McKayla “Turtle Shell” Bailey. (John Fisken photos)
McKenzie Bailey.
Julia Felici
They were the best team this town had all season.
Not even a 48-18 loss at King’s Friday can take that away. Long after the bitter after-taste of its final game has faded, the Coupeville High School JV girls’ basketball team will look back on a season of promise and a season when they showed why Wolf basketball has a bright future.
They finished 9-10 overall, 6-8 in Cascade Conference play and had their share of big wins, dramatic finishes and epic plays. They also showed a penchant for gettin’ down and dirty, with a roster of back alley scrappers disguised as pleasant young women.
Turtle Shell and Co. will mess a girl up, if need be.
In her return to the bench, Amy King guided her mix of freshman and sophomores (and one junior) to a successful season, despite the fact several of her players had severely limited prior playing experience.
She got them to buy in to a team game, largely, and the result was a season in which all ten of her players scored and all ten of her players had moments in the spotlight.
“I told the girls after the game that even though this game didn’t go the way we hoped, I was still very proud of how they did this season,” King said. “Also talked to them about how necessary off-season work is, so they can come back stronger next year.”
Jitters did the Wolves in against King’s, as they perhaps bought too much into the mystique of the private school program.
“It was another game of nervous from the start because of who they were playing, and shots not falling,” King said. “Shots not falling means less confidence on offense, which leads to not great defense. All this leads to scrambling and just not playing our game.”
McKayla Bailey topped the Wolves with five points, while Monica Vidoni threw down four. Kacie Kiel, Wynter Thorne, McKenzie Bailey and Miranda Engle each notched a bucket, while Madeline Strasburg rounded out the scoring with a free-throw.
Final (unofficial) season scoring stats:
Monica Vidoni (154)
Madeline Strasburg (104)
Kacie Kiel (72)
Wynter Thorne (59)
McKayla Bailey (54)
Miranda Engle (49)
McKenzie Bailey (34)
Samantha Martin (9)
Julia Felici (4)
Emily Coulter (3)
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