-beater just before the end of the half and cut the margin to six points.

After the Burlington loss on Tuesday Coach Rod Turnbull talked to his players about keeping the offense simple.  “He told us to be competitive on each possession and to not turn over the ball” said Levi Demaris.

On the heels of their mini-run to close the first half, the Falcons came out energized to start the 3^rd quarter and continued chipping away at the Wolverine lead.  “They made their run but I think we had the mind-set that we had to keep playing Wolverine basketball, Williamson said.  “That was a very good team and had to double down.”

The Falcon’s run got a bit scarier when Williamson went down in heap underneath the basket and clutched his right ankle then hopped off the court.  With his shoe off and ice on his ankle all Williamson could do was watch as South Whidbey turned up the heat even more and eliminated the 12-point deficit to knot the game at 39 with 3:30 remaining in the contest.

It looked like the Wolverines would need to find another game plan besides pounding the ball inside to Williamson.  “At that point we weren’t playing that well already and we were trying to hold it together, Cooper-West said.

Turnbull called a timeout and challenged his guys to find a way to win.  “This was a game we could have lost,” Turnbull said.  “Having them come back and tie the game put more pressure on us than them.”

Senior guard, Donald Galt, the King’s Market Player of the Game, took his coach’s challenge and began attacking the Falcon’s zone on offense for a few key buckets and pressured South Whidbey into a couple of turnovers.  The Wolverines worked hard to match the Falcon’s energy yet found themselves trailing by two points at one point.

Galt and Co., held South Whidbey at bay long enough for Williamson to heal up.  “Having the big guy back on the court really brought back the energy that we needed,” Cooper-West said.  The Wolverines withstood a final push by the Falcons and had a run of their own to close out the game, 54-47.

“In past years we would have lost this game but I think we matured a bit tonight,” he said.  “We worked on keeping our composure during their run.”

Added Williamson, “We’re improving but there’s a lot more work to do.”

FH–Williamson 19, Galt 11, Woods 10, D. Demaris 7, Cooper-West 6, Lawson 1.

SW—Hughes 13, Simmons 9, Asay 7, Hamsa 6, French 6, Turpin 6.

Next Game:  at Home against Beach Creek, Saturday Dec. 8^th 1:30 PM.

 

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