Kyla Briscoe has a season-high five points Tuesday, helping tip the Wolf girls over the top against Concrete. (John Fisken photo)
Courage under fire.
The Coupeville High School girls’ basketball squad showed just that Tuesday night, overcoming three missing players, early foul trouble and a rampaging opposing player to escape with a big win on the road.
The come-from-behind 46-41 non-conference victory over Concrete came thanks to season-best performances from Wolf role players, and a deadly eye at the free throw stripe in the game’s final seconds.
Mia Littlejohn and Mikayla Elfrank combined to drain four straight free throws in the game’s final 20 seconds, silencing the pro-Concrete crowd and sealing the win, which lifts the Wolves to 5-3.
CHS is now off for nine days thanks to Christmas break, not playing again until Dec. 30, when it travels to Orcas Island.
Having rallied from an eight-point halftime deficit, the Wolves were clinging to a one-point lead in the game’s final minute, when they turned the ball over.
Concrete took immediate advantage, knocking down a bucket to reclaim the lead at 41-40.
But, if they expected Coupeville to panic, they were flat out wrong.
Instead of calling a timeout, the Wolves pushed the Lions back on their heels, immediately in-bounding the ball and quickly running a play for their leading scorer, Kailey Kellner.
The senior gunner got the ball on the wing, faked her defender into the third row of the bleachers, drove hard to her right and viciously threw down a back-breaking jumper from just inside the key.
Concrete, by contrast, did blink.
Under pressure from Wolf defenders, the Lions booted the ball on the ensuing play and were forced to foul Coupeville to keep the clock from running out.
Littlejohn, who has been battling illness (like many of her teammates), calmly dropped both ends of her 1-and-1 opportunity through the net, then the CHS defense came up epic again.
Another play under pressure, another turnover for Concrete — this time courtesy of a long pass that caught air and sailed over its intended target by several feet.
Two more free throws, this time from Elfrank, and the deed was done.
The ending was a beautiful capper to a game that wasn’t all that pretty for Coupeville in the first half.
The Wolves jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, off of a put-back from Kyla Briscoe and a jumper by Lauren Grove (set up by a cross-court pass from Kellner), but then things fell apart for awhile.
Foul trouble (Concrete was in the bonus by the end of the first quarter and shot 16 free throws in the first half) hurt Coupeville, as did the Wolves inability to stop Jaycelyn Kuipers.
The Lion post player, who finished with a game-high 26, scored inside, outside and at the line and dominated in three of four quarters of play.
The one quarter she went AWOL though was the game’s turning point.
Down 25-17 at the break, Coupeville came out of the halftime locker room in a different mindset and held Kuipers scoreless during a 15-4 Wolf run.
“We came out in the third with some fire on the defensive end and created some tough shots and turnovers for Concrete,” said CHS coach David King. “This led to some quick buckets for us.”
The Wolves got something from everyone in the quarter, with Kellner hitting for five and setting up a baseline three-ball from Kyla Briscoe with a great set-up pass.
Lauren Grove added four, while Elfrank tossed in three as Coupeville snatched control of the game back.
“We won the quarter with hustle, smart defense and making the extra pass on offense,” King said.
With Lindsey Roberts, Charlotte Langille and Allison Wenzel all missing Tuesday, sophomore Ema Smith got a chance to swing up from JV and make her varsity debut.
“As expected, she gave us some good minutes and hustle,” King said. “She keeps working like she has on the JV team, she may earn the opportunity to be a swing player down the road this year.”
Sarah Wright and Tiffany Briscoe also earned praise, with the duo snatching seven rebounds apiece. Briscoe also had a team-high five steals.
“Tiffany and Sarah probably had their best games on the season. This should launch their confidence,” King said. “Kyla played well; if she keeps making strides like last night, she will be another force coming off the bench and earning more playing time.”
Grove paced CHS with 10 points (she also snagged four boards, dealt out two assists and had Coupeville’s lone block on the night), while Elfrank and Kellner dropped in nine apiece.
Wright (6), Kyla Briscoe (5), Tiffany Briscoe (3), Lauren Rose (2) and Mia Littlejohn (2) also scored, while Kalia Littlejohn chipped in with two assists.
