Coupeville Sports

Breeanna Messner (left) in her post-game shoes, poses with Wolf cheerleader Iris Ryckaert and Messner’s young cousin. (Aimee Bishop photo)

It must be the shoes.

You can’t deny the power of the pink high tops.

You can push her, you can shove her, you can body-slam her to the floor and poke her in the eye (with your whole fist), but Breeanna Messner is still gonna kick your butt. While remaining stylish, of course.

Bobbing and weaving, raining down three point bombs from every angle Saturday night, Messner was the name Orcas Island gave to its pain.

Scoring 10 of her 12 points during a final quarter to remember, she kick-started a game-closing run that carried the Coupeville High School girls’ basketball squad into Christmas break with the best present possible, an electrifying 39-31 home win.

The only thing that finally slowed her down and broke a 21-0 Wolf run was her fifth foul, which sent her to the bench with 47 ticks on the clock. At that point, all Messner had to do was put her eye-popping kicks up and count down the final seconds along with an elated crowd and her high-fiving teammates.

The ending was so enthralling, it was easy to forget how god-awful the opening was.

Looking like they were already on vacation, the Wolves fell behind 12-0 midway through the first quarter and caused mild-mannered Coupeville coach David King to raise his voice loud enough in one huddle that the fans on the other side of the gym could hear him dissect his team’s apathetic play.

It worked, as Coupeville closed back to within two at the half, behind rugged inside play from the triple threat trio of Hailey Hammer, Bessie Walstad and Makana Stone. Then, it didn’t, as Orcas pushed the lead back out to 27-16 late in the third.

Enter the collision of the game, as Messner took a fist to the face while managing to drop the offending Viking player into a crumpled heap of her own.

After a discussion with King, Messner slowly got to her feet and with her came new life. Suddenly the Wolves looked hungry, Orcas looked slow and disorientated and the rout was on.

Walstad closed the third with a jumper in the paint, a ferocious block and then a dead-eye pass to Rhiannon Ellsworth, who slipped behind the Viking defense for a well-executed layup under extreme duress. The first points of the season for the senior, it was just the beginning of the good time romp.

Re-enter Messner, bleary eyes and all, and the beatin’ commenced. A trey from the left side, a pass to set up Haley Marx, who drained a beautiful runner from the side, and then another Messner trey, this one from the right side.

At that point, the pink high tops were glowing radioactively, but Messner wasn’t finished, tossing in another bucket and a pair of free throws before the refs forcibly removed her from the game.

Now 4-5 heading into the 10-day holiday break, the Wolves are a perfect 2-0 in their rare visits home, with Messner having scored 24 of her 37 points this season on her home floor.

Walstad tied her for team-high honors Saturday, while Hammer tossed in seven and Stone banged away for four. Marx and Ellsworth got their buckets, while the four Wolves who didn’t score each chipped in with key contributions.

Amanda Fabrizi and Madeline Strasburg rotated much of the ball-handling while Katie Kiel played strong ‘d’ and Jai’Lysa Hoskins put the fear of God into any Viking dumb enough to invade her paint.

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Monica Vidoni (24), backed up by the Bailey sisters in a game earlier this season, scored a season-high 16 Thursday. (Shelli Trumbull photo)

If Friday Harbor was Tokyo, Monica Vidoni was Godzilla Thursday.

Playing like a rampaging force of nature, the Coupeville High School sophomore threw down a season-high 16 points and shook San Juan Island to its core during the girls’ JV basketball game. Unfortunately, missed free throws and a couple of defensive lapses killed the Wolves in the end, as they fell 37-32 in a non-conference bout.

The loss, which dropped the squad to 4-4 on the season — still the best mark of any CHS hoops team — came despite a strong effort from a group of young women who were playing on the road for the seventh time in their first eight games.

“We played hard on defense and never let Friday Harbor have anything easily,” said Wolf coach Amy King.

Coupeville did struggle with the man-to-man defense their hosts employed. Used to seeing zones, it took the Wolves some time to get used to the new look.

“We pick up our dribble too soon and Friday Harbor did a great job of being out on us every time we did that,” King said. “They were scrappy and consistently grabbing at the ball and just frustrating our team.

“At times we were able to penetrate into the key, but they had some big and tall girls who were doubling up on our posts and clogging the middle, which made getting rebounds more difficult than normal and getting close-up shots even more difficult,” she added.

Vidoni was able to assert her presence in the second quarter, pouring in eight of her points before the break. She then added four each in both of the following quarters, opening some gaps for the guards, who took advantage.

Madeline Strasburg and Wynter Thorne each banked in six in support of Vidoni, while Kacie Kiel popped for four.

With the game coming down to the wire, King switched up tactics and went with her quickest players in a bid to pressure Friday Harbor relentlessly over the final four minutes. It worked, but the resulting shots Coupeville got refused to stay in the bucket.

“I took all the tall girls out and went for a short, fast team who put on a full court pressure defense that really messed with the other team,” King said. “Unfortunately, when we threw up shots they didn’t fall and when they threw them up, theirs did.”

Despite the loss, King was pleased with the effort she saw from a road-weary squad.

“Overall, I was happy with all of our girl’s performances,” King said. “I’d say Wynter, Kacie and Maddi worked very, very hard on harassing the other team, getting their hands or fingers on the ball often. They fought through their own fatigue and just gave defense everything they had all night long.”

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       Hailey Hammer, center top, seen here earlier this season, led Coupeville with seven points Thursday. (Shelli Trumbull photo)

You never want to get shut out in basketball. Least of all in the fourth quarter.

Unfortunately for the road-weary Coupeville High School girls’ basketball squad, the final quarter of a never-ending season-opening road trip was their worst.

Trailing by just one entering the fourth at Friday Harbor Thursday, the Wolves failed to generate a single point and watched a non-conference game slip from their grasp.

The 34-23 loss capped a brutal stretch in which Coupeville played seven of its first eight games on the road.

The Wolves will finally get some extended time on The Rock, playing four of their next five games at home.

Even then, it won’t all come at once. Coupeville (now 3-5) hosts Orcas Island Saturday, Dec. 22, then Christmas break throws in a ten-day gap before Archbishop Thomas Murphy comes calling Jan. 2.

After making the ferry trip to Friday Harbor in tandem with the Wolf boys, the Coupeville girls hung tough in the first quarter, trailing just 13-12 after the first eight minutes.

“We started strong again in the first, but that faded before the end of the quarter,” said Wolf coach David King. “Despite our passive offense and getting beat on give and goes or dribble penetration we were still in the game.”

After both squads struggled offensively in the second quarter, with the hosts stretching their lead out a bit to 18-15 at the break, Coupeville finally seemed to spark to life in the third. It didn’t last, however.

“We got things going again to start the third by picking up our defense. We got some steals and easy buckets,” King said. “Then the wheels really fell off and we went back to playing passive on both ends of the court.

“Right now we are over-thinking things on offense and defensively not playing up to our standards from earlier in the season,” he added. “We will get back in the gym tomorrow and really get after it and see if we can get back to our pressure help defense and execute on the offensive end.”

Bessie Walstad and Hailey Hammer paced the Wolves with seven apiece, while Makana Stone banged away for four, Lauren Escalle popped for three and Jai’Lysa Hoskins netted a basket.

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