Ryanne Knoblich cracked the 100-point club Thursday night. (Morgan White photo)
Consider it a warning shot across the bow.
Facing off with a potential playoff opponent Thursday, the Coupeville High School varsity girls’ basketball team made short work of their rivals.
Getting points from nine players, the Wolves roared out to a 28-point lead on the road at Auburn Adventist Academy, then coasted in for a comfortable 42-21 non-conference win.
The third-straight victory for Megan Richter’s squad, it lifts them to 8-8 heading into the final week of the regular season.
Coupeville hosts Northwest 2B/1B League leader La Conner next Tuesday, Feb. 7 on Senior Night, then travels to Friday Harbor Feb. 10.
Two of those three teams advance to the bi-district playoffs, which are Feb. 13-15 at Coupeville High School.
La Conner is currently 2-0 in the three-team round robin of 2B schools, with the Wolves at 1-1, and Friday Harbor 0-2.
The #1 team from District 1 (Coupeville’s district) opens the playoffs against the #2 team from District 2, with the #2 squad from D-1 facing the #1 group from D-2 in loser-out games.
If things in D-1 hold through the final week, that means La Conner would face Northwest Christian (Lacey), while Coupeville and Auburn Adventist would reunite in the other game.
The winners Feb. 13 return to CHS Feb. 15 to play for the bi-district title and a trip to the state tourney.
If Thursday’s game was a playoff preview, Wolf players have to feel pretty good about things, as they dominated Auburn from opening tip to final buzzer.
Lyla Stuurmans slipped a free throw through the net to open the scoring, and Coupeville had a lead it would never relinquish.
Like never, ever.
Hitting the boards hard and playing a brisk game of “give me the dang ball or die!” on defense, the feisty Wolves bolted out to an 8-2 lead after one quarter of play and never looked back.
And, if 8-2 doesn’t sound like a huge lead, it still felt like it, as Coupeville rarely let Auburn get anywhere close enough to the hoop to launch a shot in the early going.
If a whole bunch of Wolf shots hadn’t taken weird spins off the glass or popped backwards off an unforgiving rim, they would have been up by a solid 20+ points, instead of just six.
The baskets started falling at a more-satisfying pace in the second quarter, from Katie Marti slapping home a runner off of an Alita Blouin dish, to Marti returning the favor, feeding Ryanne Knoblich for a breakaway bucket.
Blouin splashed home a three-ball right before the buzzer, sending CHS to the halftime break up 21-7, before Coupeville really got going in the third quarter.
Or, more specifically, Knoblich strode out onto the floor, screamed “Ain’t no one in this joint can stop me!” and went on a tear.
Sure, it’s possible I’m putting words in her mouth, but the Wolf senior was most certainly a savage in the second half, brutalizing any defender who dared to (meekly) step to her.
Barreling through the paint, flinging bodies in all directions, Knoblich knocked down nine of her game-high 11 points in the third, with six of those points coming courtesy offensive rebounds.
The best one was the one where she slammed two hands on the ball, ripped the ball loose from an Auburn player’s less-than-sturdy grip and sent the Falcon sprawling to the hardwood.
When Knoblich wasn’t channeling Dennis Rodman on the boards, Wolf point guard Maddie Georges was flipping note-perfect passes left, right, and every direction, setting up her teammates for easy buckets.
Don’t mess with Maddie Georges, cause you’ll lose. (Bailey Thule photo)
One Georges pass in the third quarter went to Knoblich, one went to Marti, and a third found the waiting fingers of Madison McMillan, as Georges shredded the Falcon defense at every opportunity.
Up 36-9 heading into the fourth, Coupeville pushed the margin all the way out to 40-12 before Auburn salvaged some self-respect by closing the game on a 9-2 push.
Knoblich’s 11 points helped her achieve a personal milestone, as she cracked the 100-point club and now sits with 101 for her varsity career.
Marti dropped in a season-high 10 points in support, while Blouin (9), McMillan (4), Mia Farris (2), Gwen Gustafson (2), Carolyn Lhamon (2), Stuurmans (1), and Georges (1) also scored.
Jada Heaton and Skylar Parker brought hustle to their work on the defensive end of the floor, as all 11 girls on the Wolf varsity roster saw floor time.
No JV Game:
Auburn only has one girls’ team, so Coupeville’s second unit had the night off.
The Wolf young guns, who are 6-8 on the season, close their season next week with games against La Conner and Friday Harbor.
Coupeville Sports 