Breeanna Messner, the steadiest of stars. (Shelli Trumbull photo)
The boards belong to the Wolves.
Ripping down 43 rebounds Tuesday night — with an astonishing 25 on the offensive end — the Coupeville High School girls’ basketball team crushed host Granite Falls 48-19.
The game was even more of a blowout than that might sound, as Coupeville held the Tigers to just seven points through the first three quarters, including holding their foes scoreless in the third.
If Kimberly Martinez hadn’t suddenly thrown down 12 by herself in the fourth, the Wolves might have held Granite Falls to single digits.
The win snapped a three-game losing skid for Coupeville and lifted it back to 6-5 overall, 3-3 in Cascade Conference play, heading into a home match-up Friday against King’s. The Knights (8-3, 5-0) will come to town in first place after stunning Cedarcrest 72-45.
They should have a battle waiting for them, however, if the Wolves come out playing like they did at Granite.
With senior captain Breeanna Messner back in the lineup after sitting out a game after smacking her head, the Wolves’ confidence soared.
Add in a feisty performance from Kacie Kiel, starting in place of the injured Hailey Hammer (ankle), and Coupeville was on point across the board.
“What a difference it makes having the team’s floor leader back on the court,” said Coupeville coach David King. “Bree came back and had one of her best games.
“Kacie brought an aggressive mindset that helped her play her best game of the year,” he added. “She was everywhere on the court. Kacie is one of our best, if not the best, on-ball and weak-side help defenders.”
Mixing up defenses — going from a zone press to a man press — the Wolves flustered Granite Falls and nabbed a string of turnovers (Messner and Kiel combined for 10 of Coupeville’s 17 steals) that turned into easy buckets.
Than, if they missed, they sent everyone at the boards — hard.
“Crashing the boards has really caught on with this team,” King said. “There was one sequence when we shot the ball and four of the five Coupeville players on the court went hard looking to secure the offensive rebound.
“It was great to see that.”
Makana Stone, despite sitting a chunk of the game, led Coupeville with 12 boards (seven on the offensive end), while Monica Vidoni pulled down eight, Kiel snagged seven and Amanda Fabrizi snatched six.
Facing a 2-3 zone, Coupeville ruthlessly picked it apart, essentially blowing the game wide open with a 17-4 first quarter.
Stone, playing in the post with Hammer sidelined, threw down seven in the quarter, while Kiel was a terror on the boards, collecting five points off of two offensive boards and a free throw.
Defensive spark-plug Julia Myers netted three points in support, a continued display of offensive power from the junior.
“Julia has been working extra on her form and it is paying off for her,” King said. “She is shooting with more confidence and when she does miss, it isn’t missing by much.”
With Stone sitting in the second quarter, Vidoni stepped up with six points to pace the Wolves, who took an imposing 34-7 lead into the locker room at the half.
If things looked bleak for Granite Falls, they got really bad in the third, when the Tigers couldn’t get a single shot to drop for eight long minutes.
“Our defense was in lock-down mode,” said a happy King.
“Overall, a very well-played game by the Coupeville players,” he added. “The girls should be very proud of how we played as a team.”
Coupeville spread the wealth on the scoring end, with eight of their nine players in uniform scoring. Stone paced the attack with 14, followed by Kiel (7), Vidoni (6), Fabrizi (6), Madeline Strasburg (5), Messner (4), Myers (4) and Wynter Thorne (2).
McKayla Bailey did not score, but, if past performances are any indication, probably freaked out a Granite Falls player or two after taking their heads off while fighting for loose balls.
Coupeville Sports 