Prep boys basketball: Archbishop Murphy 65, South Whidbey 43
Published 10:48 pm Friday, January 14, 2011
LANGLEY — Heading into Friday night’s showdown with Archbishop Murphy, South Whidbey’s boys basketball team had a chance to take a commanding Cascade Conference lead with a home-court win over the Wildcats.
The Falcons quickly dribbled that chance away, dropping behind Murphy early and failing to claw back on the way to a 65-43 defeat.
“We got outplayed. Outcoached,” South Whidbey coach Henry Pope said. “It was a good old fashioned high school whooping.”
The triumph for the Wildcats lifts them into a first-place tie with South Whidbey, heading into the second half of league action.
Paris Felder led the way for Murphy with 17 points and Riley Newman poured in a game-high 23 points for South Whidbey before fouling out, but the teams were defined on this night by the way they played without their top scorers.
Both players picked up their third foul in the second quarter and headed to their respective benches. A close game quickly turned into a nine-point halftime advantage for Murphy.
“When Riley went out, we looked discombobulated,” Pope said. “When Paris went out they took off.”
Pope thought his players came out tight and played possibly their worst game of the year after playing phenomenally well the past 10 games. Newman’s fifth and final foul was a technical as his frustration boiled over while trying to handle the Wildcat’s defensive intensity.
“We just had a bad game,” Pope said. “A bad game doesn’t make a season. We are tied with Archbishop now. We’ll get another shot and we’ll play better.”
At South Whidbey H.S.
Archbishop Murphy 14 18 15 18 — 65
South Whidbey 10 13 10 10 — 43
Archbishop Murphy—Smith 11, Felder 17, DeGrazia 2, Tapert 0, Gordon 9, Baird 4, Camp 0, Shober 7, Schireman 0, Haider 7, Anderson 8. South Whidbey— Newman 23, Bennett 3, Comfort 2, TJ Rusell 9, Lee 0, Norris 3, Cary 0, George 1, Flaherty 2. 3-point goals— Felder 2, Anderson 2, Newman 2, Bennett 1, Smith 1. Records—Archbishop Murphy 6-1 league, 8-4 overall. South Whidbey 6-1, 10-3.
