Coupeville Sports

Lyla Stuurmans and her crew put together a strong offensive performance Friday in Darrington. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

The offense was en fuego.

Kicking off 2024 in grand fashion, the Coupeville High School varsity girls’ basketball team poured in a season-high Friday, thrashing host Darrington 57-14.

The victory lifts the Wolves to 1-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 4-6 overall, and could be a huge confidence builder going into the second half of the season.

Coupeville has been inspired on defense at times, but struggled to generate consistent offense, scoring 25 or fewer points in six of its first nine games.

Something changed Friday, and in a big way, as the Wolves opened the game on a 25-0 tear, then closed it on another 25-0 run.

Everyone was dialed in, with nine different players scoring, including Reese Wilkinson and Kayla Arnold notching their first varsity points.

In the early going it was Lyla Stuurmans with the hot hand, burying a pair of silky jumpers before scampering back on defense to harass and terrorize anyone foolish enough to wander into her part of the court.

A steal and breakaway bucket for Katie Marti stretched the first quarter lead out to 9-0, then it was time for Mia the Magnificent to take center stage.

Mixing in free throws with jumpers, steals with rebounds, Mia Farris poured in nine points in the final three minutes of the opening frame, powering CHS to a 23-0 lead at the first break.

Megan Richter discusses strategy. “The ball … put it in the basket.”

Now, the Wolves did calm down for a bit after that, but just for a bit.

Stuurmans went coast to coast to open the second quarter, before Darrington finally netted its first bucket 10.5 minutes into the game.

Once they finally unlocked the riddle of the rim, the Loggers hung tough, trailing 30-7 at the half, before getting the lead down to 32-14 after a run to open the third quarter.

Super sophomore Teagan Calkins, who spent the night crashing hard to the hoop, brought an end to Darrington’s brief comeback hopes however, swishing a free throw and kicking off the game’s second 25-0 tear.

Katie Marti closed the third with a three-ball from the side, followed by an out of control run up the middle where the ball bounced high off the rim, looked around at the crowd for a moment or two, then somehow caught just the right angle and slid through the net as the Wolves went bonkers.

The fourth quarter was all Wolves, with Calkins, Farris, and Marti taking turns dropping daggers.

Wilkinson, a hard-working defensive dynamo, got her reward late, popping in her first varsity basket off of a rebound and dish from Farris, before team sparkplug Jada Heaton closed things with her own putback.

Marti led all scorers, raining down 17 as she broke a tie with mom Christi Messner on the CHS girls career scoring chart.

The fiery one got plenty of help, with Farris slipping 15 points through the net, while Calkins hit a varsity career-high eight.

That burst of offense carried Mia the Magnificent to entrance into the 100-point club for her high school varsity preps career.

Stuurmans (6), Haylee Armstrong (3), Wilkinson (2), Arnold (2), Madison McMillan (2), and Heaton (2) rounded out the season-best explosion at the points factory.

Skylar Parker, Bryley Gilbert, and Brynn Parker also saw floor times for the Wolves, who return home Monday to face non-conference foe Auburn Adventist Academy.

No JV game:

Darrington is not fielding a second team this season, so Kassie O’Neil’s squad had the night off.

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