A pre-game injury Tuesday sent Coupeville gunner Alita Blouin to the ER. (Photos courtesy Suzan Georges)
Blouin suffered a broken ankle during player introductions.
One loss hurts more than the other.
While an undermanned Coupeville High School varsity girls basketball team fell 43-23 Tuesday to high-powered Mount Vernon Christian, that was the least of its worries.
Missing three players, including two starters, before the night began, the Wolves also lost starting guard Alita Blouin when she broke her ankle right before tip-off.
The injury happened when “The Assassin” landed wrong while jumping during pre-game player introductions.
Coupeville, which was also missing Izzy Wells, Gwen Gustafson, and Savina Wells, still put up a fairly remarkable fight against the Hurricanes.
The first time these teams played, the Wolves fell behind 29-2 during a 55-24 loss.
This time around, even with all the confusion and missing firepower, CHS was still within 12-8 midway through the second quarter before MVC began to pull away.
Maddie Georges got the Wolves on the board early with a crisp layup, before Lyla Stuurmans and Audrianna Shaw hit back-to-back buckets to close out the first quarter.
Stuurmans got her points off of a steal, poking the ball away, then beating the defense to the other end, while Shaw dazzled with a sweet running scoop shot in the paint.
Down just 10-6 at the first break, Coupeville got another basket from Shaw before the Hurricanes began to show off their firepower.
A 12-0 run midway through the second quarter pushed the deficit out to 24-8 and Coupeville only scored a single bucket in the third frame.
But down 31-12 heading into the final period, the Wolves dug deep and played the Hurricanes virtually even across the final eight minutes.
Coupeville was moving the ball crisply in the fourth quarter, with teammates setting up their running mates for easy buckets.
Georges dished to Carolyn Lhamon for a score in the paint, while a Ja’Kenya Hoskins steal and pass set up Shaw.
Then it was Stuurmans turn to feed Hoskins for two, right after Georges slid in front of a rampaging Hurricane player to collect a charging call.
All seven Wolf players to see the floor Tuesday played with fiery intensity, with Abby Mulholland and Nezi Keiper hitting the boards with wild abandon.
But if there was a player of the game award to be given out, you could make a great case for Hoskins, who delivered her most-complete performance of the season.
Snatching board after board, poking balls free, even skying high to reject an MVC shot late in the game, the eternally happy Wolf senior brought the full Ja’Kenya Hoskins experience to the spotlight, and her fan club loved every moment.
Shaw finished with a team-high eight points, while Stuurmans (6), Hoskins (3), Georges (2), Mulholland (2), and Lhamon (2) also scored.
With the loss, Coupeville completes its roughest stretch of the schedule, a three-game death march against MVC, La Conner, then MVC again.
Now 3-3 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 4-4 overall, the Wolves are in third-place in the seven-team NWL, chasing La Conner (6-0, 11-0) and MVC (5-1, 9-2).
Thanks to the schedule being thrown asunder by holidays, weather, and the pandemic, CHS now has a week off, returning to action Jan. 18 against Darrington.
