Tenley Stuurmans? She already beat you. (Julie Wheat photos)
Raise a glass for Scout Smith.
Two days after Coupeville High School varsity girls’ basketball coach Megan Richter delivered her second child, her replacement on the sideline this season made some personal history.
Guiding the Wolves to a wire-to-wire 43-32 win over visiting Eastside Prep Saturday, Smith collected her first victory as a varsity basketball coach.
The non-conference W evens Coupeville’s record at 1-1 and means the former CHS Female Athlete of the Year is now a “made” woman in two sports, having won multiple matches during her debut as her alma mater’s varsity volleyball coach in the fall.
Smith, always one of the most cerebral of athletes during her time in the red and black, made a smart choice Saturday — get the ball to her big three and let them rumble.
With Tenley Stuurmans, Haylee Armstrong, and Teagan Calkins combining to score 35 points, and all their teammates coming up huge with clutch supporting performances, the Wolves were unstoppable most of the day.
The air in the gym had the cold tang of winter, but Coupeville’s collective shooting touch was en fuego.
Calkins was in full-on “Red Dragon” mode early, snapping the nets for seven points in the first five minutes, including scoring off of the opening tip.
The Wolf senior, who was a defensive dynamo as well — constantly poking balls free and disrupting passes — also splashed home a three-ball and a jumper while on the move.
When her shot wasn’t open, Calkins found Armstrong zipping past the defense, with the junior guard adding five points of her own as CHS staked itself to a 13-4 lead.
Eastside was pesky, though, closing the first quarter with five straight points, then tossing in six straight to end the second frame.
That kept the Eagles within 19-15 at the half, even as Danica Strong drained a superb turnaround jumper, Ari Cunningham provided a jolt on defense, and Stuurmans begin to heat up.
If the visitors had any hopes of making the day super-competitive, that fell apart quickly as the second half began with a Wolf assault on the hoop.
Armstrong banked in another three-ball, doing a lil’ strut back up court afterwards, while Stuurmans got three the hard way, fighting her way to a breakaway bucket and free throw combo which showed off her speed, nimble nature, and often-surprising toughness.
By the time the buzzer sounded on the third, Eastside Prep had little pep left, having fallen behind 37-19 as the Wolves dominated on both ends of the floor.
The final score was a little closer than you might have thought, but only because the Eagles suddenly discovered their shooting touch from long-range in the game’s final two minutes.
Not to be lost in the moment was scrappy Wolves Lexis Drake and Ari Cunningham scoring their first varsity buckets, becoming the 254th and 255th CHS girls to join that club since the program was launched back in 1974.
Teagan Calkins, starting to get kind of legendary.
Stuurmans and Armstrong tied for top honors with 12 points each, while Calkins popped for 11.
Toss in four from Strong and two apiece from Cunningham and Drake, add quality work from Sydney Van Dyke, Capri Anter, and fab frosh Kennedy O’Neill — who was a whirlwind on defense — and it made for the kind of balanced team-wide performance any coach loves to see.
Plus, Smith wasn’t the only one making some hoops history.
Armstrong’s 12 points gives her 116 for her career, leaving her a three-ball shy of moving into the top 100 career scorers, while Calkins moves up from #49 to #45 thanks to her matinee performance.
With 258 points and counting, “The Red Dragon” passes Chelsea Prescott (249), Danette Beckley (249), Julie Wieringa (252), and Lyla Stuurmans (257).
Calkins played alongside Lyla Stuurmans — Tenley’s big sis — for multiple seasons, while Beckley is Danica Strong’s mom.
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