Coupeville Sports

Makana Stone rumbles. (Photo property Marianne Maja Stenerud)

Win and move on.

Back on the court for the first time in almost three weeks, Makana Stone and the Baerum women’s professional basketball team survived their playoff opener Friday in Norway.

The #2 seed in the eight-team, single-elimination tourney, Baerum edged #7 Storm Ungdom 54-43 to advance to the semifinals.

That game, against #3 Asker, goes down Saturday, while #1 Ulriken and #4 Ullern vie in the day’s other game.

The winners meet in the championship bout, which will be played Sunday.

The quarterfinals victory lifts Baerum to 19-6 and was sparked, as usual, by its Coupeville ace.

Stone knocked down a game-high 16 points, including drilling a pair of three-balls, while snatching five rebounds and making off with two steals.

Storm Ungdom finished the regular season with a record of just 2-21, but came out primed for an upset, jumping to a razor-thin 12-11 lead after one quarter of play.

Baerum righted the ship after that, using a 15-7 run to pull ahead 26-19 at the half, before pushing the advantage to 41-33 heading into the fourth.

Abbey Hoff and Julie McCarthy each snatched 13 rebounds, with Hoff tickling the twines for 10 points to give Baerum two players in double digits.

Stone, who is wrapping up her first season in Norway, and her second as a pro hoops star after debuting in England, continues to pile up the stats.

On the season, the former Wolf has 447 points, 274 rebounds, 57 assists, 61 steals, and 11 blocked shots.