By Morris Malakoff
Herald Writer
MOUNT VERNON – South Whidbey’s George Spivakov hit the biggest free throw of his high school career to give the Falcons a 48-47 win over the Lakewood Cougars.
The game, a loser-out contest in the 2A Boys Northwest District Tournament, brings the Falcon program one large step closer to a complete turnaround and a state tournament berth.
But to get there, they have one tough step ahead. The road to Yakima goes through the Nooksack Valley Pioneers. The Pioneers had an easy time in a loser-out win over Mt. Baker, 74-52, on Wednesday. The Falcons lost to Nooksack Valley twice in the regular season.
The Cougars and Pioneers will meet on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Mount Vernon with the winner advancing to the state tournament.
In the final two minutes of the game, Lakewood lost big man Jake Poeschel and leading scorer Garrick Olson to fouls. The Falcons then made their move, going on an 8-2 run in the final three minutes before Tim Gabalein sank a free throw with a minute remaining to tie the score at 47-47.
A foul on Spivakov with 25.5 seconds on the clock was all the opportunity the Falcons needed as the senior sank the front end of a 1-and-1 to give South Whidbey the final lead.
“I was saying to myself ‘I love pressure’,” said Spivakov about his trip to the foul line.
Srivakov missed his second shot and the Cougars headed down court with an opportunity to regain the lead. A series of missed attempts and poorly played rebounds gave the closing seconds the look of a volleyball game.
South Whidbey also took advantage of the high number of fouls committed by Lakewood. The Falcons were in the double bonus much of the final period and hit on 20 of 30 free throw attempts in the game. Lakewood was 11 of 19.
Spivakov’s game winner marks a high point in a program that was 0-20 last year and had not played in the post-season since 1992.
“We committed in the off-season to being in this position,” said South Whidbey head coach Andy Davis referring to the Falcons shot at a state tournament trip.
The Falcons had trailed the Cougars since the opening minute of the game, falling behind by as much as 10 points. The Cougars shot a 58 percent in the first half while holding the Falcons to 26 percent. That difference gave Lakewood a 28-20 halftime advantage.
South Whidbey-Turner 4, Moole 4, Spivakov 9, Torga 7, Gabelein 13, Murphy 1, Pastino 1, Coleman 9. Lakewood-Star 3, Landon 6, Barker 4, Olson 15, Gamman 5, Poeschel 14. 3-point goals-Torga 1, Gabelein 1.
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