Tia Wurzrainer was a wild woman on defense Saturday, recording six blocks against Bellevue Christian. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Almost at full strength. Almost.
While the Coupeville High School JV girls basketball roster still isn’t 100% healthy, it was as close Saturday as it has been at any point this season.
With nine warriors at her disposal, Wolf coach Amy King almost had to put out a call for extra chairs. Almost.
Facing off with a well-seasoned foe in visiting Bellevue Christian, strength in numbers offered a huge emotional boost for Coupeville.
Now, if a few more shots had dropped, the Wolves might have also had a win to commemorate the moment.
Instead, despite a second-half rally, CHS fell 30-17.
The non-conference loss drops the young Wolves to 4-3 on the season, but they still boast the most successful record of any of the school’s four hoops teams.
Saturday was a tale of two different styles of play, as Coupeville was red-hot on defense for 32 minutes but ice-cold on offense for a considerable chunk of time.
Other than a few razzle-dazzle plays, such as a steal and sizzlin’ pass from Kylie Chernikoff to Ashlie Shank for a bucket, CHS had trouble getting the rim to cooperate.
“Shots went up, but the lid was on, on our end,” King said.
Down 6-1 at the first break, the Wolves gave up a string of fast-break buckets in the second quarter, finding themselves staring up at a 17-4 halftime deficit.
Some locker room adjustments, perhaps a Knute Rockne-style speech from King, and Coupeville came out fired up in the second half, playing to a 13-13 tie over the final 16 minutes.
“The third quarter was better,” King said “Our offense started to have more movement, the girls moved the ball better and took care of it better, less steals for Bellevue.”
Kick-starting the offense was the defense, as Coupeville staged a block party.
Coupeville rejected 11 Bellevue shots, with feisty sophomore Tia Wurzrainer pulling off a Dikembe Mutombo-style rampage with six blocks of her own.
“Tia was a monster on defense,” King said. “Block after block and shutting off a number of shots.”
Toss in two rejections apiece for Avalon Renninger and Mollie Bailey and one for Nicole Lester, and it quickly became a no-shoot zone for the Vikings.
When BC did get a shot up and away, the Wolves cleaned the glass with a fury, with Maddy Hilkey and Bailey pacing the team by snatching four caroms apiece.
While the Vikings had a height advantage, Chernikoff and Lester “fought all night against a couple of tough post players,” doing a “nice job keeping the other team from driving into the key.”
Lester paced the scoring attack with five points, while Renninger (4), Bailey (3), Hilkey (2), Shank (2) and Chernikoff (1) all chipped in to the effort.
Chelsea Prescott, limited to one quarter so she could play varsity, racked up two rebounds, a steal and an assist, while Shank snagged two boards in her season debut and foreign exchange student Julia García Oñoro “held her own on the defensive end.”
Even in defeat, King came away with positives.
“We did some good things despite the loss,” she said. “The girls are getting more confident with dribbling against pressure, rebounding and putting the ball back up and shooting in general.
“We will make a few adjustments over the next few practices and will be ready for our next game.”
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