Coupeville Sports

Julia Felici made her first start of the season Friday, replacing an injured Madeline Strasburg.

The tallest player on the court, Monica Vidoni outscored Granite Falls by herself.

McKayla Bailey: “I pity the fool who has to play us.”

Complete and utter domination.

Down two key players — Madeline Strasburg (injury) and McKenzie Bailey (illness) — and with a third (Miranda Engle) still getting over being sick, there was a slight chance the Coupeville High School JV girls’ basketball team might come out Friday a bit tentative. And they did for about one play.

After that first bucket by host Granite Falls, things clicked in to place and then the epic beat-down commenced. With Monica Vidoni pouring in a season-high 22 points and a host of teammates taking turns feeding her low in the post, the Wolves roared to a 36-10 victory.

Now 5-5 overall, 3-3 in league play, the JV squad had to overcome the loss of two of their main ball-handlers in Strasburg and McKenzie Bailey. The Wolves responded by spreading the point guard duties between Kacie Kiel, Wynter Thorne and McKayla Bailey, while Julia Felici made her first start of the season in place of Strasburg.

“Julia worked hard every second she was in the game, getting rebounds and steals,” said Coupeville coach Amy King.

The Wolves also benefited from strong play from their role players, as well, King said.

“Samantha (Martin) did, I think, her best job this season on defense, always moving and talking, not letting anyone around her get a shot off,” King said. “Miranda, who is also just getting over the crud that has been going around, did a good job with defense and strong rebounding and Emily (Coulter) played tough defense.”

Facing what King described as “a fairly short and noticeably inexperienced young group” in Granite Falls, Coupeville put Vidoni, a six-footer, down in the blocks and, with her teammates feeding her a steady stream of passes, let the sophomore unleash her fury.

By the time she was done, she had more than doubled Granite Falls team total, and with her teammates scrambling and pressing relentlessly on defense, the game was never in question.

“I told the girls this was the game to work on our plays, get better with ball control and really work on good defense,” King said. “We did throw on a press, just to get our energy level up after halftime and the girls took over from there.”

McKayla Bailey popped for five in support of Vidoni, while Thorne swished four, Kiel singed the nets for three and Engle banked in a bucket.