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Posts Tagged ‘Breeanna Messner’

This one stings…

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , on January 24, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Kacie Kiel, seen here in a game from last season, scored seven first-half points Friday to pace the Wolves. (John Fisken photo)

  Kacie Kiel, seen here in a game from last season, scored seven first-half points Friday to pace the Wolves. (John Fisken photo)

There are nights when you could have won, when you should have won, when everything seems headed in one direction, then takes a sickening drop off a cliff at the worst possible moment.

Friday night was that night for the Coupeville High School girls’ basketball team.

Letting an 11-point lead slip away over the final six minutes, the Wolves were outscored 17-3 to end the game and fell 39-36 to visiting Lakewood.

Now 6-8 overall, 3-6 in Cascade Conference play, Coupeville missed out on a golden opportunity to stretch its lead over South Whidbey (1-8 in league) to three games with five to play in the race for a 1A playoff spot.

The Wolves can correct that quickly, however, as they travel to Langley Tuesday seeking a season sweep of their Island rivals.

They may be haunted a bit by Friday night, however.

Breaking a 20-20 tie midway through the third quarter, the Wolves used a 13-2 run to take what looked like an unbreakable lead.

Amanda Fabrizi opened the fourth with a breakaway bucket on a gorgeous outlet pass from Makana Stone, then followed it up with a sweet three from the corner on the very next play.

Up 33-22, Coupeville looked primed to coast home with a season sweep of the 2A Cougars.

But then things fell apart in a hazy swirl of rimmed-out shots, wildly inconsistent refereeing (the blatant blown calls went both ways, but stacked up badly on Coupeville at the end) and a brief show of nerves.

A free throw from Madeline Strasburg staked Coupeville to its last lead at 34-26.

After that the ball flat-out refused to get in the bucket for the Wolves, as strong shot after strong shot rolled around the rim, took odd bounces or started to go in, then kicked back out.

Lakewood threw together an 11-0 run sparked by two tough offensive rebounds, a couple of free throws and a layup from a player who got away with the kind of travel where you drag both legs all the way through the paint while staggering like a drunk — in front of a whistle-happy ref who suddenly swallowed her nerve and her whistle.

Coupeville refused to bow and finally broke its shooting curse when Breeanna Messner went one-on-three and shot straight up the middle for a crunch-time layin with 14 seconds on the game clock.

Back within one at 37-36, the Wolves gambled for a steal, and had to foul at the nine-second mark when they couldn’t get it.

Lakewood, which had been having trouble at the free throw stripe in the fourth, as the CHS faithful rattled the rafters with their screams, came through this time, knocking down both charity shots.

The Wolves had a look at a potential game-tying three at the buzzer, but it was rushed and overshot the rim, setting off a celebration on the Lakewood bench.

The same bench that left CHS a reminder of its presence by leaving a play drawn on the hardwood floor — markings that the janitor was less than thrilled to see marring his floor after the game.

Coupeville had taken control of the game originally with a 12-5 run in the second quarter.

With Kacie Kiel and Breeanna Messner combining for nine points in the quarter, the Wolves put together runs of 7-0 and 5-0.

Messner paced the Wolves with 10 points, while Fabrizi banked home eight and Kiel popped for seven. Strasburg (5), Makana Stone (4) and Julia Myers (2) capped the scoring attack.

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“Makana was awesome!!”

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , on January 21, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Wolf fab five (l to r) Makana Stone, Julia Myers, Kacie Kiel, Breeanna Messner and Amanda Fabrizi. (Robert Bishop photo)

Tuesday’s starting five: (l to r) Makana Stone, Julia Myers, Kacie Kiel, Breeanna Messner and Amanda Fabrizi. (Robert Bishop photo)

Even her teammates were impressed.

“Mom! Mom! Makana had 23 points tonight! She was awesome!!,” was the first thing Coupeville High School senior captain Breeanna Messner said to Aimee Bishop after Tuesday night’s almost-win over the #5 team in 2A.

While the Wolves, representing the smallest school in 1A, couldn’t quite finish off an upset for the ages over Cedarcrest (691 students in grades 9-11 to the 225 at CHS), there was little doubt as to who the best player on the court was.

The visiting Red Wolves may have used a fourth-quarter surge to derail Coupeville, turning a one-point game into an eventual 57-47 victory, but Makana Stone was nothing short of electrifying.

