Coupeville Sports

   Mikayla Elfrank had five points and seven rebounds in a loss at Bellevue Christian Friday night. (John Fisken photo)

Down the road, when historians look back at the 2016-2017 Coupeville High School basketball season, they might just want to skip over Dec. 16.

Facing a brutal schedule — four games in one gym with start times ranging from 3:30-8:00 PM — the Wolves took a hard hit at Bellevue Christian, being routed every step of the way.

Since I am brutally sick (I blame the germ-riddled Coupeville Middle School gym), we’re going to combine all four games into one story, deal with things and then move on quickly, never to speak of this day again.

Things will get better.

Girls varsity:

The worst first-half shooting performance in David King’s time as CHS coach doomed the Wolves.

“Not too much positive when you are held to two points in the first half,” he said. “You have to be able to put the ball in the basket. If not, the other team is going to come at you and keep coming. That’s what happened tonight.”

Coupeville went 1-12 from the field (including missing three shots in the paint) before the halftime break, and a 23-2 deficit eventually morphed into a 49-14 beat-down.

The loss drops the girls to 4-3 on the season.

Turnovers and an inability to deal with Bellevue Christian’s defense hampered CHS all game.

“BC pressed and played hard on-ball defense and we played like it was the first time we had seen defensive pressure,” King said. “The players have some homework to do over the weekend.

“Come Monday I expect a spirited practice and practice with a purpose,” he added. “We can’t get down early and think there is some light switch we can turn on and begin to play.”

Mikayla Elfrank paced the Wolves with five points and seven rebounds, while Kailey Kellner banked home four and snared five boards.

Sarah Wright and Kalia Littlejohn each dropped in a bucket and Tiffany Briscoe netted a free-throw to round out the scoring.

Boys varsity:

The game was like a yo-yo, as terrible first and third quarters blunted a pretty good second and fourth in a 66-38 loss.

The loss drops Coupeville to 1-6 heading into a home non-conference match-up with Vashon Island Saturday afternoon (JV 4:30/varsity 6:00.)

Unable to buy a bucket for much of the first eight minutes, the Wolves found themselves in an 18-2 hole at the first break, and never really recovered.

After a slow start, CHS got all of its scoring from the trio of Hunter Smith (15), Ethan Spark (13) and Gabe Wynn (10).

Spark threw down 10 of his points in a torrid stretch in the fourth, and finished the game with three of Coupeville’s six treys.

Hunter Downes did the dirty work for the Wolves, racking up nine rebounds, a block and a steal, while Wynn corraled five boards and Cameron Toomey-Stout snared four.

Smith had a team-high four steals.

Girls JV:

Coupeville’s second squad managed to outdo its varsity counterparts, but in a bad way, scoring only a lone point in the first half.

The Wolves picked up the pace (a bit) in the second half, but slid to a 26-12 loss that leaves them at 3-2.

“First half was rough,” said CHS coach Amy King. “No rhythm in offense and struggled on defense.”

Coming out of the break, Ema Smith and Maya Toomey-Stout “really dug in on defense” and they got a big boost from teammates Tia Wurzrainer and Emma Mathusek.

“It’s nice to see a spark light up with the younger girls,” King said.

Toomey-Stout nailed a three-ball for her first points of the season, while Maddy Hilkey, Ashlie Shank and Scout Smith all earned praise from their coach for their second-half effort.

“All in all, much better second half then first. A lot of heart and no giving up,” King said. “We have a few more games and a few weeks of practice to get better before more league games.

“We’ll get there, we have full confidence.”

Wright pounded home a team-high five, while Scout Smith (4) and Toomey-Stout (3) rounded out the offensive attack.

Boys JV:

The young guns were the only team to keep things close, falling 47-38.

Freshman Sean Toomey-Stout put up a double-double to pace the Wolves, and that’s about all I know at the moment.

The loss drops Coupeville to 4-3.