Good luck getting to the ice machine and back in one piece with a pack of Wolves roaming the hotel hallways. (Amy King photos)
Charlotte Langille (second from right), who hit the big 1-8 Saturday, checks out the birthday card her teammates made for her.
Mia (left) and Kalia Littlejohn share a sisterly moment on the ferry trip.
Winner, winner, chicken dinner. Lindsey Roberts (24) and Co. watch as her game-winning trey hits nothing but net. (Mindy Grove photo)
And still the champs! (King photo)
Change the sign on the Friday Harbor High School gym, because Coupeville owns the joint.
The Wolf varsity girls’ basketball squad has now gone 4-0 on the FHHS court over the past two seasons, winning back-to-back Friday Harbor Tip-Off Classic titles.
The latest triumph came Saturday, thanks to a dagger of a buzzer-beating three-ball from Lindsey Roberts.
The only basket the sophomore hit all game, it dropped through the net and rolled away as the game’s final two seconds ticked off, silencing a partisan crowd and lifting Coupeville to a 34-31 win over the tourney hosts.
Coming a day after the Wolves manhandled Seattle Academy, the win lifts CHS to 2-1 heading into league play.
Coupeville has a busy week coming up, finally playing at home when they host 1A Olympic League rivals Chimacum Wednesday and Klahowya Friday.
The Wolves will close their longest home-stand of the season when they welcome Island rival South Whidbey to town next Saturday for a non-conference game.
Coupeville won its second straight Tip-Off Classic by living out the Glengarry Glen Ross credo — Always Be Closing.
A little flat in the early going, the Wolves fell behind against a taller team, but kept on scrapping.
“All game it was a battle in and around the key,” said CHS coach David King. “Friday Harbor had the height advantage, but Lindsey, Tiffany (Briscoe), Kailey (Kellner) and Mikayla (Elfrank) stood toe-to-toe all game with their post players.”
Trailing 15-13 headed into the halftime break, King stressed the need to get back to a team-wide effort on the offensive end of the floor.
“The first half was a lot of one-on-one play for us,” he said. “This led to poor shots and we didn’t give ourselves a chance to get offensive rebounds.
“We didn’t play good enough to be leading, but just well enough to know if we made a few changes after halftime we could regain the lead and come away with a win.”
Wanting to share the ball more, Coupeville did just that on a key play in the third.
Out on the break, Elfrank pulled the defense to herself, then fed Briscoe for a layup to give the Wolves the lead.
Coupeville also ramped up its defensive game, with aggressive play from guards Mia Littlejohn, Lauren Rose, Kalia Littlejohn and Lauren Grove driving their foes bonkers.
Friday Harbor committed three 30-second shot clock violations, with the biggest resulting in a Wolverine trey being called off, as it left the shooter’s hands after the buzzer.
Up three headed into the fourth, Coupeville was looking to pull away, but took a body blow when leading scorer Kailey Kellner was lost to a dislocated finger.
She made an ER visit while her teammates closed out the game, but is expected to be back at full power next week.
Coupeville and Friday Harbor went back-and-forth down the stretch, with Elfrank coming up huge.
She turned a steal into a crucial bucket, then fed Roberts for the game-winner.
With the game knotted at 31 and 10 seconds to play, King drew up a play for Elfrank to get the final shot on the wing.
With a defender in front of her, the Wolf junior smartly didn’t try and force a shot, but whipped a pass to Roberts, who was trailing just outside the arc.
Ball hit hands, ball left hands, ball met net, and Roberts danced away, having slipped the dagger in that killed all of Friday Harbor.
Before her injury, Kellner dropped in 12 points and snagged eight boards to pace the Wolves.
Elfrank had eight points, six rebounds and three blocks, while Mia Littlejohn knocked down five points and Roberts (3), Rose (2), Briscoe (2) and Grove (2) rounded out the scorers.
Grove and Roberts twinned again, each hauling down five boards.
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