Kailey Kellner, keeping it low-key here, was a demon on defense Saturday. (John Fisken photo)
Ten players operating as one, each doing their part to make the team stronger.
It’s the driving philosophy behind the success of the Coupeville High School girls’ basketball squad, and it was on display all afternoon Saturday.
Even with their leader, Makana Stone, under the weather — she still scored 15 and grabbed 12 boards — the Wolves got big performances from a number of role players and soundly thumped visiting Mount Vernon Christian 41-26.
The non-conference win, in which CHS only trailed once, very early, lifted the Wolves to 8-3.
They’re now off for nine days, then return with three games in four days, including conference showdowns with Chimacum and Port Townsend.
The break will allow Stone to recover from her illness, and the Wolves to continue to fine-tune things, but CHS coach David King exited the gym with a smile on his face Saturday.
“This was a big win for us after we sputtered a little in our last game,” he said. “Offensively we really moved the ball well along with crashing the boards and going back up with it.”
The game was close for a quarter, with the Hurricanes actually leading 5-4 at one point (Mia Littlejohn and Lauren Grove promptly responded with back-to-back buckets) and Coupeville only up by a point at the end of the first eight minutes.
Mount Vernon beat the buzzer with a three-ball, after a loose ball bounced off of six different sets of hands (it seemed, at least) before plopping right onto the fingertips of a Hurricane shooter.
That pulled them within 10-9 heading into the second, and it looked like it would be a back-and-forth battle.
And then it wasn’t, as Coupeville clamped down extra-tight on defense, holding the Hurricanes to just four more field goals the rest of the way.
Flustered by the Wolf ‘D’, Mount Vernon stayed alive for a bit with decent free-throw shooting, but that was far from enough when Coupeville was hitting from all angles.
Tiffany Briscoe kick-started the second quarter by banging home a layin off of a loose ball, Littlejohn drained all three free throws after being hacked while shooting a trey, and Lauren Grove swished a long jumper to close the half.
In between all that, Stone sliced through the Hurricanes for seven of her 15 in the second quarter, picking her moments to shine as she (and King) conserved what energy she had.
The highlight reel play for the night came late in the quarter, when Stone rejected a Hurricane shot, snagged the ball out of midair, hit sprinter speed and shot the length of the court, draining the layup and the resulting free throw she got after a straggler whacked her in the shoulder.
The transcendent senior, even ill, filled up the stat sheet, with three blocks, two steals and an assist to go with her double-double.
“Makana was pretty under the weather today. Even not feeling well she showed up and gave every ounce of energy she could,” King said. “She really played in control and didn’t speed things up like she can do at times.”
As they have all season, Stone’s younger teammates stepped up at crunch time, whether it was Littlejohn’s slick ball-handling, Briscoe’s relentless rebounding or Grove’s sudden offensive explosion.
Throwing down a season-high 10, the wily junior, who is known for her ball-hawk defense, was en fuego on both sides of the court.
“What can I say, her on-ball defense is outstanding right now,” King said. “She understands her scoring opportunities right now will come off of steals or drives to the basket.
“Today she took advantage of what she could and pumped life into our offense.”
He also complimented Littlejohn (“today she was the floor general this team needs”), freshman Lindsey Roberts (“she has been playing better ball for us; her defense and rebounding is getting better, too”) and ever-scrappy Kyla Briscoe, who snagged two boards and gave the squad crucial energy all night.
Tiffany Briscoe and Kailey Kellner got a special mention for being willing to sacrifice on defense.
“Undersized in the post, they both stepped up big time with their defense,” King said. “I told them they had to play taller than they are.
“They both worked so hard in there, I think that interior defense was a key to taking control of the game in the second quarter through the end of the game,” he added. “Both of these players have bought into the reality that defense wins games.”
Tiffany Briscoe and Littlejohn dropped in seven apiece in support of Stone and Grove, while Roberts nailed a jumper and snagged four boards.
Grove pilfered five steals, Tiffany Briscoe corralled five caroms and swing players Allison Wenzel, Lauren Rose and Skyler Lawrence all saw floor time, with the first two each grabbing a rebound.
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