JV madness sweeps the hardcourt

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JV madness sweeps the hardcourt

December 13, 2023 by David Svien

Fab frosh Haylee Armstrong scored seven points Wednesday, while playing against her own team. (Photo courtesy Michelle Armstrong)

Then, things got weird.

Now stuff is always sort of kooky when Orcas Island comes to Coupeville, with the varsity playing first, and the JV second, in case anyone has to depart mid-game to sprint for the ferry.

But Wednesday night’s second game came with its own set of quirks.

Short story, the visiting Vikings made off with a 41-15 “win.”

The story behind the story? The game only went three quarters and two Coupeville players suited up for Orcas — and almost combined to outscore their real teammates.

The Vikings arrived in Cow Town with a short roster, so only had a handful of JV players.

To be able to play more than 3-on-3, Orcas reused many of their younger varsity players, then added Wolf snipers Haylee Armstrong and Bryley Gilbert to the roster.

At which point Armstrong, arguably Coupeville’s best JV player, went off for seven points, while Gilbert banked home six in support.

Combine them with scrappy Orcas players like 8th grade buzzsaw Ivy Shaefer, and the Vikings were ready to rumble, roaring out to a 14-2 lead.

Wolf 8th grader Tenley Stuurmans, dropping buckets while older sister Lyla did babysitter duty for CHS varsity coach Megan Richter, nailed back-to-back buckets to end the opening quarter.

That slowed the Orcas assault, but just for a hot second.

Once the second quarter began, the Vikings, powered by Armstrong and Gilbert, ripped off a 13-2 run to push the lead out to 27-8 at the half.

The third quarter offered Coupeville its best sustained offensive run, as Brynn Parker, Capri Anter, and Tenley Stuurmans combined on a 5-0 run.

But then Armstrong picked her classmates apart, rippling the net three times in the quarter to please her new, one-night-only teammates.

The final bucket for the Wolf freshman masquerading as a Viking was a pretty, pretty steal and breakaway bucket, the ball slipping through the net a millisecond before the buzzer sounded.

And that was where the night ended, a quarter short of a full game, as Orcas made a run for the boat and the refs tried to figure out what was going on.

In the end, Tenley Stuurmans led the “real” Wolves with eight points, while Parker (4), Lexis Drake (2), and Anter (1) also scored.

Taylor Marrs, Ava Lucero, Chelsi Stevens, Adie Maynes, and Ari Cunningham, 8th graders all, rounded out Kassie O’Neil’s rotation.

Coupeville, now 1-2 on the season, gets right back at it with a trip to Friday Harbor on Friday, followed by a home game Saturday against South Whidbey.

Hopefully with all their players wearing Wolf uniforms.