Julia Myers, seen here being a beast on the boards in an earlier game, hauled down six rebounds and blocked two shots Tuesday. (John Fisken photo)
These are the times that try the patience of a coach.
After a decent start Tuesday night, the Coupeville High School girls’ basketball team floundered on both ends of the court, expending too much energy at times and not enough at others.
A step slow on defense and unable to properly execute on offense, the Wolves were crushed by a hail of three-point bombs and fell 66-27 at Cedarcrest.
The loss dropped Coupeville to 1-2 overall, 0-1 in Cascade Conference play.
Facing off with the largest school in the 1A/2A league, the Wolves had a game plan going in. They just didn’t, or couldn’t, stick to it, and paid the price.
“I know we are a better team than what we showed last night on both ends of the court,” said Wolf coach David King. “If we allow ourselves to believe that, remain patient and yes, execute our offense, we will minimize turnovers, both forced and unforced.
“The open shots will be there and this group will knock down these open jumpers,” he added. “I have all of the confidence in the world this can and will happen.”
Things started off nicely, with Coupeville winning the opening tip and immediately pressing the action. Intent on breaking the press they knew their hosts would throw at them, the Wolves used a mix of “good spacing, seeing the floor and being strong with the ball.”
On the best play of the early run, Coupeville got a quick layup from Hailey Hammer on a beautiful post-to-post pass that left Cedarcrest flat-footed.
But then a mix of Cedarcrest treys and layups (“very little of a mid-range shooting team”) stretched the early lead to 21-10 and Coupeville’s resolve crumbled a bit.
“Once the lead started to build, our patience, spacing and offensive execution was a thing of the past,” King said.
As it slipped further behind, an old foe — poor free-throw shooting (Coupeville hit just 4 of 14 from the charity stripe) — didn’t help.
The Wolves, who will travel to the other big 2A school in the Conference, Lakewood, this Friday, were led by sophomore Makana Stone, who floated and jabbed her way to eight points.
Hammer dropped in seven while Amanda Fabrizi banged home six, including a three-pointer. Madeline Strasburg (4) and Breeanna Messner (2) rounded out the Wolf offensive attack.
Stone led Coupeville on the boards with 10 (three on the offensive glass) while Julia Myers hauled down six and Hammer corralled five.
Strasburg made off with five steals, Messner handed out three assists and Myers (2), Hammer (1) and Monica Vidoni (1) all chipped in with resounding blocks.
For King, the answer is simple. Get back to practice Wednesday and continue fine-tuning the Wolves’ strengths.
“This group can and will do some very good things this season,” he said. “Last night was one game; we will review what we did well, what we need to improve on and get ready for Lakewood.”
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