Coupeville Sports

   Wolf senior Lauren Grove played stellar defense Friday as Coupeville won its sixth straight. (John Fisken photo)

Find a way, night after night.

Not every game this season has been a thing of beauty, but a scrappy Coupeville High School girls’ basketball squad refuses to bend under pressure.

Sparked by a “great start and a good finish,” packaged around two sub-par quarters, the Wolves held off host Port Townsend 39-31 Friday night for a victory that was huge for several reasons.

One, it lifts Coupeville to 5-0 in Olympic League play (10-3 overall) and moves the Wolves two games up on the RedHawks (4-3, 8-6).

After playing an unheard-of eight straight games on the road, CHS plays its first home game in 45 days this coming Tuesday.

Beat Klahowya (0-4, 3-10), or, for that matter, win at least one of their final four league games — all at home — and the Wolves clinch a third-straight league title.

The victory was Coupeville’s sixth straight, capped a 7-1 road trip from Hell and gives them nine wins away from the CHS gym this season, an especially strong sign as the Wolves look ahead to postseason play.

Friday night was a bit of a mixed bag for CHS coach David King, but a win always helps ease any concerns over a rough spot here or there.

“We came out red hot in the first, moving the ball well,” he said. “I’m not sure what happened to us in the middle quarters after such a great start.

“The middle quarters were tough, with the third being a grind and just not played well on either end of the court.”

Coupeville roared out to a 12-0 lead at the first break, then struggled to scrape out another 12 points combined across the second and third.

But, as quickly as the offense vanished, it returned in a 15-point fourth.

Lauren Grove opened the game by knocking down a three-ball, followed by a bucket off the finger-tips of Kailey Kellner, and the Wolves seemed headed to a rout.

While Coupeville only tallied six in the second, its defense was still strong and CHS carried an 18-6 lead in at the half.

“Then the third quarter hit,” King said. “It hit us hard and we staggered the whole quarter.

“I’m going to take that and place the blame squarely on me.”

Recognizing some opportunities offered by the Port Townsend defense, he decided to change up the offense on the fly, having the Wolves try out a set they haven’t run this year.

It didn’t go particularly well.

“It should have worked, but we didn’t execute it,” King said. “I shouldn’t have put our team in that situation.

“But something to prepare us for when we see them (Port Townsend) later this month.”

The RedHawks splashed down a pair of treys during a 13-6 run to cut the lead down to five heading into the final quarter, then tied things up at 24 early in the fourth.

Showing composure down the stretch, the Wolves never blinked, however.

A “huge three” from Kellner was key, while Coupeville stamped the win with its work at the free throw line in the game’s final minute.

Mia Littlejohn hit the front end of one-and-one opportunities twice, while Mikayla Elfrank crushed the home fan’s hopes by slipping past a RedHawk to snare the rebound and put it back up and in on off a Littlejohn miss.

“Mikayla made a nice move,” King said. “This is the type of effort we see every game from every player that steps on the court.”

Other than their mid-game shooting struggles, the Wolves played solid ball, with seven of 11 players scoring and the team keeping its turnovers to a minimum.

“Offensively we had some very sweet passes into players in the post,” King said. “Many players hit some big shots early, then when we needed them in the middle quarters. The big shots carried over to the fourth as well.

“We only had 12 turnovers; that’s 22 total in our last two games. Trending in the right direction, just what I like to see.”

Kellner paced CHS with 13 points and six rebounds, while Elfrank pumped in eight and snatched six caroms. Lindsey Roberts topped the rebound chart with seven.

Mia Littlejohn (6), Grove (5), Kalia Littlejohn (3), Roberts (2) and Tiffany Briscoe (2) rounded out the offensive attack.

Just as important as the buckets was the team-wide emphasis on defense, with Grove and Kalia Littlejohn clamping down on RedHawk star Kaitlyn Meek and Kellner and Elfrank taking charges to draw offensive fouls on Port Townsend.

“Big momentum swings when defensively we step in and take a charge!,” King said.