Coupeville Sports

Kylie Chernikoff had a team-high seven rebounds and three steals Monday, as the Coupeville JV went toe-to-toe with 2A Sequim. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

It’s all about the lessons.

Do you take them in? Do you build on them? Do they foster growth?

The Coupeville High School JV girls basketball squad is young (11 of 14 players are freshmen) and still finding its way.

So, while losses like the 35-20 defeat the Wolves absorbed Monday in Sequim hurt in the moment, they can be the start of something bigger as athletes adjust to the difference between high school ball and what came before.

“Attitude and effort are the only things in life you can control,” said Coupeville coach Amy King, and it’s a stark truth.

While the non-conference loss to a 2A school drops the Wolves to 0-2 on the season, they can look to how they responded in the second half as a positive to build on.

Coupeville could not get a shot to drop for much of the first half Monday, with buckets from Kylie Chernikoff and Anya Leavell the only small solace in a 19-4 deficit.

The Wolves struggled to break Sequim’s half-court man press, which made it hard to even get shots launched.

“We had turnover after turnover,” King said. “Passing the ball into the waiting hands of Sequim, who used that to fast break.”

Things took a turn for the positive after Coupeville coaches delivered a halftime pep talk/come to God moment.

“We challenged the team to get out of their own heads and start playing basketball,” King said. “The energy needed to elevate from everybody, talk on defense and get scrappy.”

And scrappy they got, as Leavell and Kiara Contreras led a defensive stand, going after the ball with ramped-up intensity instead of sitting back and letting the play come to them.

With Chernikoff, Ja’Kenya Hoskins and Abby Mulholland cleaning the boards with authority, CHS pushed the flow of the game, playing Sequim even in the second half (16-16), while winning the battle in the fourth quarter 10-4.

“We were stirring up some energy, started moving the ball better and getting open shots,” King said. “We moved the ball like we knew how, and we changed our press break enough to get a few longer passes down the court, which made their defense scramble a little bit.

“If we had played that way in the first half, the game may have turned out a little different.”

Izzy Wells paced the Wolves with eight points, all coming in the second half, while snagging six rebounds.

Leavell netted six, with Chernikoff, Mollie Bailey and Hoskins adding two points apiece to round out the Wolf scoring.

Coupeville’s leader on the glass was the always hard-charging Chernikoff, who ripped down seven rebounds to go with her team-high three steals.

Hoskins added six boards, with Contreras and Kylie Van Velkinburgh each doling out two assists.

All 11 CHS girls in uniform Monday played, with Alana Mihill, Lily Leedy and Morgan Stevens also seeing floor time.