Lyla Stuurmans was a terror on defense Thursday as Coupeville shredded Concrete. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
They’re back!
Well, some of them are, and those ones are ready to rumble.
After postponing two games in a row due to Covid protocols, the Coupeville High School varsity girls basketball team returned to action Thursday, though with only six of 12 players in uniform.
Still, the Wolves made it work.
Adding JV warrior Mia Farris to the mix, the Wolves had more than enough firepower to rout visiting Concrete 47-15.
The victory over a rough-and-tumble Lions squad lifts Coupeville to 4-3 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 5-4 overall.
It also puts the Wolves a game-and-a-half up on Friday Harbor (2-4 in league) in the battle for a playoff spot.
Coupeville hit the floor Thursday missing three regular starters, and with three of the seven active players just freshmen.
And while Concrete is not an immensely talented team, it is a feisty one.
If by feisty I mean the Lions revive memories of NBA games from the ’80s, when shooters got hacked by all five defenders at the same time, and bodies bounced off the floor on nearly every possession, with the wrecked players left to wallow in their own misery.
Sort of warms my old-school hoops heart.
But what should also make local fans happy is how the Wolves responded, not backing down in the flurry of elbows, knees, and full body slams.
Instead, Coupeville’s undermanned squad hit go on its offense, blitzed Concrete in the open court, and pounded the boards with intensity.
An opportunistic defense, exemplified by Lyla Stuurmans bounding from one end of the floor to the other, and Farris picking off passes like a veteran, revved the motor.
Then the Wolves knocked down their shots with glee.
Carolyn Lhamon opened things by shredding Concrete for seven points in the opening frame, as CHS built a 14-1 lead.
Two of her buckets came on power moves in the paint, but the Wolf junior also got out on the fly, taking a steal the length of the court before slapping home a layup which elicited a whoop from mom Helene.
Maddie Georges got three the hard way, putting a rebound back up and in while being pummeled, while Katie Marti notched her first varsity points off of a slick play.
That dash to the basket started with a Gwen Gustafson steal, followed by Ja’Kenya Hoskins threading the defense with a pass which slid right onto Marti’s hands as she cut through the paint.
Concrete put together its best offensive stand in the second quarter, playing the Wolves to a 9-9 tie across the eight-minute span, but Coupeville blew the game open in the second half.
Stuurmans, who stuffed one Lions shot like she was Dikembe Mutombo in his prime, tickled the twines for a pair of third-quarter jumpers to spark a decisive 11-0 run.
The fab frosh wasn’t done, coming back around late in the game to throw a wicked baseball-style pass which set up a streaking Marti for yet another layup.
In between the razzle and the dazzle, Georges responded to being abused by the Concrete defenders by staring icy daggers at them, before dropping her own wicked elbows when the refs were distracted.
She also netted a pair of softly tumbling three-balls, which kicked the net up with an impudent little flip as they made the numbers on the scoreboard jump.
In a game in which all seven active players scored, Georges (12) and Lhamon (11) led the way for the Wolves, with Gustafson banking in another eight points.
Marti (6), Farris (4), Stuurmans (4), and Hoskins (2) also netted buckets, with the first two of those players recording their first-ever varsity points.
Coupeville is scheduled to play a non-conference game at home Saturday against South Whidbey, then has a week off before finishing the regular season with three league tilts.
Two of those are against Friday Harbor, as the Wolves and Wolverines battle for the #2 playoff seed among NWL 2B schools.
Mia Farris made a strong varsity debut.
