Mercedes Kalwies-Anderson and her Coupeville Middle School teammates swept three games Monday from Blue Heron. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
It was a beat-down, in three beautifully-played acts.
Dropping the hammer with a vengeance Monday, the Coupeville Middle School girls basketball squads drilled visiting Blue Heron, sweeping three games by a combined score of 112-20.
Now, it could have been much, much worse, but Wolf coaches Dustin Van Velkinburgh and Alex Evans did their best to balance rolling to a win with not unnecessarily embarrassing their foes.
Both varsity teams cruised to wins, with the CMS 8th graders winning 43-6 and the 7th graders coming within a single shot of a shutout, romping to a 48-2 rout.
The victories lifted both squads to 3-1 on the season headed into a huge showdown Wednesday in Port Angeles against ginormous Stevens Middle School.
In the one semi-close game, the Wolf 7th grade JV prevailed 21-12, while there was no 8th grade JV action as Blue Heron didn’t have the bodies.
8th grade varsity:
One play. It was over in one play.
Busting through a pair of Blue Heron players, Audrianna Shaw knocked the ball free, plucked it from mid-air, then beat nine other players down the floor, slapping home a game-ending layup with emphasis.
And yes, there were still 31 minutes and 40 seconds to play, but the game was over.
It was all gravy after Shaw’s opening play, as the Wolves bolted out to a 19-0 lead and only surrendered a single basket in the first two-and-a-half quarters.
Many of Coupeville’s scores came off of steals or outlet passes after rebounds, with CMS attacking relentlessly, no matter which combo of players Van Velkinburgh had on the floor.
The Wolves also showed a flair for the set-up pass, each player taking turns feeding whatever teammate broke free, then often getting the favor returned.
Ja’Kenya Hoskins dropped a long pass right onto Shaw’s fingertips, hitting her running mate in full stride, then immediately got the ball back on the next play, with Kylie Van Velkinburgh feeding Hoskins on a silky dish.
Shaw had the two plays which probably earned the biggest roar from the crowd.
On one, she went right, then spun left, shed her defender as she crashed into the paint, then spun the ball up and in for a bucket.
Not content to stop there, Shaw drained the game’s lone three-ball, and, to put a twist in it, she opted to bank the ball high off the backboard while going to her right.
Did she call “glass?”
Maybe, maybe not, but the shot earned much hootin’ and hollerin’ from the three-ball-loving CMS boys basketball players camped out in the bleachers.
Everyone in a Wolf uniform was on point, with Kiara Contreras jumping from a sweet roller in the paint to knocking down a mid-range jumper, Ella Colwell dominating on the boards and Izzy Wells being her normal calm, yet ruthless self.
Wells didn’t do anything fancy, just casually banked home bucket after bucket, including one layup off a great pass from Abby Mulholland, drained her free throws and finished with a game-high 18 points.
So, just another day at the office for the low-key scoring ace.
Shaw knocked down 13 to back Wells, while Contreras and Hoskins each went for six.
Anya Leavell, Lily Leedy, Angelina Gebhard, Katelin McCormick and Alana Mihill also saw floor time, with Leavell launching a one-woman crime spree with a series of steals.
7th grade varsity:
Ponder this.
Middle school basketball games are 32 minutes long, and the Wolves held Blue Heron scoreless for 30:36.
Up 48-0, with eight different players having scored, the Wolves let one lonely bucket slip through in the dying moments of the fourth quarter, and that was it.
There was no part of the game Coupeville’s starters didn’t dominate, from pesky, persistent guards Alita Blouin, Gwen Gustafson and Maddie Georges repeatedly forcing turnovers to inside bangers Carolyn Lhamon and Nezi Keiper grabbing every single rebound.
And things didn’t change with the second unit, as Trinity McGee, Jordyn Rogers, Hayley Fiedler and the battlin’ Lucero twins, Allie and Maya, scorched Blue Heron every moment they were on the floor.
The game’s most picture-perfect play came early.
Up just 4-0, Gustafson drove inside, then waited until the last possible moment and threaded a truly magnificent wraparound pass.
The ball slid behind the Blue Heron defender, caught hardwood perfectly and snapped onto the waiting fingertips of Lhamon, who caught the ball and went right up for the lay-in, prompting Gustafson to nod, smile slightly and immediately sprint back to play defense.
So, probably exactly the way their coach, former Wolf bombardier Alex Evans, drew it up. Or, at least that’s his story.
Gustafson, evoking memories of big sis Amanda Fabrizi, had an especially strong game, driving the baseline on one play, then weaving between defenders to drain a soft jumper.
Later she ripped a rebound free from a girl she gave up several inches to, and converted the freebie into a put-back for two, then dropped a tear drop jumper from the left corner on yet another play.
Her running mates were just as effective, especially Lhamon, who went off for a game-high 14.
A beast on defense, she got out and ran the floor aggressively on almost every play, and many of her buckets came off winning a foot race and hauling in outlet passes from her ball-handlers.
Coupeville spread out the rest of its offense, with Blouin, Gustafson and Georges scoring eight apiece in perfect symmetry.
Keiper added four, and picked up a great assist with a hook pass in the paint to Lhamon, while Maya Lucero, McGee and the rampaging Rogers — who forced a string of turnovers — each picked up a basket.
7th grade JV:
Up 10-5 at the break, Coupeville busted the game open with an 8-2 run in the third quarter and never looked back.
Cristina McGrath knocked down a team-high five points, while McGee, Jessenia Camarena and Mercedes Kalwies-Anderson chipped in with four apiece.
Claire Mayne and Karyme Castro added two points each, with Mayne tickling the twines on a pair of free throws, with Adrian Burrows, Hannah Mayne and Abigail Ramirez also seeing floor time for the Wolves.
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