Katie Marti brings the heat on both ends of the floor. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
There’s nothing to fear here.
Staring down the best team in the Northwest 2B/1B League Tuesday, the Coupeville High School varsity girls’ basketball team held its own for two-and-a-half quarters.
And while visiting Mount Vernon Christian eventually pulled away for a 44-21 win, the Wolves can look ahead to a rematch in 10 days knowing they can make life difficult for the Hurricanes.
With the win, MVC, the defending 1B state champs, gets to 12-2 on the season, while Coupeville slips to 4-5.
But, while the game was between NWL rivals, it is considered a non-conference game and doesn’t count in the league standings.
The rematch, set to go down Jan. 20 in Mount Vernon?
That one counts in the chase for a conference crown.
The Hurricanes, who already beat 2B power La Conner earlier this season — also in a “non-conference” game between league foes — are a rock-solid team, full of fairly unflappable players with high basketball IQ’s.
But, for a bit Tuesday, those players were clanking most of their shots, thanks to some scrappy Wolf defense and a couple of rims which refused to play fair with the visitors.
Coupeville scored first, on a Gwen Gustafson jumper from the side, and closed the first quarter on a 6-0 run to claim an 8-7 advantage at the first break.
Rampaging sophomore Katie Marti, crackin’ heads and takin’ names, tallied four points for the Wolves in the opening frame, including slapping home a layup off of a nice feed from Lyla Stuurmans.
Netting a pair of free throws to cap the opening frame, Christie Messner’s wild child sent a tremor through the Mount Vernon fans, a huge smile gracing her face as she and her Wolf teammates exited the floor.
Toss in a slashing runner off the fingertips of Stuurmans to open the second quarter, and Megan Richter’s CHS squad was looking good.
That early bucket would be Coupeville’s only points in the frame, however, as the two teams got down ‘n dirty in a defensive-minded struggle.
MVC pulled ahead 13-10 at the half, with the Wolves still within 16-13 three minutes into the third period.
Marti hauled in a long pass from Stuurmans, turning it into a breakaway bucket, Ryanne Knoblich tickled the twines on a free throw, and Mia Farris rejected a Hurricane shot to keep things hopping.
But while the Hurricanes were out of sorts, they weren’t out of weapons, and eventually they wore down a Wolf team playing without a key starter in the injured Carolyn Lhamon.
Bucket by bucket, MVC started to pull away, putting together a 21-2 surge which stretched from the mid-point of the third quarter until late in the final frame.
Stuurmans, converting a steal into a mad dash down court for a layup, was the only Wolf to make the net pop during the downturn.
Coupeville, which never stopped fighting on defense, finally hit the bottom of the net late in the game, with Alita Blouin splashing home a three-ball and Maddie Georges sinking a runner, but it was too late to turn the tide.
Marti paced the Wolves with six points, while Stuurmans rattled the rims for five.
Her first bucket of the night sent the Wolf sophomore to a personal milestone, as she cracked the 100-point club.
Now sitting with 104 career points and counting, Stuurmans is the 106th Wolf girl to reach triple digits for a program which began back in 1974.
Blouin (3), Knoblich (3), Georges (2), and Gustafson (2) also scored for the Wolves, with Blouin, who has 98 career points, right on the cusp of joining Stuurmans and Co.
Farris and Madison McMillan also saw floor time for Coupeville, which returns to action Friday, when it hosts Darrington in a league clash.
