Avalon Renninger had four points and six rebounds Saturday as the Coupeville varsity girls absorbed a tough road loss. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Legendary basketball coach George Raveling once said, “Life is about turning obstacles into opportunities.”
It’s a lesson the Coupeville High School varsity girls basketball team will need to embrace.
The Wolves looked like they were headed for their second-straight win Saturday, but took an unexpected left turn off a cliff with no parachute, watching in horror as their victory slipped away.
Able to score only seven points across the game’s final 16 minutes, Coupeville surrendered an eight-point advantage, tumbling to an unexpected 31-27 loss at Orcas Island.
The non-conference defeat drops the Wolves to 1-4 on the season.
With four days until their North Sound Conference opener at South Whidbey, it also presents them with a major gut-check moment.
“Now it’s up to us to turn things around,” said CHS coach David King. “Tonight’s game was an unexpected obstacle. This coming week will determine if we can turn it into opportunities.”
Despite a long day of bus and ferry travel to get to a far-flung outpost, Coupeville came out strongly, using its defensive press to disrupt the Orcas attack.
While they struggled a bit with turnovers, the Wolves did get going on offense in the second quarter, taking a 5-5 stalemate after one quarter and turning it into a 20-12 lead at the half.
Sophomore Chelsea Prescott and senior Ema Smith were a two-woman wrecking crew in the opening half, combining for 11 of their team’s points, with all of them coming in the second frame.
Prescott got hers the old-fashioned way, hitting three field goals, while Ema Smith stroked a three-ball and slipped a pair of free throws through the twines.
Toss in a pair of buckets from Avalon Renninger, a long trey off the fingertips of Scout Smith and a field goal from Lindsey Roberts, and CHS was beginning to click on the offensive end of the floor.
One of Renninger’s scores was especially highlight reel worthy.
A long pass intended for Roberts flew over her head as she charged down the sideline in pursuit.
Instead of giving up, the senior captain hit another gear only she has, saving the ball at the last millisecond (while crashing into the Orcas ticket-taker) and re-directing it towards her teammate.
Sprinting up the middle of the floor, Renninger, a professional ball-hawk, snatched the loose orb, pivoted and promptly banged home the bucket to complete an “all-out hustle play.”
Unfortunately for the Wolves, things dried up severely after that.
“Coming out for the third, everything went sideways,” King said. “We couldn’t take care of the ball, and, when we did, our offense slowed down to a snail’s pace.”
Coupeville went nearly five minutes into the second half without scoring, finally breaking through on a free throw from Prescott and a breakaway layup by Tia Wurzrainer.
And yet, despite tallying just three points in the third, the Wolves were holding on to the lead heading into the fourth.
But, up by four, they continued to stall on offense and didn’t help themselves at the free throw line, missing all five of their attempts in the final quarter.
“Orcas had taken the momentum from us; they kept fighting and got into the bonus and in the fourth they shot eight free throws and made four,” King said. “They also beat our press a couple of times with a full court dribble-drive that resulted in layups or getting to the free throw line.
“We played very well for about a quarter and a half,” he added. “The game is four quarters, and we just didn’t get it done and Orcas did.”
The way they lost, even more than the L itself, is what haunts the man at the helm.
“As a coach, this was a tough loss,” King said. “We can’t take possessions off — not keeping the ball moving — on offense. We turn the ball over 21 times, it’s going to show up in our ability to score.”
But there are still 13 regular season games left, including all 10 league contests, and Coupeville’s coach is confident his team can find its sweet spot.
“I was pleased with the press and the many deflections and our 16 steals,” King said. “Just need to convert those.
“We will see if we can correct some things,” he added. “We have to learn when we have a lead, we can’t let up.”
Prescott paced the Wolves with nine points, three rebounds and two steals, while Ema Smith (5), Renninger (4), Roberts (4), Scout Smith (3) and Wurzrainer (2) also scored.
Hannah Davidson and Renninger each snatched six rebounds, Ema Smith topped the stat sheet with five steals and Scout Smith doled out two assists.
Coupeville Sports 