Coupeville Sports

Morgan Stevens tossed in four points and played inspired defense Tuesday as the Coupeville JV girls basketball team squashed Sultan. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

First, the great news. Then, the good news.

The top buzz coming out of the world of Coupeville High School JV girls basketball concerns Kylie Chernikoff, who is off her crutches and due back at practice.

One of the hardest-working Wolves in the program, the sophomore has been recovering after hurting her ankle, and her return should deliver a nice jolt to her team’s defense and intangibles.

And, the news gets better, as the team she will be rejoining just shredded visiting Sultan 34-18 Tuesday, capturing its fourth-straight win.

Now 2-0 in North Sound Conference action, 4-3 overall, Amy King’s squad, which has shuffled players all season, is just starting to find its groove.

Imagine if the roster ever solidifies for two games in a row.

No matter which lineup King has to throw at opposing teams, she has multiple weapons at her disposal, as the Turks found out to their great detriment.

Leading from start to finish Tuesday, the Wolves needed just one play to effectively break the collective backs of the Turks.

It came from fab frosh Audrianna Shaw, who rolled around a defender and buried a running hook shot off the glass in the game’s opening moments.

If Sultan thought it still had at least a chance, that quickly vanished, as well.

Anya Leavell, snatching one of her three steals, beat the crowd to the basket, flying coast to coast, while switching hands at the last second. That allowed her to evade a trailing defender and slap the ball home with ease.

From there, it was pretty much all-Coupeville, all-the-time, whether Abby Mulholland was droppin’ jumpers, with Ja’Kenya Hoskins and Leavell feeding her with great set-up passes, or Morgan Stevens suddenly erupting.

The Wolf freshman, a solid role player who continues to show growth in her first year on the hardwood, had a second-quarter run where she brought her JV teammates, and their varsity counterparts, to their feet.

First, Stevens connected on a jumper, set up by a thread-the-needle pass from Kiara Contreras, then she went big-time, backing down her defender and lofting up a ball that banked off the glass and hit pay-dirt.

Inspired by her play on the offensive end of the floor, Stevens ramped up her game on the defensive end, as well, attacking the Sultan ball-handler and barking out “ball, ball, ball!!” like a new version of Chernikoff.

Up 16-7 at the half, with four different players having scored four points apiece, Coupeville continued to share the ball after the break.

Contreras, in particular, played with real precision, wheeling and dealing with flair while running the point for the Wolves.

“Kiara had great selfless passing,” King said. “The highlight of the first half to me was her pass out to Morgan.

“It’s so nice to see these girls finding their teammates.”

Along with her passing, Contreras also showed off a deadly jumper, netting a third-quarter bucket with a ball which barely rippled the net as it dropped through.

Keeping alive the selfless theme of the night, that bucket came off a rebound and kick-out from Hoskins, who made the pass while weighed down by a Turk draped across her back.

Coupeville spread out its scoring, with six of 10 active players landing in the book.

Shaw and Leavell each rattled the rim for 10 points, while Mulholland (6), Stevens (4), Izzy Wells (2), and Contreras (2) also scored.

Mulholland yanked down eight rebounds, Shaw pilfered four steals, and the trio of Kylie Van Velkinburgh, Alana Mihill and Mollie Bailey all contributed defensive scrappiness.