Coupeville Sports

Lauren Grove and the Wolf JV girls’ hoops squad have won three of their last four games. (John Fisken photo)

Beat the ferry? Check.

Beat Klahowya? Check part two.

Playing second for once, and with one eye on a clock ticking down to a preset departure time, the Coupeville High School JV girls’ basketball squad kept its composure Friday, held its lead and closed the deal.

Using a stellar defensive stand at the end, the Wolves made it a two-win night for the CHS girls’ hoops program, bouncing the host Eagles 36-32.

Not bad considering the young guns got off to a bit of a slow start as they stretched out their muscles.

“We actually came out a bit slow in the first quarter,” said Coupeville coach Amy King. “Road trip and sitting through the varsity game, I guess.

“Still, we were able to spread out our offense and get the key open so we could run our offense,” she added. “All the girls did a good job on defense, talking and moving well.”

While they might not have been as spry as normal, the Wolves (3-2 on the season) were effective, staking themselves to a 9-4 lead after one quarter.

The early highlight came courtesy of Lauren Grove, who made a sharp cut to the basket, and, as her defender went one way and the girl’s shoes the other, took a perfect pass and banked it up for a quick bucket.

Not content to stop there with the razzle-dazzle, CHS hit again.

This time, Kailey Kellner, wandering out in three-point land, drew two defenders and whipped a pass past them into the waiting hands of Kyla Briscoe.

Boom. Two points, and two downcast Eagles.

Rebounding machine Skyler Lawrence made her first appearance of the season in the second quarter and had an immediate impact.

“Skyler made her presence known with her rebounding,” King said. “She, Tiffany (Briscoe), Kyla and Allison (Wenzel) were powerhouses with ripping rebounds all night.”

With Coupeville controlling the boards, Kellner stepped up and got electric, pouring in 14 of her team-high 15 in the middle two periods.

“Kailey had the magic touch and their defense just didn’t stop her,” King said.

Klahowya fought back one final time, cutting the lead to a basket as time was running down.

Enter Mattea Miller, exit any chance of forcing an overtime that probably couldn’t have been played anyway due to time constraints.

With the Wolves digging in, Miller picked Klahowya’s pocket with six seconds to play, out-running the Eagles for a game-clinching shot off the glass.

“Great way to end the game!” said a jubilant King.

Kellner added five boards and a blocked shot to go with her 15 points, while running mate Miller swished eight and snagged two rebounds.

Grove (4), Lawrence (4), Kyla Briscoe (3) and Tiffany Briscoe (2) rounded out the scorers, while the battlin’ Briscoes both hauled in eight boards apiece.

Wenzel (6), Lawrence (6), Grove (4) and Brisa Herrera (1) also brought down rebounds.