Give Jada Heaton the dang ball, cause they can’t stop her. (Jackie Saia photo)
There was a brief moment of concern.
Jennifer Heaton, high up in the stands, was gently rocking three-month-old coach’s daughter Adeline Richter, heir to the Coupeville High School girls’ basketball empire.
Meanwhile, down below on the hardwood, Jennifer’s own daughter, Joltin’ Jada Heaton, was destroying anyone foolish enough to get in her way.
Would mom lose herself in the moment, let loose a full-throated roar, and toss little Adeline high enough she could dust the CHS gym roof with her pajamas?
Spoiler alert: the cobwebs are still in place.
Keeping any hootin’ and hollerin’ and baby-tossin’ for later, Jennifer Heaton just beamed a lot as Jada went bonkers, propelling the Wolf varsity to a 41-37 win Saturday over visiting Orting.
The non-conference victory against a 2A foe, coming in the home finale for the 2B Wolves, lifts Coupeville to 7-12 on the season.
That leaves one more game for CHS, which is out of playoff contention but still playing hard from opening tip to final buzzer.
The Wolves travel to La Conner Tuesday to close things out, and then coach Megan Richter will join Adeline on the sidelines (and the walking trails).
Since Saturday’s rumble, a late addition to the schedule, was the final time this year’s players will lace up their sneakers and stare down a rival in their home gym, the Wolves started seniors Kayla Arnold, Reese Wilkinson, and Skylar Parker.
That left Heaton, normally a starter, on the bench for the opening chunk of the contest, but she bided her time well, raising the roof for her teammates while eyeballing the Cardinals.
“I’m coming in like a wrecking ball, ladies, when I get in this game, so pull up your shorts and brace for impact!”
Is what I like to imagine Jada was saying.
Without their firecracker on the floor, the Wolves briefly (very briefly) fell behind 3-0, then kicked into gear.
Arnold pulled off a dazzling drive to the basket to open Coupeville’s scoring, before Katie Marti knocked down a three-ball and Wilkinson slid a free throw through the twines.
Reese Wilkinson clamps down on defense. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Up 6-3 after a defensive-minded opening frame, the Wolves ramped things up considerably during a 16-6 run in the second quarter.
Five different CHS players dropped in points during the game-busting tear, while Mia Farris — back on the floor after missing three games with an injury — provided a defensive spark.
Marti was wheeling and dealing, peppering Orting’s defense with precision passes, setting up one teammate after another while emulating Sue Bird in her prime.
Heaton, Madison McMillan, and Haylee Armstrong each racked up four points in the second quarter, but it was Marti, on a rare play where she didn’t flick a highlight-reel pass, who notched the best bucket of the day.
It came on a running hook shot in the paint and drew an appropriate burst of applause from her always-packed fan club in the expensive floor-level seats.
Up 22-7 at the half, the Wolves were romping, until, in what might have been a tribute to the Austin Powers films, they decided that they too liked to live dangerously.
Or Orting was just better than it showed in the first half, and finally got its act together.
Either way, the Cardinals came alive after the break, using a 15-2 surge to get all the way back to within 26-24 with about a minute and change left in the third quarter.
Collars were tightening, but the Wolves had an answer.
Marti, scampering up court, pegged a beautiful pass over the top of the defense, dropping the ball onto McMillan’s waiting fingertips, and her fellow junior slapped home a layup.
Add a Farris free throw and a defensive stand, and Coupeville was back up 29-24 with eight minutes to play.
Madison McMillan delivers another bucket. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Orting refused to go quietly, cutting its deficit down to a single bucket three times in the fourth, only to have CHS respond in style each time.
The first time Armstrong gut-punched the Cardinals with a three-ball which hit the rim, skipped high into the air, did a few ballet moves in the breeze, then splashed through the bottom of the net as the fab frosh danced away.
Then it was Jada Time, as Heaton flexed her biceps (while possibly doing a “check one, check two” pep talk to her guns), and closed the game like a Valkyrie unleashing Ragnarök.
I think that’s how it works. I am Norwegian, but not 100% sure about my myths. So, just go with it.
Three trips down the floor to end the game, and three HUGE buckets from Joltin’ Jada, slayer of mortals, and the game was in the win column.
Basket #1 came on a lob from Marti, still baffling and blitzing any rapidly retreating defenders in the region.
Basket #2? A power move down low from Heaton, who muscled her way through a mass of players in the mood to elbow and knee her tender regions.
And basket #3? An offensive rebound, a quick dip to get past a defender, and then a graceful arc of the ball off the glass while mom celebrated without mussin’ up the baby too bad.
The victory took some of the sting out of a loss to Friday Harbor less than 24 hours earlier, and was a true team affair, with eight of nine players to hit the hardwood scoring.
Heaton finished with a season-high 12, while Marti banked in eight and McMillan and Armstrong each tallied seven.
Farris (3), Arnold (2), Teagan Calkins (1), and Wilkinson (1) rounded out the attack, with Parker going toe-to-toe with the Cardinals in a series of battles for loose balls and rebounds.
Katie Marti weaves through the defense. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
While Marti’s day featured some of her best passing work of the season, it also saw the Wolf junior hit a personal milestone in the great career scoring race.
She broke into the 200-point club with her first quarter three-ball, the 62nd player to achieve that feat in the 50 years of Wolf girls’ hoops.
Now sitting at #59 all-time with 207 points, she’s the third family member to reach the mark, chasing Cousin Breeanna Messner (235 points) and Aunt Judy Marti (545).
And it wasn’t the only milestone on the day, as McMillan (102) also cracked the 100-point club and Heaton reached an even 50 for her career.
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