Breeanna Messner filled the stat sheet Tuesday, with eight points, eight boards and eight assists. (John Fisken photo)
They’re coming home, with their season on the line.
After a disastrous third quarter killed their chances Tuesday in Mount Baker, the Coupeville High School girls’ basketball team will get a second chance to nab a playoff win Thursday — in front of its home fans.
The Wolves (9-12) fell 56-46 to the Mountaineers in the opening game of the double-elimination 1A District 1 tourney, meaning they will need to win their next two games to nab a berth to tri-districts.
That journey will start with a 7 PM game Thursday against Meridian (4-17), a team they beat 46-34 in early December.
Meridian may be a bit down in the dumps right now, having been blasted 59-7 by top-seeded Lynden Christian Tuesday.
Knock off the Trojans for a second time, and Coupeville advances to play the loser of Blaine and King’s Friday, at that team’s gym.
Win there and the Wolves will play in the third place/fourth place game on a neutral court at Mountlake Terrace High (very likely a rematch with Mount Baker) Saturday, but would be guaranteed of advancing, win or loss.
Tri-districts run Feb. 18-22 and lead-in to regionals and the state tourney.
To get back on the winning side of the score book, Coupeville just needs to tweak a few things.
The Wolves came hard against Mount Baker, shared the ball well (16 assists), hit their free-throws better than normal (7 of 12) and got a splendid 18-point performance from sophomore Makana Stone.
But a third-quarter letdown killed their chances.
“We did many things right last night,” said CHS coach David King. “But what counts is the final score.”
And that score would have been tied if you take away the third. But a 14-4 Mt. Baker advantage, fueled by eight points from Emily Brandland, gave the Mountaineers the edge they needed to secure the win.
Coupeville, which had trailed for much of the first half, actually scored first in the second half, taking a 27-26 lead (its only lead of the game) on a quick bucket from Madeline Strasburg.
After that, though, shots refused to fall for the Wolves. Coupeville had good looks at the basket, but the ball declined to cooperate, bouncing around the rim and falling off at the last second too many times.
Sparked by Stone, who went for eight in the quarter, and a hail of three-point bombs (Strasburg, Breeanna Messner and Carlie Rosenkrance all sank a trey), the Wolves got their offensive mojo back in the fourth.
Unfortunately, Mt. Baker proved to be deadly effective at the free-throw stripe, making 10 of 12 down the stretch to prevent Coupeville from chipping away at the lead.
Despite trailing for much of the early going, the Wolves stayed close. Coupeville routinely beat Baker’s press and was able to keep the Mountaineers from going wild behind the three-point line, where they had a deadly reputation.
The Wolves actually out-shot Mt. Baker from behind the arc, claiming a five-to-three advantage. Messner banged home two, while fellow senior Amanda Fabrizi netted one right at the end of the first quarter.
“This team should be proud of the effort,” King said. “If we had a few more shots that went in, the outcome of the game could have had us on the other side of the score and a win.”
Stone led the Wolves, snatching eight rebounds, rejecting four shots and collecting two steals and two assists to go with her 18 points. Messner filled up the stat sheet as well, with eight points, eight boards, eight assists and two steals.
Strasburg hauled in eight rebounds and Julia Myers snared another six, as Coupeville hit the boards with ferocity.
When it came to putting the ball in the bucket, Strasburg (6), Fabrizi (5), Rosenkrance (3), Kacie Kiel (2), Myers (2) and Wynter Thorne (2) all chipped in to support Stone and Messner.
Monica Vidoni and McKayla Bailey also saw time off the bench, and King was pleased with the group-wide effort he saw.
“Everyone got into the game and played well,” King said. “Monica getting her hands on a couple of balls going for rebounds. McKayla and Wynter came in and gave us some strong and productive minutes.
“Both are playing well on defense and their offense has picked up and they are both playing with more confidence,” he added. “We need both of them to continue to play well when called on to give the starters the rest they need.”
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