Carolyn Lhamon knocked down 14 points Thursday as the CMS 7th grade varsity shredded Forks, one of three wins for the Wolves on the day. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Wins for everyone.
Showcasing their defensive intensity, all three Coupeville Middle School girls basketball teams to play Thursday came away with comfortable wins.
Shredding visiting Forks, the Wolves sauntered to wins in both 7th and 8th grade varsity contests as well as an 8th grade JV bout.
The road-weary Spartans didn’t field a 7th grade JV team, which was the only thing keeping CMS from going 4-for-4 on the day.
8th grade varsity:
One play in and this thing was done. Pretty much.
Audrianna Shaw slapped home a layup on the game’s opening play, sparking a 19-2 run, and Coupeville coasted home with a 43-15 win.
The Wolves dominated on the defensive end of the floor, shutting down the Spartans in virtually every way.
If it wasn’t Ja’Kenya Hoskins ripping down rebounds, and yanking a few arms out of their sockets along the way, it was Kiara Contreras attacking the ball-handler like a rabid dog, glee in her eye and a smile on her face as she wreaked havoc.
This band of Wolves is aggressive, seasoned and hungry for wins, and Forks found itself playing Wile E. Coyote to Coupeville’s anvil-droppin’ Road Runner.
The early 19-2 run, which went from the opening tip until right before the final 90 seconds of the first half, featured points from five different Wolves.
Izzy Wells was front and center, dropping in six of her game-high 16, while Anya Leavell, Contreras, Shaw and Hoskins all chipped in.
Forks finally stopped the bleeding, for a quick second, with a 5-0 mini-surge to end the half, but Coupeville went right back to work in the third quarter.
Once again ramping up the defense, the Wolves turned frequent Spartans turnovers into breakaway basket after breakaway basket.
Wells banked home another eight points on a variety of net-tickling jumpers, while Contreras pulled off the best play of the night.
Sprinting full force, the crafty Wolf guard pulled in a long outlet pass from Shaw, went airborne, then dipped under a flailing defender at the last possible second and popped the ball off the glass.
All of this while being pummeled around the head and shoulders and ending up face-first into the wall at the end of the court.
Coupeville took its foot off the gas pedal in the late going, but got a nice closing bucket from Ella Colwell, who took a pass from Contreras and rolled past her defender for a layup.
Wells outscored Forks herself (16-15), but got plenty of help, as Contreras, Shaw and Leavell each dropped in six.
Hoskins (5), Samantha Streitler (2) and Colwell (2) also scored, while Kylie Van Velkinburgh spent the afternoon setting up her teammates with hard-earned rebounds and sweet set-up passes.
8th grade JV:
A tale of two halves, and one player.
The game was a 4-3 defensive stalemate at the half, in favor of Coupeville, then Streitler hit the floor and the Wolves put the game away.
Playing just two quarters, so she’d also be eligible for the varsity contest, Streitler tossed in 11 points in the second half, keying an eventual 20-10 CMS victory.
The difference was the third quarter, when the Wolves used a 9-2 run, with Streitler dropping in every point, to put the game on ice.
Quicksilver Lily Leedy added four points, including an electrifying steal and breakaway bucket to put an exclamation point on things, while Abby Mulholland (3) and Jessenia Camerena (2) also scored.
Mulholland’s output came on a sweet three-ball late in the game, where she stopped ‘n popped over the outstretched arms of the defense.
Katelin McCormick, Angelina Gebhard, Mercedes Kalwies-Anderson and Alana Mihill also saw floor time for the Wolves.
7th grade varsity:
It’s not often you can go scoreless for the first nine minutes-plus of a game and still win in a romp, but that’s just what Coupeville’s young guns accomplished.
The Wolves didn’t score until Gwen Gustafson swished a jumper a minute into the second quarter, and yet the Wolves still pulled away to win 36-9.
CMS had plenty of opportunities in the first quarter, as an opportunistic defense headed up by Alita Blouin drove Forks batty. Unfortunately, the rim was utterly unforgiving.
Jump forward to the second quarter, and things took a marked turn for the better.
Carolyn Lhamon followed Gustafson’s jumper with a rebound and put-back to stake Coupeville to a 4-3 lead, and the Wolves would never trail again.
Blouin, living up to her nickname of “The Assassin,” was ruthless, ripping balls away, pilfering steals, crossing up Forks ball-handlers, then crashing hard to the hoop for three straight buckets to bust things wide open.
An epic bank shot off the fingertips of Hayley Fiedler capped a 12-2 run and sent CMS in to the halftime break up 12-5.
After that it was the Carolyn Lhamon Experience in full bloom, as the ace rebounder crushed the Spartans in the paint, then jumped out for a series of quick, super-soft jumpers as she scored 12 of her game-high 14 in the second half.
Two came off solid lead passes from Blouin, a third off a drive and dish from Maddie Georges.
Not content to let Fiedler have the longest shot of the afternoon, Trinity McGee stepped half an inch inside the three-point arc and banked home a gorgeous shot to cap a fourth quarter full of Wolf joy.
CMS spread its scoring around, with seven of the 10 players in uniform putting their name in the scoring column.
Lhamon’s 14 was followed by Blouin (8), Fiedler (4), Georges (4), Gustafson (2), Nezi Keiper (2) and McGee (2).
Jordyn Rogers and the battlin’ Lucero sisters, Allie and Maya, teamed up with Keiper and Lhamon to thoroughly dominate Forks on the boards.
