“I will break you, and they ain’t ever gonna put the pieces back together again!!” Old-school Megan Smith, ready to lay down a butt-whuppin’.
One day, one game.
Can you take an entire four-year high school basketball career and boil it down to one night and say, “This here, this is the greatest moment that player ever had?”
Well, maybe.
In some cases, there is a transcendent moment.
Kacie Kiel hitting a three-ball from the corner to cap a stunning eight-point comeback in the final minute against Sequim, or Kassie Lawson and Ian Smith banking in miracle treys to stun King’s and South Whidbey, respectively, at the buzzer.
But in the case of Ian’s big sister, Megan, the highlight show was pretty much every night.
When we discuss who the greatest Coupeville High School girls basketball player of all time might be, Megan Smith is on the very short list, with Novi Barron, Brianne King, Ashley Ellsworth-Bagby and Makana Stone.
Maybe toss Marlene Grasser, Tina Lyness, Sarah Mouw and Lexie Black into the mix, as well.
For one thing, if Mouw had more than one season in the red and black, there’s little doubt she’s in that top five.
But, while we’re arguing (people speak in hushed whispers when they talk about Novi, while Makana is flat-out the best pure athlete, in any sport, I covered live), it’s safe to say Megan Smith can put her numbers up against anyone.
Today though, thanks to me randomly leafing through old score-books, we’re going to focus on a night that took place 2,831 days ago.
Coming into the “ancient” night of Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2009, the Wolves were struggling, having lost 14 straight games.
Long past were early-season memories of beating Concrete, Friday Harbor and Tenino and instead harsh beatings at the hands of ATM and King’s were now front and center.
Now, I’m taking a leap here, since I wasn’t in the stands during the 2008-2009 hoops season.
I was in the midst of my own skid, in the final months of a 15-year video store career.
The 12+ Videoville years had been awesome sauce, but a rocky run at David’s DVD Den would finally implode on Cinco de Mayo of 2009, when, not for the first, or probably last, time, I burnt my bridges in spectacular fashion.
So, I doubt Feb. 17, when I was likely fighting the non-stop croup that afflicted me through my final days in a cruddy old building, far away from the sun, offered me much personal salvation.
For the Wolves, though, it came in the form of a much-needed win, one that came on their home floor and one that was inspired by one of the best performances put up by their shooting star.
Facing off with league rival Friday Harbor for the second time, Coupeville came out hot, and balanced.
Smith dropped in five in the first quarter, but so did Lawson, while Cassidi Rosenkrance added four (the trio all hit a three-ball) and CHS built a 14-6 lead after one.
The long-range game, and the balanced scoring, continued in the second eight minutes, as Kendra O’Keefe nailed a pair of treys and Smith tossed in five more (included a shot from long-range).
Lawson added a free throw and the Wolves went into the locker room up 26-15.
Something changed in the second half, though (and again, I’m going off a seven-year-old score-book and not first-hand knowledge) and Smith apparently decided it was time to drop the hammer.
She poured in 20 of her team’s 25 second-half points and Coupeville held off a late Friday Harbor rally to snap the skid with a 51-44 victory.
Smith banged home four baskets in both the third and fourth quarter (including her third trey), while also netting her first free-throws of the night.
Nine points in the third gave her a modest 19 (the total she finished with in the games before and after this one), before 11 down the stretch rounded out her game-high 30-point assault on the bucket.
Lawson backed Smith up with eight, while O’Keefe (6), Rosenkrance (5) and Mandi Murdy (2) also scored.
Katie Smith, Courtney Boyd, Jessy Caselden, Taylor Sherman, Marie Hesselgrave and Amanda Manker all saw floor time as well, while Courtney Arnold is on the roster, but appears to have been a (surely enthusiastic) sideline supporter that night.
Few Wolves have ever put the ball in the bucket more consistently than Megan Smith.
In the three score-books I have from her prep career, she broke double digits in an uncanny 51 of 67 games played.
But that 30-point night ranks as her best scoring performance (again, I’m missing a book for one of her seasons).
And you’d have to think, based on where the Wolves were and how much they needed a win at the time, it went down as one of the best nights Smith (and her teammates) had on the court.
