Kylie Van Velkinburgh and the Coupeville JV captured a win Friday at Sultan. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
It was a wild and woolly kind of night.
Missing players, then taking the court after the varsity, though before the tail pipe on their bus got busted, the Coupeville High School JV girls basketball squad just went about their business Friday in Sultan.
Competing in a foul-heavy affair CHS coach Amy King called a “fast-paced, rugby type of game,” the Wolves eventually headed home with a 33-22 win to their credit.
Well, after their battered bus finally made it out of the parking lot later than expected.
The victory lifts the Wolf young guns to 3-1 in North Sound Conference play, 6-5 overall.
It also ties them with the JV boys for the most wins this season by a CHS squad.
Missing the injured Kylie Chernikoff and Abby Mulholland, the Wolves also found themselves facing a Turk who didn’t play the first time these schools met.
“They put in a player who wasn’t on the court our first time around – a six-foot girl who hung out around the free throw line,” King said. “Ja’Kenya (Hoskins) and Kylie (Van Velkinburgh) did a great job moving up on her, but she still had her moments with shooting, feeding her teammates and then hitting free throws when we fouled her.”
Trailing 10-9 after one quarter of action, the Wolves started pulling away, bit by bit, thanks in large part to their defense.
“The whole team worked hard. We pressed, we got steals – nobody let down,” King said. “Ja’Kenya and Mollie (Bailey) worked to defend down low on our zone, Anya (Leavell) and Audrianna (Shaw) up top.
“Alana (Mihill) and Lily (Leedy) did a nice job up top on offense and Morgan (Stevens) came down with some key rebounds.”
Bailey netted a huge three-ball to spark Coupeville, and the Wolves turned a 15-12 lead at the half into 22-14 heading into the fourth.
Down the stretch, CHS put the ball into the hands of freshman Izzy Wells, and she carried her team home, banging home nine of her team-high 11 points in the final frame.
“The game was definitely closer than the first time against them,” King said. “Both teams shot a lot of free throws because it was that kind of a battle.
“Very proud that we came out on top.”
The two teams combined to put up 46 free throws, including 19 during a fourth quarter which went on for some time.
Hoskins banked in eight points and snatched seven rebounds (“the other coach says she just loves watching her rebound”), while Wells had five boards, five steals and two blocks to go with her 11 points.
Shaw (6), Leavell (4), Bailey (3), and Van Velkinburgh (1) also scored, and Kiara Contreras chipped in with two rebounds and three steals.
Coupeville Sports 
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