Hannah Davidson had five points and eight rebounds Thursday as Coupeville fell to highly-ranked King’s, ending the Wolves playoff run. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
The Wolves enjoy a moment together during the ferry ride home. (Amy King photo)
In the end, there was one team they just couldn’t beat.
Unable to solve the big, quick, highly-disciplined pack of players private school power King’s throws at the world, the Coupeville High School girls basketball squad reached the end of its season Thursday at Shoreline.
Falling 48-11 in the second round of the District 1 playoffs, the Wolves were eliminated a win shy of qualifying for bi-districts, and finish 9-10 on the year.
Three of those losses came to the North Sound Conference champs, as all-universe freshman Jada Wynn and company swept the season series from Coupeville.
Even though their season ending with a defeat, and a long ride home on the icy back roads of America, the Wolves enjoyed a fair amount of success in David King’s seventh year at the helm of the program.
CHS, which has made the playoffs every season under King, claimed third-place in the six-team NSC, beating pre-season projections, and closed with five wins in its last eight games.
That included an 11-point home playoff win over Sultan Wednesday, in a game thrown together at the very last second.
The Coupeville girls were also one of just two Whidbey Island high school hoops teams (out of six) to make the playoffs, and the last eliminated, at least by a few minutes.
Playing earlier in the evening Thursday, South Whidbey’s boys were bashed 67-47 at Meridian and also fell a game shy of a berth to bi-districts.
The onslaught of ice and snow which ravaged Washington changed what was supposed to be double-elimination district tourneys into modified singe-elimination ones.
With the threat of round two of Snowmageddon arriving Friday, Coupeville’s second postseason bout got shoved up a night, sending the Wolves to the bus less than 24 hours after they whacked the Turks.
The quick turnaround, piled on top of an emotional home win, a long bus trip, a day of school, and the sheer talent of their rivals made for a tall mountain to scale.
“A tough game after the great win last night,” David King said. “We came out and gave everything we had.
“That said, last night’s game took a lot out of us, energy wise,” he added. “We got a lot of shots up and just couldn’t get them to fall. King’s defense is fundamentally sound; they prevented us from getting to the basket.”
Coupeville broke 40 points in seven games this season, but could only scrape together 39 points combined across its three losses to King’s, scoring 17, 11, and 11.
Thursday night the only shot which dropped in the first quarter was a three-ball from Ema Smith, and the Wolves went to the break trailing 13-3.
It didn’t get much better from there, with King’s stretching the lead out to 28-6 at the half, then completely shutting Coupeville’s offensive attack down during an 11-0 third quarter.
The Wolves continued to work hard, though, pushing the Knights long after the game was out of hand.
“The team never backed down and gave everything they had every time they stepped on the court,” King said. “Overall, a very good season.”
Davidson, a standout during Coupeville’s playoff run, capped her junior season with a team-high five points and eight rebounds.
Ema Smith finished with five points and three boards, while Chelsea Prescott netted a free throw to round out the scoring.
Bringing her prep hardwood career to a close Thursday, Smith moved past two more former Wolf greats on the career scoring list.
Finishing with 228 points, she leapfrogs Annette Jameson (223) and Mikayla Elfrank (227) to finish as the #48 scorer in program history, which stretches back to 1974.
Thursday’s game was the final one for Smith and fellow CHS seniors Nicole Laxton, a hard worker who always brought great energy to the floor, and four-year varsity vet Lindsey Roberts.
Roberts, who missed two complete games and most of a third due to a college visit and a late-season finger injury, still topped Coupeville in scoring for a second-straight season.
A player who saw quality minutes at the varsity level from day one of her freshman season, she exits with 448 points, leaving her tied with Vanessa Davis for #18 on the career chart.
While all three seniors will be missed, the cupboard isn’t bare for David King and JV coach/wife Amy, who can bring back nine of the 12 players who saw varsity floor time.
Point guard Scout Smith, now the leading active scorer for the girls program with 142 points across two varsity seasons, is one of four juniors on the team, along with Davidson, Avalon Renninger, and Tia Wurzrainer.
Sophomores Prescott and Mollie Bailey and freshmen Ja’Kenya Hoskins, Izzy Wells, and Anya Leavell should all return as well.
Final season scoring statistics:
Lindsey Roberts – 150
Ema Smith – 134
Chelsea Prescott – 101
Scout Smith – 86
Avalon Renninger – 56
Hannah Davidson – 31
Tia Wurzrainer – 18
Nicole Laxton – 15
Izzy Wells – 11
Mollie Bailey – 8
Ja’Kenya Hoskins – 5
Anya Leavell – 4
Coupeville Sports 
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