Coupeville Sports

Breeanna Messner (left) in her post-game shoes, poses with Wolf cheerleader Iris Ryckaert and Messner’s young cousin. (Aimee Bishop photo)

It must be the shoes.

You can’t deny the power of the pink high tops.

You can push her, you can shove her, you can body-slam her to the floor and poke her in the eye (with your whole fist), but Breeanna Messner is still gonna kick your butt. While remaining stylish, of course.

Bobbing and weaving, raining down three point bombs from every angle Saturday night, Messner was the name Orcas Island gave to its pain.

Scoring 10 of her 12 points during a final quarter to remember, she kick-started a game-closing run that carried the Coupeville High School girls’ basketball squad into Christmas break with the best present possible, an electrifying 39-31 home win.

The only thing that finally slowed her down and broke a 21-0 Wolf run was her fifth foul, which sent her to the bench with 47 ticks on the clock. At that point, all Messner had to do was put her eye-popping kicks up and count down the final seconds along with an elated crowd and her high-fiving teammates.

The ending was so enthralling, it was easy to forget how god-awful the opening was.

Looking like they were already on vacation, the Wolves fell behind 12-0 midway through the first quarter and caused mild-mannered Coupeville coach David King to raise his voice loud enough in one huddle that the fans on the other side of the gym could hear him dissect his team’s apathetic play.

It worked, as Coupeville closed back to within two at the half, behind rugged inside play from the triple threat trio of Hailey Hammer, Bessie Walstad and Makana Stone. Then, it didn’t, as Orcas pushed the lead back out to 27-16 late in the third.

Enter the collision of the game, as Messner took a fist to the face while managing to drop the offending Viking player into a crumpled heap of her own.

After a discussion with King, Messner slowly got to her feet and with her came new life. Suddenly the Wolves looked hungry, Orcas looked slow and disorientated and the rout was on.

Walstad closed the third with a jumper in the paint, a ferocious block and then a dead-eye pass to Rhiannon Ellsworth, who slipped behind the Viking defense for a well-executed layup under extreme duress. The first points of the season for the senior, it was just the beginning of the good time romp.

Re-enter Messner, bleary eyes and all, and the beatin’ commenced. A trey from the left side, a pass to set up Haley Marx, who drained a beautiful runner from the side, and then another Messner trey, this one from the right side.

At that point, the pink high tops were glowing radioactively, but Messner wasn’t finished, tossing in another bucket and a pair of free throws before the refs forcibly removed her from the game.

Now 4-5 heading into the 10-day holiday break, the Wolves are a perfect 2-0 in their rare visits home, with Messner having scored 24 of her 37 points this season on her home floor.

Walstad tied her for team-high honors Saturday, while Hammer tossed in seven and Stone banged away for four. Marx and Ellsworth got their buckets, while the four Wolves who didn’t score each chipped in with key contributions.

Amanda Fabrizi and Madeline Strasburg rotated much of the ball-handling while Katie Kiel played strong ‘d’ and Jai’Lysa Hoskins put the fear of God into any Viking dumb enough to invade her paint.