Gwen Gustafson pushes the ball up court. (Bailey Thule photo)
One game short.
The Coupeville High School girls’ basketball squad put up a strong fight Wednesday, especially in the final minutes, but couldn’t get past La Conner, falling a win shy of advancing to the state tournament.
The Wolves close their season at 10-11 after absorbing a 59-35 loss on their home floor in the bi-district title game.
La Conner, the Northwest 2B/1B League regular season champ, is 19-4 and will find out its next opponent Sunday, when state brackets are revealed.
CHS was playing its third straight loser-out game, having knocked off Friday Harbor in a tiebreaker for District 1’s #2 playoff seed, before upsetting District 2’s top team, Auburn Adventist Academy, in their playoff opener.
Facing off with the Braves, who wheel out a big three consisting of 6-foot-2 Makayla Herrera, 6-0 Ellie Marble, and 5-10 Josie Harper, the Wolves had no chance to match their foes in height, but they more than stood up to La Conner in terms of scrappiness.
Coupeville fell behind 8-0, thanks to back-to-back three-balls from the bombs-away Braves, but closed the first quarter on a mini-run.
Gwen Gustafson got the Wolves on the board with a pullup jumper, while fellow senior Maddie Georges rippled the net after Mia Farris popped a gorgeous pass over the heads of two defenders while airborne.
With all five players up on their toes and scrapping, Coupeville hung tough, and kept the margin to single-digits for much of the first half.
Georges twice scrambled back, planted herself, and drew offensive charging fouls on incoming Braves, while Carolyn Lhamon, Lyla Stuurmans, and Katie Marti threw haymakers in the paint while fighting for rebounds.
Coupeville’s bench enjoys the moment. (Bailey Thule photo)
But La Conner is a solid squad which has earned its rep, and the visitors stretched the lead out to 28-12 by the half.
Especially painful was the final five seconds, as the Braves netted a free throw, then promptly stole the inbounds pass and turned it into a buzzer-beating jumper.
The third quarter was the difference, and the only stretch where the Wolves just couldn’t get much to work.
Georges led off the second half by slicing under two defenders for a bucket, then came back around to notch a pair of free throws and a layup off of a sweet inside cut.
Unfortunately for Coupeville, the Braves busted out 20 points in response in the third frame, running the margin up to 48-18 heading into the fourth.
In typical La Conner fashion, it still elected to leave two of its big three on the floor until the game’s final buzzer rang.
Meanwhile, Marble — who has missed several games with a lingering back injury — was left to scrap in the crush under the basket until the four-minute mark of the final frame.
To which Coupeville’s Fab Five seniors, most of whom have played together since grade school, said, “Fine. Bring it.”
And promptly outscored the Braves front-liners 17-11 to put a cap on the game, the season, and their prep careers.
Coupeville’s Fab Five seniors — (l to r) Maddie Georges, Alita Blouin, Carolyn Lhamon, Gustafson, and Ryanne Knoblich, nab a final pic with coach Megan Richter. (Helene Lhamon photo)
Georges snapped the nets on the final pair of three-balls she shot as a Wolf, while Alita Blouin crashed hard to the hoop and Ryanne Knoblich stood tall in the paint, the trio combining to score all of Coupeville’s points down the stretch.
The Wolves also bit hard on defense, forcing La Conner to commit its only shot clock violation of the night with under 80 seconds to play.
With two of the big three still handling the ball.
So, there’s that.
The game’s final minutes were a testament to all that Georges, Lhamon, Knoblich, Blouin, and Gustafson have brought to the program, and a prompt to the five sophomores and one junior who fill out the current Wolf roster.
Never stop fighting. Ever.
In their final appearance on the CHS hardwood, Georges and Blouin led their team with 14 and 11 points, respectively, while Knoblich (5), Gustafson (2), Farris (2), and Marti (1) also scored.
Despite losing games to a pandemic and injuries, Georges and Blouin both finish as two of the more-explosive offensive performers in program history.
Mad Dog, who admirably devoted herself to often being a pass-first point guard intent on setting up other’s scoring opportunities, finishes with 407 career points.
The four-year varsity vet slips past Ashley Manker (404) and exits as the #24 all-time scorer for a program launched in 1974.
Blouin’s visits to the doctor held to her just 23 high school hoops games — two as a junior before a busted ankle, and 21 this season — but she became the first Wolf girl to drop 200+ points in a season since Makana Stone erupted for 427 back in 2015-2016.
Final season scoring stats:
Alita Blouin – 204
Maddie Georges – 154
Ryanne Knoblich – 102
Lyla Stuurmans – 71
Gwen Gustafson – 67
Katie Marti – 47
Carolyn Lhamon – 32
Mia Farris – 27
Madison McMillan – 6
Jada Heaton – 2
Skylar Parker – 2
