Coupeville Sports

Very cheerful for a 6:30 AM ferry, it’s (l to r) Kacie Kiel, Amanda Fabrizi, Miranda Engle, Makana Stone and (a pre-bite) Wynter Thorne. (Amy King photos)

Thorne and Kiel become one with the sand, while Monica Vidoni puts the finishing touches on their sand creation.

Would you trust her behind the steering wheel?

Life’s a beach for Stone, Julia Myers, Breeanna Messner and Engle.

Engle is revved up and ready to rumble.

Fabrizi, the master of knowing where the camera is.

Myers never wants to go home.

Bruises. Stomach illnesses. Bites on the calf.

Good times. Good times.

Having survived camping out in an elementary school classroom, limited shower space and food opportunities (which might be why one rival took a chomp on Wynter Thorne’s calf during a melee), lack of sleep and tons of basketball, eight Coupeville High School girls’ basketball players (and three coaches) returned home fairly happy from a hoops camp earlier this week.

The camp at Ocean Shores drew in 42 teams and allowed Wolf coaches David and Amy King (and ever-faithful assistant Brittany Black) to try out a new defense and work on bringing the core of next year’s squad closer.

“We had a very successful camp,” David King said. “The girls had a very good camp. Lots of team bonding, oh, and some basketball thrown in there too.”

In between trips to the beach and lake, the Wolves (seniors Breeanna Messner and Amanda Fabrizi, juniors Monica Vidoni, Kacie Kiel, Wynter Thorne and Julia Myers and sophomores Miranda Engle and Makana Stone) more than held their own.

“We threw a new defense at our team that we had not run before,” King said. “Out of all of the teams we saw playing and the games we watched, our team, in our eyes (Amy, Brittany and myself) had the best defense out there.

“In one game we would have had three-five times just in the 1st half of a game a 30 second violation for the other team,” he added. “All eight players were flying around for 40-plus seconds on defense and not allowing the other team a hint of looking for a shot. This is something we will incorporate into our upcoming season.”

Coupeville also tinkered with its offense and its mind-set.

“We introduced a new offensive set and by the last day and a half we were getting open shots inside the key,” King said. “We went to camp to bond as a team on and off the court. We pushed the players to get out of their comfort zone, expand their game and not dwell on the mistakes.”