Rampaging with a purpose, pulling up for quick jumpers in the paint, or crashing the boards for rebounds like a woman possessed, the silky-smooth sophomore was unstoppable at times.

By herself, she outscored Cedarcrest 11-7 in the first quarter, eventually going on to throw down points in all four quarters.

Her 23 points were the most scored by any Wolf this season, boy or girl, JV or varsity.

And she had help, big-time help, with her #1 admirer, Messner, gunning for eight of her 10 points in the second quarter as Coupeville carried a 30-24 lead in at the half.

Messner hit a long three-ball early in the second for the first Wolf points to come from a player not named Stone. Then she lit the fire on a quarter-closing 9-0 run, hitting a tough running jumper and three free throws.

Kacie Kiel and Stone put back-to-back rebounds back up and in to cap the spurt, while Amanda Fabrizi tossed in five points in the quarter, including a three-point bomb that she launched from so far back she might as well have been out in the parking lot.

With Cedarcrest looking a bit stressed and amping up the speed of the game, the Wolves tired a bit in the second half and weren’t able to get as many dead-on shots.

Stone banked in a jumper to open the fourth, staking Coupeville to its final lead of the game at 38-37.

The Red Wolves, who hadn’t looked quite like a Top 10 team up until then, suddenly clicked into another gear, however. Holding Coupeville without a field goal for several minutes, Cedarcrest went on a game-busting 15-3 run.

Stone finally broke the cold streak with a final pair of buckets, one on a pull-up jumper, another off of an offensive board, but a run of missed free throws in the final two minutes didn’t help Coupeville’s cause.

Now 6-7 overall, 3-5 in Cascade Conference play, the Wolves finished the game with confident smiles still attached.

They had staggered a major foe, come close to a knock out, and look like a squad ready to erupt on a winning streak as they enter what should be a much-easier stretch run.

Stone was dominant, spark-plug Madeline Strasburg (three points) had the bounce back in her step and fire in her play, Julia Myers was still swinging her elbows like her daddy told her to knock someone out and Messner and Fabrizi (seven points) played like the seasoned warriors they are.

Go down the bench and everyone chipped in.

Kiel (four points) was a whirlwind on both ends of the court, Monica Vidoni skied high for her most impressive rebound yet and McKayla Bailey and Wynter Thorne attacked with their usual pedal-through-the-metal ferocity.

The Wolves are hungry, and they look like a team that should keep the smile on Messner’s face the rest of the season.

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3rd quarter blues haunt weary Wolves

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , on January 10, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Amanda Fabrizi scored a team-high 10 Friday, including a bucket on an unexpected steal. (John Fisken photo)

Amanda Fabrizi scored a team-high 10 Friday, including a bucket on an unexpected steal. (John Fisken photo)

They started the game tired and sore, still feeling the effects of a long road trip. They ended it banged up and saddled with a second straight loss.

A third quarter collapse killed the Wolves Friday night, as the Coupeville High School varsity girls’ basketball squad fell 56-39 to visiting Archbishop Thomas Murphy.

The loss dropped CHS to 5-4 overall, 2-3 in Cascade Conference play.

The Wolves will have an immediate chance to rebound, as they reach the halfway point of the regular season Saturday when non-conference foe Mount Vernon Christian comes to town for a doubleheader (boys tip at 1 PM, girls at 3).

One lingering question will be the status of senior captain Breeanna Messner, who banged her head on the floor in the third quarter while fighting for a ball. While she returned to action late in the game, the short turn-around time could hamper her if she has lingering pain or concussion concerns.

After enduring a long trip to Sultan earlier in the week, where they played in a rough, intense game, the Wolves had looked a bit tired and slow in practice, said Coupeville coach David King.

Even so, the Wolves were right with ATM for a half, trailing by just three at the break. If a few missed free throws had rattled in, they would have held the lead going into the locker room.

But whatever energy they had in the first 16 minutes took a major hit at the half.

ATM bolted out of the gate with a fast three-point bomb, than really ramped up things after Messner’s collision with the pine.

Missing their floor leader, the Wolves started having big time trouble with the full-court press the Wildcats were using — either struggling to get the ball up the floor or running out of control once they did. ATM took advantage, closing the quarter on an 11-2 run after Messner’s exit.

With the game out of control, one bright spot in garbage time came from junior post Monica Vidoni, who scored all six of her points in the fourth quarter.

