Wynter Thorne heads up-court. (John Fisken photo)
The night was cold, but Wynter Thorne was on fire.
Pulling double duty after seeing some floor time in the varsity game, the Coupeville High School junior crossed the hallway to the other gym and lit up the scoreboard in the JV girls’ basketball game Tuesday night.
Unfortunately, not even her game-high 14 point outburst was enough, as the Wolves were nipped 28-24 by visiting South Whidbey.
The loss dropped the JV squad to 2-2 overall, 2-1 in conference play.
Looking for a little revenge after getting blown out in the varsity game, the Falcons loaded up their roster for the second game and came out aggressively. Unlike the varsity contest, this time some of the Wolves took a step back.
“South Whidbey was going for everything and not giving room for error on passing and ball handling,” said Coupeville coach Amy King. “If we would get a little more aggressive on defense, we could have done the same back.
“We have some girls step up and get aggressive, but others are way more passive and we are working on getting them to put a little more fire in their eye and gut,” she added. “We need to be aggressive on the floor and we need to be consistent with that aggressiveness.”
Being aggressive is a trademark for Thorne, and she consistently delivered in the time she could be on the floor.
“Most of Wynter’s baskets were off of reading their passes and stealing the ball, then driving up the floor for the lay up,” King said. “I feel this was her best game as far as stepping up, being a threat both offensively and defensively, being a leader on the floor and putting every ounce of energy she had into the three quarters she was able to play.”
Thorne was an equal opportunity threat, draining five buckets from the field and a perfect four-of-four from the charity stripe.
Carlie Rosenkrance backed her with four points, while Lauren Grove, Monica Vidoni and Skyler Lawrence all chipped in with a bucket.
Lawrence and Tiffany Briscoe had “picture-perfect rebounds, including blocking out, and great outlet passes” while Sophia Jebrail “played strongly and Erin Josue “played outstanding defense.”
“Everybody contributed in some aspect – whether it was fly-around defense, rebounding, taking a shot, talking on the court or talking from the bench,” King said. “We are a strong team. We just need more consistency with how we play every time we step foot on the court.”
Leave a comment