A healthy, happy Wolf girls’ hoops squad celebrates its first win of the season. (Aimee Bishop photo)
Bellingham was the place to be Saturday.
Far away from the illness that swept through the Coupeville High School boys’ basketball team, the Wolf girls’ were hale, hearty and in a winning mood.
Powered by the one-two scoring combo of senior Lauren Escalle (11 points) and freshman Makana Stone (10), Coupeville ran away with a 43-36 victory over host Meridian for its first win of the young season.
The non-conference victory evened the Wolves record at 1-1 as they open their year with a five-game road trip.
The extra travel didn’t seem to hurt Coupeville, as they used a 17-point second quarter to grab a lead they wouldn’t surrender.
Meridian rallied late in the game with a six-point explosion off of one play (the Trojans hit a three-point bomb and the Wolves were called for a foul on a potential rebounder, then, after a free-throw, Meridian put back in an offensive rebound off of a missed free throw), but the Wolves iced the game at the line.
While Coupeville struggled a bit at the charity stripe (15 of 37), it made them when it mattered, as Bessie Walstad swished two and Amanda Fabrizi nailed one to close out the game.
With the refs calling a close game, Coupeville had to sit back a bit on defense.
“Once again, the girls came out ready to play,” said coach David King. “Defensively we couldn’t play as aggressive as we would have liked to. The game was called tight, so we adapted like good teams do.”
Stone snagged seven boards to go with her offensive production, while Walstad (six), Haley Marx (five) and Hailey Hammer (four) chipped in with solid scoring numbers. Fabrizi, Breeanna Messner and Madeline Strasburg each scored two (Strasburg’s first varsity points) while Jai’Lysa Hoskins added a free throw.
Coupeville spread its offense around well, notching 12 assists on its 14 field goals.
The Wolves return to the road next week, with games at La Conner Thursday, Dec. 7 and at Cedarcrest the next night. The Cedarcrest match-up is their Cascade Conference opener.
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