Scout Smith collected six points, four steals and two rebounds Friday night. (John Fisken photo)
Just out of reach.
Tripped up by a fourth-quarter lapse, the Coupeville High School JV girls’ basketball squad suffered a rare loss Friday night.
Unable to crack a tough man press down the stretch, the Wolves were outscored 11-3 to end the game and fell 35-25 at Mount Vernon Christian.
The non-conference loss snaps a three-game winning streak and leaves the young guns, who have played all but one game on the road this season, at 6-3.
Coupeville staked itself to a narrow 6-4 lead after one quarter of play, and stayed close all night, pulling to within 24-22 with just under six minutes left in the game.
The Hurricanes then busted things open with three consecutive baskets off of turnovers or steals set up by their press.
While she wasn’t thrilled with the loss, Wolf coach Amy King did come away with several positives from her team’s performance.
“Our defense improved through each quarter, until the end when we panicked,” she said. “Still, they all played hard. They didn’t quit and just worked until the end.
King doled out praise to freshmen Tia Wurzrainer (“she had a good game; her defense and steals are becoming more frequent and stronger”) and Maya Toomey-Stout, who initiated a number of fast breaks.
Coupeville also worked on running its own full court press for the first time this season.
“We will look forward to using that the rest of the season,” King said.
Ema Smith was front and center, pumping home nine points and corralling eight rebounds to lead the Wolves.
Scout Smith knocked down six points to back her up, while Avalon Renninger (3), Nicole Lester (2), Emma Mathusek (2), Ashlie Shank (2) and Toomey-Stout (1) also scored.
Lester and Renninger each snared six boards, while Toomey-Stout and Scout Smith both made off with four steals apiece.
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