Coupeville Sports

Makana Stone on the move. (John Fisken photos)

Amanda Fabrizi

Madeline Strasburg

Breeanna Messner

Hailey Hammer (34) fights for a rebound.

Even as we looked back last night, we looked forward as well.

High school sports, like any sports, is a cyclical business. Players come and players go. There is always someone who has next.

So, while Coupeville High School coaches, fans and parents honored the commitment of seniors Bessie Walstad, Haley Marx, Rhiannon Ellsworth, Jai’Lysa Hoskins, Lauren Escalle and Katie Kiel last night, there was also a moment, late in the game against Granite Falls, when the future was fully on display.

Freshman Makana Stone, sophomores Hailey Hammer and Madeline Strasburg and juniors Breeanna Messner and Amanda Fabrizi stood at one end of the court, staring down the Tigers, while their senior counterparts had come to the bench, one after another, to receive their curtain calls.

That unit, very likely, represents next year’s starting five.

JV players such as Kacie Kiel, McKayla Bailey, Wynter Thorne and Monica Vidoni may have a say in matters, and who knows what fresh talent might spring from this year’s 8th graders?

Of course, there’s always the chance a couple of blue-chip prospects from ATM or King’s suddenly move to Whidbey Island with their families, leave behind the world of scholarships and recruitment and refresh their souls by experiencing small town basketball again. You never know.

But this five is a five to be feared.

They are four of the team’s top five scorers this season (Hammer is tops, while Stone, Messner and Fabrizi are 3-4-5, hot on the heels of Walstad at #2).

Messner and Fabrizi are dead-eye shooters, fearless at times, and quite willing to shed their alter-egos as Wolf cheerleaders and scrap on the floor for every ball. Fabrizi kicked a chick in the head this year (sorta by accident), for goodness sakes.

Hammer plays like her name in the paint, and, as she continues to grow in confidence, may come to even more emulate older brother Hunter Hammer, a six-foot-seven wrecking crew back in the day.

And then there is Strasburg, who has a motor that never stops going. Against Granite Falls, in a game the Wolves led by 29, she picked up a foul with ONE SECOND to play after chasing down and catching a runaway Granite Falls player.

Strasburg is the T-1000 from “Terminator 2.” She never, ever stops coming, a beaming smile accompanying every beat-down she administers.

Stone? She is what coaches dream about, a long, tall, graceful, super-quick, polished player capable of starting as a freshman. If she hadn’t missed a chunk of games with an illness, she would likely be currently leading this team in scoring.

She could be the player that dominates the Cascade Conference for the next three years, taking the place of ATM’s Beth Carlson. She’s that good. She has that much potential.

And running with Messner, Fabrizi, Hammer and Strasburg at her side? Fear the Wolves, because they’re going to be feasting on Wildcats and Knights in the very near future.