Izzy Wells banked in seven points Tuesday as Coupeville rumbled with Sedro-Woolley. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
You take your lumps, and you move on to the next test.
Buffeted by questionable foul calls, but also unable to convert on enough of their own free throw attempts, the Coupeville High School varsity girls basketball squad absorbed a narrow loss Tuesday night.
Falling 45-37 to visiting Sedro-Woolley — in a game that was a one-basket affair with 90 seconds to play — the Wolves slide to 6-6 on the season.
But the game, a late addition to the schedule, was a non-conference bout, and one which should hopefully help prep CHS as it makes a bid to nab a playoff berth.
The Wolves have three games left on the regular season schedule, with two against Friday Harbor, a team it needs to beat to advance to the district tourney.
The first of those rumbles is on the road this Friday, Feb. 4, while the second comes at home Feb. 12 on Senior Night.
Facing off with a 2A school in Sedro, the 2B Wolves got a chance to work on fine-tuning things, and an opportunity to vie with a physical opponent.
When the refs let them play.
While the guys in the striped shirts are rarely the sole cause of a team losing, they didn’t make things any easier on Coupeville, keeping several key players stuck to the bench with early foul trouble off of debatable interpretations of the rules.
The Wolves came out strongly, however, jumping to a 5-1 lead on an Izzy Wells layup and a three-point play the hard way from Maddie Georges.
Coupeville’s opening bucket was set up by some nice passing, with the ball zinging from Georges to Lyla Stuurmans to Wells.
Back in the lineup after missing some time, Wolf enforcer Ja’Kenya Hoskins lit up the net in the first quarter, as well.
She slapped home a layup off of a precise feed from Savina Wells, before converting a second bucket later in the quarter when she rolled through a teeny-tiny crease in the Cub defense.
Trailing just 14-13 at the first break, Coupeville sparred with Sedro for much of the second frame.
Savina Wells swooped in for a bucket off of a steal, while Nezi Keiper drained a pull-up jumper that was so smooth it caused several of the CHS boys hoops players in the stands to fall out of their seats.
Toss in another bucket for Izzy Wells, with Gwen Gustafson shredding the defense on the set-up pass, and the Wolves were still within 20-19 as halftime loomed.
That was when foul trouble really started to hurt, however, as Sedro closed on a 5-0 run with both Wells sisters catching some unwelcome pine time.
Georges drilled a three-ball from the left side to open the second half, but the Cubs responded with an 8-0 tear, and that left Coupeville fighting from behind the rest of the night.
Facing their biggest deficit at 33-22, with fans muttering about the back-stabbing refs, the Wolf players tuned out the hubbub, earning a fist pump or two from coach Megan Smith.
Another three-ball from Georges helped spark a 7-2 run to close the third, before back-to-back fourth quarter buckets from the CHS junior, and a huge block from Savina Wells, kept the rally going.
Fighting off five Sedro players, and all three refs as well, Hoskins yanked a rebound free and spun back up for two points to get the margin down to 39-37, setting up things for a frantic finale.
It wasn’t to be, however, as the visitors spent the final 90 seconds of the game carving a path in the floor walking to the free throw line.
Toss in a game-capping layup, which featured a picture-perfect full-court baseball-style pass — and then about a million little steps from the Cub receiver as she went to the basket — and the night reached its end.
While the game didn’t end with a dramatic buzzer-beater, it did feature a couple of historical moments for stats freaks.
Georges finished with a team-high 15 points, giving her 228 for her career.
That shoots her into a tie with Ema Smith for #50 on the CHS girls scoring chart, which has been an ever-evolving document since 1974.
Savina Wells (5) breaks down the defense.
Also reaching a personal milestone was freshman Savina Wells, who notched her 100th point on a free throw.
Having tallied 59 as an 8th grader, and 42 this season, Savina (101) joins older sister Izzy (167) as two of just 105 Wolf girls to reach triple-digits over the past 48 years.
Best buds Hoskins and Izzy Wells tallied seven points apiece Tuesday, with Keiper (4) and Savina Wells (4) also singing the net.
Stuurmans, Gustafson, and Abby Mulholland rounded out the CHS players to see floor time against Sedro, with Stuurmans bringing her usual firecracker intensity to her defensive duties.
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