Madeline Strasburg plots her next bit of awesomeness. (John Fisken photo)
One time is luck. Two times is un-freakin’-believable.
Coming in consecutive games, 17 days apart, Coupeville High School junior Madeline Strasburg pulled off the VERY SAME stunning play at the VERY SAME time.
Way back on Dec. 17 with South Whidbey in town, Strasburg banked home a three-point bomb from way out on the left side of the court right at the third quarter buzzer.
Friday night, La Conner was in town, Coupeville put the ball in her hands again, and with 0.1 seconds to go in the third, ball goes up, ball banks off the glass, Strasburg skips away with an almost mirror-image trey.
Part of her team-high 12 points, the bomb punctuated Coupeville’s third straight win, a 39-25 non-league romp, that, other than a bump in the fourth quarter, went almost flawlessly for the Wolves.
Now 4-2, Coupeville used a stifling defense to sap La Conner’s will.
Jumping out to a 15-4 lead, the Wolves led by double figures for most of the night, eventually stretching their lead to 19 early in the fourth after consecutive breakaway buckets by Makana Stone and Strasburg.
Then came the only bump, as La Conner mounted an 11-1 surge fueled by a full court press and Coupeville’s seeming desire to shoot much faster than coach David King would have liked.
The Wolves snapped back into focus, however, closing out the game at the free-throw line and upping the intensity on defense.
Breeanna Messner took several shots from La Conner elbows while wrestling for balls, then crashed hard out of bounds to deflect a ball with under two seconds to go.
Hustle like that, which came all evening from the formidable ballhawk trio of Messner, Amanda Fabrizi and Julia Myers, was the norm.
Even playing without hard-hustling Kacie Kiel — in street clothes after being injured in a recent practice — the Wolves were the much-more hard-nosed of the two teams.
Stone and Hailey Hammer controlled the paint, while the Wolf guards prevented La Conner from establishing any sort of rhythm early.
Strasburg banged home two quick buckets to kick things off, before Myers knocked home a sweet layin under pressure. Strasburg then popped for another quick jumper, before allowing Stone and Hammer to join the scoring race.
The game’s prettiest basket came right before halftime, when Fabrizi, while double-teamed, suddenly whirled and sank a hook shot that caused one Wolf fan to scream “Kareem Abdul-Jabbar lives, baby!!”
Strasburg paced the scorers with her dozen, while Stone tossed in nine and Myers drained six. Messner tickled the twine for five, Fabrizi singed the nets for four and Hammer dumped in three.
McKayla Bailey, Monica Vidoni and Wynter Thorne all chipped in with hustle and smart defensive play during their time on the court, as well.
