Coupeville Sports

  Tiffany Briscoe, one of many promising freshmen on this year’s Wolf JV squad. (John Fisken photos)

Erin Josue: “No, YOU may not have MY basketball. Silly girl…”

    Back row (left to right) Aura Corredor, Kailey Kellner, Erin Josue, Mattea Miller, Jenn Spark, McKenzie Bailey, Skyler Lawrence. Front: Lauren Grove, Emily Coulter, Sophia Jebrail, Tiffany Briscoe. (Amy King photo)

And their normal personalities…

“The score doesn’t tell the story of the game.”

That’s a lesson Coupeville High School JV girls’ basketball coach Amy King imparted to her squad after they closed out their season Saturday with a 40-19 loss at King’s.

A bumped-up schedule, to allow for rest days before the start of the district playoffs for the Wolf varsity, forced Coupeville to play back-to-back games in less than 24 hours.

Than, there’s the reality that, after blasting Granite Falls Friday night, the Wolves were facing a King’s JV squad that could hold its own, or beat, several of the varsity teams in the Cascade Conference.

Sure enough, the host Knights came out ramped-up, scoring six before Coupeville managed to get a shot off.

But then, as they have done in almost every game this season, the Wolves reached down, found their composure and got tough. They might not have been able to hang with the sports factory children of privilege for the entire game, but they didn’t roll over.

“One thing I love about this team is that any of us coaches instruct them on the floor, during quarter breaks or during time outs and they just go out and perform,” King said. “During the game we could tell that we were getting in King’s heads.

“We scored in every quarter, we hustled our butts off the entire game and we forced turn-overs.”

The scrappiness went to the very final play, as, instead of conceding an easy bucket at the buzzer, sophomore Jenn Spark chased down and denied a runaway Knight.

“They got a steal and one of their players driving towards their basket and right behind her came Jenn … Jenn was flying!,” King said. “She caught up, got her hand in for a steal of her own, both players went down and the ball rolled out of bounds.

“So much better than a King’s shot!”

Spark’s play was symbolic of the never-say-die effort that came from every Wolf up and down the roster. It’s been that way all season and nothing changed in the finale.

“Lauren (Grove) was a dynamo on defense all night,” King said. “She stayed on their ball handlers, slowing them down, taking a few steals off them and causing turn-overs.

“Tonight we had many defenders that just made me so proud,” she added. “Sophia (Jebrail) took a charge in the second half. Kailey (Kellner) stole the ball several times, driving it down the floor. McKenzie (Bailey), Lauren and Emily (Coulter) got loud on their defense, I’m sure making sure the people they were guarding knew they were there.”

When the ball came off the rim, freshmen Skyler Lawrence and Tiffany Briscoe flew to the ball.

“I have never seen Skyler play the level of defense she did tonight in the second half. She was everywhere!,” King said. “And when she pulled a defensive rebound she did not wait to find a guard to pass it to — she drove it to safety before passing it off.

“In the fourth quarter every possession that King’s had was challenged,” she added. “Tiffany turned up her defensive effort, if that is even possible. As our girls subbed in and out, every one of them took over where the other left off.”

Kellner paced the Wolf scoring attack, hitting for six, while Coulter joined her in banging down a long trey. Carlie Rosenkrance, Mattea Miller, Jebrail, Spark and Lawrence each chipped in with a bucket.

“Our girl’s confidence and skills have come so far from those first few games,” King said. “That effort was there all night from every Coupeville player.

“I am truly going to miss this group of girls!”