Savina Wells knocked down a team-high 11 points Tuesday night. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
This was not the way it was supposed to go.
Facing a team it ran off the floor the first time around, the Coupeville High School varsity girls basketball team stumbled Tuesday night.
Stung by a late three-ball, the Wolves fell 32-31 to visiting Friday Harbor, ending their chances at posting a winning record in this pandemic-altered season.
Now 4-6 with games against Concrete and Darrington left on the schedule, Coupeville can still finish at .500, but Tuesday’s tilt was there for the taking, and that hurts.
“We let it slip out of our hands and we’re all disappointed,” said CHS coach Scott Fox. “We’re hoping to finish strong and head into the summer a better team for next year.”
Coupeville held the lead late, clinging to a 31-29 lead after 8th grader Savina Wells capped an 11-point performance with an emphatic put-back with barely a minute to play.
But Friday Harbor caught a break when freshman Sheya Welty drilled a three-ball from the top of the arc with 40 seconds left on the clock.
Her shot barely got off over the outstretched hands of several Wolf defenders, but once airborne, it zipped low and on a line, hitting the back of the rim and dropping cleanly through the net.
It was Friday Harbor’s third trey of the night, and the second to come off the fingertips of Welty, who paced her squad with eight points.
Coupeville had several good looks at the basket in the game’s final seconds, while Friday Harbor kept things adventurous by missing a free throw which would have pushed its lead out further.
But it wasn’t to be, as the visitors escaped and headed home with only their second win of the season.
The game was a nail-biter most of the way, with neither team able to pull away.
Savina Wells opened things by lofting in a soft jumper off a feed from Carolyn Lhamon, and she and older sister Izzy closed the opening quarter with back-to-back buckets.
Holding an early 7-3 advantage, Coupeville then went cold from the field, not scoring for five-and-a-half minutes to open the second quarter.
But, thanks to a hyped-up defense and strong work on the boards from Ja’Kenya Hoskins, Lhamon, and Savina Wells, the Wolves trailed just 9-7 when they finally broke through.
Sophomore point guard Maddie Georges slashed through the paint, rolling in a layup as she flew under the glass, and Coupeville’s offense was back open for business.
Still trailing 16-12 early in the third quarter, the Wolves finally found the magic touch they had shown the first time these two squads clashed, and looked like they were taking control of things.
A 9-0 run, with four different CHS players scoring, staked Coupeville to a 21-16 lead.
The biggest bucket came from Izzy Wells, who got three points the hard way, putting an offensive rebound back up and in while getting smashed around the head.
Her ensuing free throw caressed the net, and put Friday Harbor on its heels.
But the visitors proved to be a scrappy bunch, closing the quarter on their own 6-0 mini-tear, with a put-back a millisecond before the quarter-ending buzzer a real mood killer.
The fourth quarter was a chess game, with both teams putting together big plays to retake the lead.
Savina Wells netted a jumper off of a long rebound, while Audrianna Shaw swished a shot while on the move, taking a pass from Hoskins and beating her defender to her favorite shooting spot.
That set up the ending we already discussed, as two young stars on the rise — Savina Wells and Sheya Welty — claimed center stage in the final moments.
The Wells sisters finished with 18 points, with Savina’s 11 backed up by seven from Izzy.
Shaw (8), Lhamon (2), Georges (2), and Kylie Van Velkinburgh (1) also scored, with Anya Leavell, Ryanne Knoblich, Gwen Gustafson, Hoskins, and defensive dynamo Lyla Stuurmans seeing floor time.
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