“Destroy Bothell? Well, if you insist…”
Madeline Strasburg is a beast.
As the swing player for the Coupeville High School girls’ basketball team, she’ll bounce between JV and varsity this season. But, wherever you put her on the floor, the sophomore is going to cause unholy pain for the opposing team.
That much was evident Thursday, as Strasburg used her two quarters with the Wolf JV squad to blow the doors off the gym at Cedar Park Christian. Pumping in a team-high 11 points, she paced Coupeville to a crisp 23-14 victory that left coach Amy King with a broad smile on her face afterwards.
Despite playing without experienced post players Monica Vidoni and Camilla Rische, the Wolves roared right out of the gate, opening a 10-0 lead after one quarter. From there, the beat-down commenced, as Coupeville held its Bothell hosts to just five points in the first three quarters.
“Our defense was great the whole game — the girls hustled, followed the ball, causing some turnovers for the other team, getting some steals and getting rebounds that helped keep Cedar Park out of the key in general,” King said. “We moved our feet and were able to keep from getting in foul trouble — ending with a total of five fouls for the entire game!
“New record for a JV game? Maybe!”
With Strasburg and her boundless energy pacing the way, the Wolves never stopped coming, often sacrificing their bodies for the good of the team.
“Madeline helped in giving directions to her teammates, running the floor great and being fearless in taking the ball to the hole,” King said. “I was very proud of the effort that all of our team gave.
“McKayla Bailey and Wynter Thorne both stepped up and played hard offense and defense – moving the ball, helping in the point guard position as well as post,” she added. “Yes, we have players here that can play a variety of positions this year – it’s great!”
Kacie Kiel, McKenzie Bailey and Miranda Engle each chipped in with four points apiece for the Wolves, with Engle ably filling in for the missing post players (“Miranda really stepped up great – had a lot of rebounds and played really good overall defense.”)
Coupeville ended up getting strong play from its entire roster, King said, even the new players.
“I wasn’t sure what to expect from our three players who have not played before (or only a season in middle school) — Julia Felici, Samantha Martin and Emily Coulter,” King said. “They were all fairly nervous going into this game, but once the nerves settled, they all really stepped up and played hard.
“As all good JV games should be, it got rough now and then – with McKayla ending up on the floor several times; McKenzie, Miranda and Wynter joined her on occasion, too.” she added. “All got up, dusted themselves off and just kept playing as hard as they did before going down.”
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