The best of her buckets came on a layup off of a pass from Amanda Fabrizi. The senior guard ruthlessly drove the lane, sucked in the defense, then laid the ball off with a flick of her wrist at the very last second, perfectly setting up her younger teammate.

Fabrizi was solid all around, leading Coupeville in scoring with 10 points while playing with her right hand bandaged.

To go with her pretty pass to Vidoni, she also pulled off the steal of the game.

Having lost the ball late in the second quarter, an ATM player came to a skidding halt, content that she couldn’t corral the ball before it went out of bounds. Time froze, as nine players on the court came to a stop.

And then, flashing cross court, Fabrizi came dancing down the sideline, spun the ball back towards herself at the last second and was off for a stunning breakaway layup.

It was an impressive play from an underrated star.

Makana Stone popped for eight in support, while Vidoni (6), Messner (5), Madeline Strasburg (5), Julia Myers (4) and Hailey Hammer (1) rounded out the scorers. Kacie Kiel and Wynter Thorne were scoreless, but went full-tilt when on the floor and scrapped hard.

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Fabrizi, Messner sparkle in tough loss!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , on January 8, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Amanda Fabrizi (John Fisken photo)

A bandaged hand can’t slow down Amanda Fabrizi. (John Fisken photo)

Second game, same as the first.

Following the pattern set by the Wolf JV squad, the Coupeville High School varsity girls’ basketball squad dominated in the first half Tuesday in Sultan, then suffered a second-half collapse that cost them the game.

The 40-37 loss to the Turks snapped a four-game winning streak for the Wolves, who slipped to 5-3 overall, 2-2 in Cascade Conference play.

Coupeville is in a four-way tie for third place in the league, two games ahead of South Whidbey (0-4) in the battle for a 1A playoff spot.

The Wolves came out ready to dominate, holding Sultan scoreless for the first five minutes of the game.

With senior guard Amanda Fabrizi stepping up in a loud, hostile environment and pouring in points, Coupeville built a 20-8 lead going in to the halftime break.

“In pregame, we talked about and wanted to use the energy of the crowd and band that Sultan is known for (one of the best gyms to play in, in my opinion),” said Coupeville coach David King. “We wanted to run when we had the opportunity, play fast when we could, but not play out of control fast.”

Unfortunately, most of the positives went out the door as soon as the third quarter started.

A run of quick fouls by the Wolves and a sudden inability to deal with Sultan’s press opened things up, and the Turks took advantage, knocking down several long-range three-point shots to cut the gap.

“We did not handle the press well at all,” King said. “We played like we hadn’t seen a press before or like we had run a press break.”

Even with the letdown, Coupeville was in the game until the final moments.

Breeanna Messner followed her own missed shot and put the ball back up in and, her clutch play cutting the lead to one with less than 20 seconds to play.

The Wolves set up a press coming out of a timeout, playing for the steal, but were unable to get a turnover and had to foul Sultan’s Courtney Morris, who notched both of her attempts at the charity stripe.

Down to their final chance, Coupeville got off three shots at the end, with the final one from Madeline Strasburg (“Leaving her hands, it looked good”) barely rimming out.

While he wasn’t happy with the loss (“This team understands we let this game slip through our grasp, and, as much as Sultan won this game, we feel like we lost this game”), King was pleased with much of what he saw from his squad.

“Defensively I couldn’t be happier with the effort,” he said. “They are coming out and playing hard and making things happen. The communication on the court has been improving; we are starting to read things better and getting our hands on the ball in the passing lanes.

“We are rebounding well on both ends of the court,” King added. “They are seeing the positive results of the work they are putting in on the offensive rebounding side.”

As it heads into a high-stakes home match-up with Archbishop Thomas Murphy (3-5, 2-2) Friday night (6:45 PM), Coupeville needs to focus on the small things.

Staying focused under pressure. Making free throws (the Wolves were 6 of 15 Tuesday).

“This team has so much fight and will start looking to improve on the areas we need to and get ready for ATM on Friday,” King said. “We feel like we can compete with anyone in our league.

“We need to take the next step and not be happy with just competing but now expecting to win.”

Fabrizi paced the Wolves with 11 points, six rebounds and three steals, while Messner hit for six points and swiped the ball three times. Julia Myers and Hailey Hammer had seven rebounds apiece and Makana Stone spiked three blocks.

Strasburg (9), Stone (6), Myers (3) and Hammer (2) rounded out the scorers, while Kacie Kiel collected two assists in her first game back after sitting out back-to-back games with an injury.

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