Coupeville Sports

Mollie Bailey, breakin’ ankles and takin’ names. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Mollie Bailey is deceptive.

While older sisters McKayla and McKenzie were more openly vocal during their playing days at Coupeville High School, the youngest member of the family is more of a laid-back cool cat.

The Wolf freshman bops along, often looking like she’s in her own little world, a place where whatever song is playing in her head is something she, and she alone, can hear and appreciate.

And then, just when you think she’s drifting, BAM, Bailey slices you off at the kneecaps and leaves you to bleed out on the field or court.

Cause deep down, under the placid exterior, frequent one-liners and love of being an accomplished photo bomber, is a stone-cold killer who is already carving out a name for herself as a prairie legend.

The latest chapter in the best seller that is Mollie played out Wednesday night, as she outscored the visiting Blaine JV girls basketball squad by herself.

Pouring in 14 points, with eight coming in a game-busting run, she sparked the Wolves to a 25-11 win, evening Coupeville’s record at 1-1 on the season.

Playing against a 2A school with a much-deeper bench, CHS made do with just 6.5 players.

Missing four girls, and with swing player Avalon Renninger limited to just two quarters, Coupeville relied heavily on its starters, and they responded.

Bailey was in a groove from the word go, threading a beautiful pass to a sprinting Tia Wurzrainer for the game’s first bucket.

That was actually the only basket the Wolves scored in a defensive-minded first quarter, yet they still led 5-4 at the break.

With Nicole Lester, Kylie Chernikoff and Chelsea Prescott dominating on defense — Lester rejected one Borderite shot, then snatched the ball away and led the break herself — Blaine struggled mightily to get the ball in the hoop.

The visitors did briefly find a rhythm, scoring the final two buckets of the second quarter and the first one of the third to pull within 11-10, the closest they had been all game.

At which point Bailey sighed, thunked the ball a little harder on the floor as she dribbled up-court, then promptly went and ripped out her defender’s still-beating heart and showed it to her.

Metaphorically…

A free throw, a three-point play the hard way (bucket and free throw), then back-to-back dead-eye jumpers staggered Blaine and the rout was on.

And Bailey had plenty of help as she KO’d the Borderites.

The ever-friendly Lester transformed superbly into an on-court wild woman, swinging sharp elbows as she hauled in rebound after rebound.

Meanwhile, Chernikoff turned a broken play into a buzzer-beating bank shot after snaring a loose ball, Prescott cleaned the glass and turned it into a second-chance bucket and Renninger drilled a jumper from the top of the key.

Toss in a nice little bit of floor time for foreign exchange student Julia Garcia Onoro, and Coupeville JV coach Amy King walked off with yet another win.

It took Bailey a few extra minutes to join her coach in the locker room, though. She had to remove all the bodies she carved up first.