Even with two tough playoff losses, the Wolf girls finished 15-6, best of any of Whidbey Island’s six high school teams. (Amy King photo)
The magic ran out.
A very successful season came to an unfortunate end Thursday for the Coupeville High School girls’ basketball squad.
Unable to buy a bucket in the first half, or cut into a double-digit deficit in the second, the Wolves fell 39-17 to Cascade Christian.
The loss, Coupeville’s second in three days on the faraway court at Bellarmine Prep High School in Tacoma, eliminated the Wolves from the district playoffs.
The CHS girls finished 15-6, by far the best record of any of Whidbey Island’s six varsity high school teams.
They went 9-0 in Olympic League play (running their record to 27-0 all-time), won their third straight conference crown and brought home the Friday Harbor Tip-Off Classic title for a second consecutive season.
Seattle Christian stunned Bellevue Christian 36-34 in Thursday night’s second playoff game to win the district title and punch its ticket to state.
BC and CC face off Saturday to determine District 3’s other state-bound squad.
Based on their play during the regular season, the Wolves entered districts with high hopes of returning to state for a second straight season.
Instead, something about making the 90+ mile trip each time and the unfamiliar court seemed to drain a lot of the life out of Coupeville’s players.
A team that played extremely strong defense all year struggled to recapture that lock-down style in both of its playoff games, and it stung them badly.
After a truly horrifying shooting performance Tuesday, the Wolves had much better shot selection Thursday, but couldn’t buy a bucket.
Shot after shot spun out of the cylinder, popped free or flat-out refused to take a friendly bounce.
And when the Wolves couldn’t score — they netted just five points in the first half Thursday — the pressure on their defense built greater and greater.
The game was briefly knotted up at 3-3 midway through the first quarter, but then Cascade Christian started to find a bit of a groove on the offensive end.
A 14-0 run from the Cougars that started in the final moments of the first and carried through much of the second quarter was a back-breaker for Coupeville.
Mia Littlejohn finally snapped her team’s epic cold streak with a little runner in the paint, but Cascade Christian responded with its only three-ball of the game on the very next possession, negating any brief Wolf hopes.
Coupeville, which trailed 22-5 at the break, did put up a far better fight in the second half, when coach David King played mix-and-match with his lineup.
The Wolf reserves lit a bit of a spark, with players like Lauren Rose and Ema Smith crashing around, making a silent bid for increased playing time next season.
With her younger teammates fighting for every ball, senior Kailey Kellner stepped up to provide a bit of a scoring punch, draining all seven of her points in the second half.
But, while the Wolves lost the second-half battle just 17-12, they were unable to score back-to-back buckets at any point in the game, effectively snuffing out comeback hopes.
Coupeville’s final basket came on maybe its best play of the night, as Kalia Littlejohn made off with a loose ball, led the break, then hit Kellner in stride for a layup.
While CHS held Cascade Christian’s leading scorer, Allison Downs, to just a pair of free throws, the Cougars got big games from Shelaine Lorenz, who scored 18, and Hailey Brandner, who knocked down 13.
Mia Littlejohn was the only Wolf to score in the first half, netting all five of her points, while Tiffany Briscoe (2), Mikayla Elfrank (2) and Lindsey Roberts (1) rounded out the limited attack.
Roberts and Elfrank hauled in eight boards apiece, with Briscoe snatching five.
The playoff loss was the swan song for Coupeville’s three seniors — Lauren Grove, Briscoe and Kellner.
Final season scoring stats:
Kailey Kellner – 180
Mikayla Elfrank – 128
Mia Littlejohn – 119
Lindsey Roberts – 83
Kalia Littlejohn – 68
Tiffany Briscoe – 53
Lauren Grove – 38
Lauren Rose – 30
Sarah Wright – 16
Kyla Briscoe – 7
Allison Wenzel – 4
Charlotte Langille – 2
Coupeville Sports 
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