Friday Harbor High School girls and boys basketball try to power through multiple conference losses

Both the Friday Harbor High School boys and girls basketball teams have been on a losing streak while the end of the season lurks around the corner.

The girls varsity basketball team lost 49-14 in a conference game against Mount Vernon Christian on Jan. 18. Their conference game on Jan. 19 against Coupeville was canceled due to COVID outbreaks. The girls came back with a 44-7 win against Lopez High School during a non-conference game Jan. 20.

“We appreciate that Lopez was willing to play us, even though they were down many players due to COVID,” coach Sue Grenfell said. “This game gave us the opportunity to get a lot of playing time for some of our non-starters who don’t often get to play a lot of minutes. It was fun to get to see everyone on the team get game experience and make meaningful contributions on the court.”

Five days later, La Conner High School beat the Friday Harbor girls’ team by nearly 70 points in a conference game.

The boys played three games in three days, with close losses against their league opponents. The team lost a conference game Jan. 18 to Mount Vernon Christian at 58-54. Unlike the girls, the conference Coupeville game was not canceled. They lost to Coupeville High School 49-34 on Jan. 19.

They then came back with a win against Lopez 64-27 in a non-conference game. After a break from the consecutive games, they lost again in a conference game on Jan. 25 at 54-51 against La Conner High School.

Both Friday Harbor teams now have four big games left, all against league opponents.

Boys’ coach Collin Williamson said the game he would like to highlight the most is their game on Feb. 1 against Orcas Island, for both boys and girls teams.

The girls game starts at 4 p.m. and the boys start at 5:30 p.m.

“Both programs would like as much community support as possible,” Williamson said. “The energy in Turnbull Gym is always a driving force in league games, especially so against our crosswater rivals.”