Amanda Fabrizi (right) gets her pregame good luck hug from team manager Jae LeVine. It worked, to the tune of 18 points. (John Fisken photos)
Wolf coach David King (in red) remains the only calm person in the gym as Julia Myers hits what would be the winning free throw.
And then they all lost their freakin’ minds.
When it was darkest Thursday night, when the season seemed to be slipping away, Amanda Fabrizi refused to let her high school basketball career end.
With her Coupeville girls’ hoops squad trailing by eight in the third quarter and momentum swinging wildly in favor of visiting Meridian, it would have been easy for the Wolf senior to give in, give up.
But Fabrizi has never quit on a basketball court, ever.
Which is why CHS came roaring back to beat the Trojans 42-41, carried by Fabrizi’s 18 points, to capture its first 1A district playoff win in at least five seasons.
Julia Myers iced the game, ripping a rebound out of an opposing player’s hands while being hammered, then calmly swishing a free throw with 9.9 seconds to play to break the game’s final tie.
But she never would have had her chance to be the heroine if Fabrizi hadn’t pulled the Wolves on her back.
And she did, drilling back-to-back shots — a high, arcing three-point bomb and a tough jumper with three girls in her face — sparking an 11-0 run that turned a 30-22 deficit into a 33-30 lead.
With Makana Stone tossing in a pair of buckets and freshman Carlie Rosenkrance hitting a jumper from the top of the key off of a brilliant pass from Breeanna Messner, Coupeville looked dominant for a four-minute run.
With the losing team being eliminated, Meridian wasn’t ready to roll over, however, and the Trojans fought back, setting up a knockdown brawl in the fourth.
First Coupeville surged to a four-point lead, on buckets from Stone and Fabrizi, then Meridian retook the lead at 38-37.
Back came Coupeville as Kacie Kiel wrested a ball free on the offensive boards and roared back up for her only bucket of the night, followed by Fabrizi picking the pocket of a Meridian ball-handler and racing in for a breakaway layin.
Up 41-38, it was over. Or was it?
After netting a free throw, Meridian forced a turnover on an inbounds pass and got their own breakaway to tie things at 41.
Worse, the girl flying to the hoop was fouled, setting her up for a three-point play the hard way with 27 ticks on the clock.
With CHS fans doing their best 12th Man impression and creating a sonic boom inside the gym, Meridian missed the free-throw, their 16th miss at the charity stripe on the night.
Fabrizi had a chance to reclaim the lead for Coupeville, but both of her free throws with 11.1 seconds to play rolled around and rimmed out at the very last moment.
Enter Myers, who, as she has done all season, simply wanted the rebound more than the girl on the other team reaching for the ball. Cleanly wrestling away the carom, the Wolf junior hunkered down and let herself get smacked, then hit the biggest free throw of her life.
Even then, things weren’t completely done, as Meridian managed to get two wild shots off at the end.
It wasn’t to be, though, and the Wolf students in the bleachers charged the floor, setting off a giddy celebration with their classmates who had just pulled off the biggest win in recent CHS girls’ basketball history.
It was a win accomplished without two starters, as junior Hailey Hammer (ankle injury) was joined in street clothes by junior Madeline Strasburg, who had been battling a high fever.
The hope is Strasburg will be back in uniform when Coupeville (10-12) travels to Blaine Friday for another loser-out playoff game.
The Borderites lost 55-26 to King’s Thursday.
The winner of the Coupeville/Blaine game is guaranteed a tri-districts berth and will play the winner of Mount Baker/Nooksack Valley Saturday on a neutral court at Mountlake Terrace High School for seeding.
Fabrizi (18) and Stone (12) combined to score 30 of Coupeville’s 42 Thursday, while Messner (3), Myers (3), Kiel (2), Rosenkrance (2) and Monica Vidoni (2) all chipped in.
Vidoni and Messner both scored off of big offensive rebounds, as the Wolves fought hard on the boards with a tough-nosed Meridian squad.
McKayla Bailey and Wynter Thorne didn’t score, but put in quality minutes off the bench, playing tough on defense and helping handle the ball smartly under considerable pressure.
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