Sarah Wright, seen here during practice, scored 11 points Saturday to spark the Coupeville JV girls to a come-from-behind win. (John Fisken photo)
Never give up. Never back down.
Down by double digits early Saturday, trailing into the fourth quarter, the Coupeville High School JV girls’ basketball squad stormed back to upend visiting South Whidbey.
With sophomore Sarah Wright controlling the game in the final quarter, the Wolves pulled out a stunning 24-20 victory, lifting their record to 2-1 on the season.
“The girls fought hard the whole game,” said CHS coach Amy King. “They changed defenses as needed and even threw on a press they had only practiced once.
“They never gave up. They supported each other the entire game,” she added. “They played as a very united team. They won. It was a good night.”
Having chipped away at the lead quarter after quarter, the Wolves were still trailing 18-17 entering the fourth.
With Wright back on the floor — the JV had the swing player for two quarters — Coupeville went to her and she responded, dropping in five of her team-high 11 points to spur the win.
Three came via free throws, as she iced the Falcons from the charity stripe.
“Sarah really stepped up in the fourth quarter,” King said. “She made good use of her time. She was vocal on defense and did a nice job of grabbing rebounds and dropping points.”
South Whidbey came out hot from behind the arc to start the game, drilling three treys as it built a 12-2 lead at the first break.
Nicole Lester finally got Coupeville on the board when she banked in a shot, and the Wolves started to turn things around when they shifted their defense from a zone to man-to-man.
Holding the Falcons to just eight points over the final 24 minutes, while debuting a new defense, Coupeville blossomed.
“The girls have not practiced this type of defense, but they took instruction and ran with it,” King said. “They really stopped the outside shooting and forced turnovers.
“I can’t gush about just one player, because it was a full team win.”
King praised Maddy Hilkey’s “tough defense,” Lester’s ability to “rip rebounds and use her height as a mismatch” and Ashlie Shank’s “length and speed,” among a long checklist of top performers.
Hannah Davidson “was vital on defense,” hauling down seven rebounds and working with Ema Smith, Lester and Wright to control the post.
The younger guards all stepped up as well, with Scout Smith, Emma Mathusek, Avalon Renninger and Maya Toomey-Stout working as a well-oiled unit.
Mathusek had a nifty steal, followed by her avoiding a double-team with an alert pass, while Toomey-Stout forced one turnover which caused her foe to get so ticked off she almost nailed the Wolf frosh in the face with the ball.
“I quickly called a time out for us to regroup and everyone was so excited with the way we had shut them down,” King said. “Maya had a smile ear to ear.”
Ema Smith knocked in five points to back Wright’s 11, while Lester (4), Shank (2) and Scout Smith (2) also scored.
The prodigal daughter returns:
South Whidbey’s JV roster includes Oliana Stange, who played for Coupeville at the middle school level before moving South with dad Ken, the CHS tennis coach.
As a twice-published author here on Coupeville Sports, she always deserves a shout-out when she comes “home.”
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