Makana Stone threw down an 18-point, 7-rebound, 7-steal performance Tuesday. (John Fisken photo)
The team of destiny is seizing its moment.
Sparked by a game-high 18 points from Makana Stone, the Coupeville High School girls’ basketball team drilled host Chimacum 46-22 Tuesday night, moving within sight of its first league title since 2002.
The victory, the team’s seventh in its last nine games, lifted the Wolves to 11-5 overall, 5-0 in Olympic League play.
Combined with Klahowya’s 44-43 loss to previously winless Port Townsend, it gives Coupeville a two-game lead with four to play.
Win Friday at home against Klahowya (3-2) and the Wolves clinch the title.
They would have a three-game lead with three to play and having already beaten the Eagles once, would own the tiebreaker.
Chimacum and Port Townsend are 1-4 and both have already lost twice to Coupeville.
The aggressive Wolves jumped all over their hosts Tuesday, rattling the Cowboys with pressure on their ball-handlers. Speeding up the game, Coupeville bolted out to a 15-2 lead after one quarter.
“Took control from the beginning,” Wolf coach David King said. “Solid defense and getting some easy buckets put us out front.”
Stone roared with a quick seven points in the first eight minutes, while three other teammates chipped in on the offensive explosion.
Madeline Strasburg arced in a dagger of a three-point bomb, while Julia Myers banged home another three points and Monica Vidoni dropped in a bucket of her own.
While Coupeville was hitting its shots, it was the defense that broke Chimacum’s spirit in the early going.
The Cowboys went the entire first half without a field goal, managing just a pair of free throws, as the Wolves rolled into the locker room up 25-2.
Stone dropped in another four points in the second quarter, while freshman point guard Mia Littlejohn broke off the best play in her team’s second run.
“Mia had a steal midway through the period, took the ball up the middle and scored on a runner in the key,” King said. “Mia had a productive game. She had other opportunities to score, but didn’t get the ball to drop.
“She had a good defensive game, finished with three steals and a very nice block on a jump shot.”
With a large lead, the Wolves started to coast a bit in the second half, a trait which King would like to see them lose.
“Coming out of halftime, we seemed to be going through the motions and struggled,” he said. “We just didn’t play solid on both ends. Turnovers, and not making the basic play hurt us. We also stopped moving the ball on the offensive end.”
Coupeville picked it back up in the fourth, led by Hailey Hammer, who went for all eight of her points in the quarter.
While he was happy with the win, King would like to see his squad maintain its focus for 32 minutes.
“We need to tighten things up on both ends of the court,” he said. “We can’t continue to have these lapses during the game when we aren’t playing good defense, or our offense becomes predictable.
“I was pleased with our effort in the first half, but would have liked to see us bring that same energy in the second half.”
Coupeville controlled the boards to a 30-15 tune, with Stone snatching seven and Hammer hauling in six.
Myers (eight points), Strasburg (five points, four rebounds, two steals), Littlejohn (three points, three steals), Kacie Kiel (two points, two steals) and Wynter Thorne (four rebounds) all filled up the stat sheet, while Stone tossed in seven steals and two blocks to go with her team highs in points and rebounds.
Coupeville Sports 