Lauren Rose had a hot hand early Monday, swishing three sweet first-half jumpers. (John Fisken photo)
Mia Littlejohn was on fire Monday.
Hitting shots from all angles, including a long three-point bomb from the left side one second after a horrified voice from the stands boomed out “No! She’s not ready for that!!” (spoiler: she was), the Coupeville Middle School eighth grader rained down 18 points against visiting Northshore.
That would have been enough to force overtime on her own.
But, with five other Wolves scoring and every player up and down the roster mixing hustle with grit, Coupeville ran away from a much bigger foe, pounding them 33-18.
In warmups, the visitors from Everett looked more dangerous than they turned out to be. With a roster that looked more like a high school squad, they cut an imposing figure.
Then Littlejohn, Lauren Rose and Co. quickly cut them down to size.
Combining for all 11 of their team’s first half points, with Rose scorching the net with three beautiful jumpers from the right side, the duo staked Coupeville to an 11-8 halftime lead.
Northshore, which had actually cut into the lead with the final two baskets in the first half, put a rebound back up and in and seemed to make it a game at 11-10.
Kyla Briscoe’s fingertips had other ideas, however.
Out-jumping a defender, Briscoe hauled down a rebound and spun right back to the hoop for a quick bucket, kicking off a game-busting 12-2 run.
The Wolves mixed inside plays from Sage Renninger with Littlejohn outrunning and outgunning Northshore defenders who found themselves two steps behind the speedy guard as she bolted from one end of the court to the other.
One second she was there, the next she was past them, flying at the hoop with single-minded intensity.
Setting her up was the three-headed rebounding machine of Renninger, Briscoe and Katrina McGranahan, who controlled the boards and kicked off numerous second chances.
McGranahan was a beast on defense as well, shutting down Northshore’s bigs and proudly using all of her five fouls to maximum effect before leaving the game to a well-deserved ovation from her bench.
Coupeville closed like pros, shredding the Northshore defense with long inbound passes flung by softball sensation McGranahan. Littlejohn and Rose consistently broke free to net the lobs, and a frustrated visiting squad had to frequently foul to stop breakaway layups.
The Wolves took advantage, netting six free throws as they slammed the door shut with a game-closing 10-1 surge.
Littlejohn (18) and Rose (6) led the scoring chart, while Renninger (3), McGranahan (2), Briscoe (2) and Payton Aparicio (2) rounded out the scorers.
7th grade varsity falls: One bad quarter killed the CMS 7th grade squad, as a 13-2 second quarter deficit was the difference in a 34-20 loss.
Coupeville’s best run came midway through the third quarter until late in the fourth, when they launched a 14-5 rally to trim the lead from 19 back to 10.
Kalia Littlejohn popped for six of her team-high 11 during the run, while Sarah Wright and Hope Lodell each banged home a pair of buckets.
Wright tallied five for the game and dominated on the boards, ripping rebounds free and refusing to surrender the ball once she had her hands anywhere near it.
Soaring in the fourth quarter, Lodell swished a sweet runner off of an inbounds play, netted an assist on a pass to a cutting Littlejohn, then put a rebound back up and in for her second basket.
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