Coupeville Sports

Laken Simpson played strongly on both ends of the floor Thursday, including scoring for the first time this season. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

The improvement is real, and it is tangible.

After opening the season at home, the Coupeville Middle School girls basketball teams hit the road for three straight games, finally returning to their own gym Thursday afternoon.

Game #5 was always going to be tough, with King’s Junior High transporting its band of battle-hardened semi-professional hoops stars to Whidbey on a swanky bus which most definitely is not of the yellow variety.

Cushy seats, acres of leg room, probably a personal chef operating the waffle bar in the back as the Knights ramble back to Shoreline.

At least that’s how I assume all swanky private schools roll.

So, safe to say Coupeville’s players, many of whom are in their first season of organized ball — and most assuredly don’t have a waffle bar on their bus — faced a steep challenge as they took the court Thursday afternoon.

To their credit, each and every Wolf girl responded with the kind of roar which warms the heart of old-school hoops fans near and far.

Outside, rain drops plopped on heads, driving tennis players off the courts.

Inside the CMS gym, with preteen girls in the stands screaming at levels not generally heard outside of the front row at a Harry Styles concert, it was a battle royale.

Sure, King’s had superior firepower.

Heck, it had the only player throwing behind-the-back passes — and that was in the JV game, for goodness sake!

But Coupeville’s rooting section, super-charged by way too many middle school kids eating way too much candy and chips, matched King’s note for note in trying to bust the eardrums of anyone over the age of 15.

There is loud, and then there was what Thursday was, and that kind of energy and enthusiasm, centered around the one perfect sport we have in this world, is truly admirable.

Give King’s props. And give Coupeville’s girls even bigger ones.

Cause out there on the floor the Wolves held up well under pressure, facing the best teams they will play this season.

It started in the JV game, with Chelsi Stevens unleashing her full fury on the defensive end of the floor.

Snatching rebounds, knocking balls loose, staring daggers at any rival who dared to enter her personal space, she was a wonder to behold.

That fire on defense carried over to her teammates, with Adeline Maynes and Ava Carpenter pestering the crud out of King’s ballhandlers.

Off the court, the duo seem like really nice young women, bright and personable. On the court, they seem like they might knife a girl.

Which is EXACTLY what I want to see!

Maynes and Carpenter are not dirty, they’re not excessively rough, but they will get down and rumble, which bodes well for their hoops future.

They remind of me another brilliant, exceptionally kind young woman — former CHS four-sport star Breeanna Messner — who constantly shocked hoops opponents with her spine of steel.

Hit her in the eye (for real), and she’d slice you off at the kneecaps (metaphorically, most times…) — nailing a three-ball, then backpedaling without ever breaking eye contact with her on-court abuser.

Yes, that would be the same Breezy who was back in town for a bit and manning the scorebook on this day, all of her positive vibes and killer instinct flowing through her pencil out to a new generation.

Carpenter, in particular, had some Breeanna Messner in her hustle, as she was a freakin’ Tasmanian Devil on the hardwood.

Diving to the floor to wrestle for loose balls, while dropping “The Peoples Elbow” (pro wrestling reference — Wikipedia it), she made even the ref take a step back and say, “Whoa now!”

While smiling at Carpenter’s intensity.

Willow Leedy-Bonifas, Laken Simpson, Rosie Lay, Melanie Wolfe, and Elyse White rounded out the JV roster, each one earning respect with their growth, hustle, and commitment.

Unleash pandemonium, today and tomorrow.

Coupeville’s varsity has more experience than its JV, but their level of playing time still pales in comparison to King’s, which rolled out a roster of players with high basketball IQ’s and multiple ways of attacking the defense.

Not that the Wolves backed down in the slightest, a fact made crystal clear by Haylee Armstrong running down breakaways from behind several times, knocking balls loose and preventing easy layups.

Kierra Thayer was strong on the boards while playing against a team devoted to the rebounding arts, never an easy task.

Toss in Tenley Stuurmans showcasing why she’d be a great back alley rumbler, and Liza Zustiak proving very willing to drop a shoulder, and very unwilling to surrender the ball to her rivals, and you love to see it.

Armstrong netted an impressive pullup jumper, while Thayer slashed the King’s D in half on one play where she rolled hard to the hoop, daring any defender to stop her.

Spoiler: They couldn’t.

Just to keep King’s honest, Stuurmans tiptoed down the baseline several times, stoppin’ and poppin’ a couple of in-close jumpers which made the nets bounce.

And through it all, every Wolf to see the floor — from Capri Anter to Brynn Parker, Ava Lucero, Rhylin Price, Lexis Drake, Avery Williams-Buchanan, Marin Winger, and Valeria de Jesus Merino — stayed upbeat and fiery.

Which is a winning combo.

The positive flow carried over to Inara Maund, who was sidelined for this game, but devoted considerable energy to making sure all of her teammates looked their best as she recorded the game for her coaches.

A talented artist, she used breaks in the action to show off her creative creations, and, if her parents or guardians are out there listening, they should let me publish some of them here on Coupeville Sports.

My email is davidsvien@hotmail.com, and I’m serious.

It’s what this blog is primarily made for — writing about basketball and curating artwork. True story.

Whether they were crafting masterpieces on their tablet, or in living color down on the hardwood, every CMS hoops star in attendance Thursday finished the day strongly.

Heads held high. Lessons learned. Elbows nicely sharpened.

And, you may have noticed, I never did tell you what the scores of Thursday’s games were.

I know King’s won both games. You know King’s won both games.

We don’t need to know the scores, which will be forgotten about in a day, a week, a month.

What will be remembered, hopefully as each of these bright, hard-working Wolf girls go forward and continue playing God’s chosen sport of basketball for many more years, is this:

“If you put your effort and concentration into playing to your potential, to be the best that you can be, I don’t care what the scoreboard says at the end of the game, in my book we’re gonna be winners.”

Yes, yes, that’s lifted from Hoosiers, the greatest sports movie ever made. I never said all my thoughts were originals.

But, if it’s true, it’s true. And it’s true.

This is your time, ladies. Keep working, keep building, keep hustling.

You’re on the right path.