Playing on her birthday, Mia Farris delivered strong work on the boards Saturday afternoon at Neah Bay. (Bailey Thule photo)
What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.
At least that’s the hope as the Coupeville High School varsity girls’ basketball squad launches a brutal stretch of games.
First up was a road trip to the hinterlands Saturday to play Neah Bay, the top-ranked 1B team in the state.
Missing two key players, the Wolves held tough with the Red Devils for much of the first half, before falling beneath a hail of three-balls in a 58-16 loss.
The non-conference defeat drops the Wolves, who were playing for the second time in less than 24 hours, to 5-6 on the season.
With the win, Neah Bay gets to 9-1, with its only loss coming to 2A Sequim, which sits at 12-0.
Things don’t get easier next week for Coupeville, with road trips to La Conner Jan. 18 and Mount Vernon Christian Jan. 20.
The always tough 2B Braves are 9-3, while the Hurricanes, the defending 1B state champs, are a crisp 13-2.
After that, however, the schedule opens up a bit for the Wolves, who will be battle-tested, if nothing else.
“Every game is a learning opportunity, and this was a big one,” said Coupeville coach Megan Richter.
“We were able to get our young players some good playing time, and they brought good energy to the game,” she added. “Now we are on to the next.”
Gwen Gustafson, always ready to scrap. (Helen Strelow photo)
Coupeville, which was missing Carolyn Lhamon — its chief enforcer in the paint — and defensive dynamo Lyla Stuurmans, was hurt by cold shooting from the field.
The Wolves netted just three field goals total on the day, with all of those coming in the second quarter, while Neah Bay tickled the twines for nine three-balls.
Toss in a lot of regular two-point shots via layups, sprinkle with some free throws, and the Red Devils proved to be as good as advertised.
While Coupeville couldn’t get the net to accept most of their offerings, the Wolves did have one of their better days at the charity stripe.
CHS opened by hitting its first seven free throw attempts, as Alita Blouin (5) and Katie Marti (2) were locked-in while the clock was frozen.
Blouin nailed a three-ball to account for Coupeville’s first field goal, but it didn’t come until nearly 11 minutes into the game.
Still, after a driving layup from Maddie Georges and a free throw from Ryanne Knoblich, the Wolves were hanging around, trailing just 25-13 late in the second quarter.
That was where things fell apart for the Wolves.
Or more to the point, that was the moment when the Red Devils flexed, and showed why they should play far into the postseason.
Neah Bay closed the game on a 33-3 surge, limiting Coupeville to just a put-back by Marti and a Knoblich free throw over the final 18+ minutes.
The Red Devils collected five of their nine treys down the stretch, proving willing and able to keep shooting (and hitting the bottom of the net) even as the clock ticked down.
Allie Greene paced the hosts with 23 points, including five three-balls, while Gracie Chartraw added 13, with a trio of her shots splashing home from behind the arc.
Blouin led Coupeville with eight points, with Marti (4), Knoblich (2), and Georges (2) also scoring.
Gwen Gustafson, Mia Farris, Madison McMillan, Skylar Parker, and Jada Heaton also saw floor time and continued to scrap hard for rebounds and loose balls until the final buzzer.
Coupeville Sports 