Coupeville Sports

Hannah Davidson, seen in an earlier game, fought hard on the boards Wednesday in a losing cause. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

There was a moment Wednesday when it seemed we were set up for a battle royal.

Then, that moment vanished.

Unable to stop Oak Harbor’s bigs, and unable to take advantage of a staggering advantage at the free throw line, the Coupeville High School varsity girls basketball squad fell 44-25 to their 3A hosts.

The road loss, coming less than 24 hours after a win at Darrington, evens the Wolves early-season record at 1-1.

After a slow start Wednesday, in which it fell behind 8-0, Coupeville steadied the ship thanks to the combo of Scout Smith and Chelsea Prescott.

Playing smart ball at both ends of the floor, the duo pulled their team back within 12-10 midway through the second quarter and things looked promising.

Smith got the Wolves on the board with back-to-back buckets, one off of a steal and breakaway, the other on a nice dish inside from Izzy Wells set up by a Carolyn Lhamon offensive rebound.

Tack on four free throws from Prescott, the only CHS player able to hit consistently from the charity stripe, then Smith came rolling hard around the left side, slapping a runner off the glass.

Fighting hard on the boards even while facing a distinct height disadvantage — Oak Harbor has five girls between 5’11 and 6’1 while Coupeville has just one — the Wolves were pushing their big-school neighbors.

But then the cracks started to show.

Oak Harbor ended the first half with five straight points to take a 17-10 lead into the locker room, then turned up the heat with a game-deciding 14-5 surge in the third quarter.

After Smith’s bucket midway through the second quarter, Coupeville didn’t hit another field goal until the final play of the third frame, with Avalon Renninger swishing a short jumper off a well-executed in-bounds play.

Oak Harbor’s height proved to be too much, though, most notably on a play where the Wildcats snatched about 37 straight offensive rebounds before Payton Parks slapped home a put-back.

When Parks and Anna Jones weren’t rumbling in the paint, the ‘Cats rode a strong performance from the multi-talented Mikhaela Cortez.

The 5’11 senior went off for a game-high 15 points, scoring inside on quick cuts and layups, and outside, where she drilled the bottom of the net out on a pair of long-range three balls.

Unable to string together back-to-back buckets at any point during the second half, Coupeville couldn’t mount a comeback, though the Wolves did achieve some nice grace notes.

Sophomore Kylie Van Velkinburgh and freshman Nezi Keiper both notched their first varsity buckets in the fourth quarter, with Keiper’s layup coming courtesy of a smartly-delivered set-up pass off the fingers of Anya Leavell.

The young duo are the 228th and 229th Wolf girls to score since the modern-day CHS varsity hoops program began in 1974.

Smith finished with 10 points to pace CHS, Prescott added five, and Renninger, Davidson, Maddie Georges, Keiper, and Van Velkinburgh all finished with two apiece.

Leavell, Wells, Tia Wurzrainer, Lhamon, Audrianna Shaw, and Mollie Bailey all saw floor time as Coupeville coach Scott Fox used all 13 players on his roster.

As Coupeville moves on to play Orcas Island at home Saturday, the one Wednesday stat which may haunt them is an 11-27 performance at the free throw line.

Oak Harbor, which rises to 2-0 with the win, finished 8-11 at the charity stripe.