Ema Smith fights through the Mount Vernon Christian defense. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
Allison Wenzel keeps a watchful eye on the defender as she drives the ball up-court.
As a work in progress, the Coupeville High School girls basketball squad is going to hit a few bumps in the road this season.
Having lost four starters, the Wolves are not the same team which cruised to a third-straight league title last year.
They are young, talented, but still developing. And that was showcased Friday night.
At times, the Wolves looked very good, especially on defense, where they shut-down visiting Mount Vernon Christian for a seven-minute stretch in the second quarter.
But then, at other times, the Wolves looked tentative, and, unfortunately, one of those times came during the game’s closing minutes.
Losing the grip on a lead it had held for two-plus quarters, Coupeville went cold from the field down the stretch, watching as a 26-26 tie turned into a 35-29 loss.
The non-conference defeat drops the Wolves to 0-3 heading into a game Saturday with Flinders Christian, an Australian traveling team.
That game, which will be played at South Whidbey High School, tips at 11 AM.
Coupeville, which had held the lead from the first moments of the second quarter, finally fell behind, briefly, with seven minutes left in the game.
The Wolves responded strongly, though, getting a free throw from Mikayla Elfrank and a bucket from Lindsey Roberts to knot the game at 26.
The game-tying layup came courtesy sophomore guard Scout Smith, who retrieved a loose ball and pegged a sizzling pass that dropped onto Roberts fingertips in mid-stride.
It brought the crowd to its collective feet, led the MVC coach to call a timeout, and seemed to signal the start of a strong finale for Coupeville.
It wasn’t to be, though, as the Hurricanes hit on back-to-back three-point plays to bust the game open.
The first came on a lurching layup and ensuing free throw, courtesy of a ticky-tack foul call, while the second was an admittedly pretty dang impressive three-ball.
MVC had shooters willing to air the ball out, and they won the battle from behind the arc 15-0, thanks to five three-pointers that splashed home.
The first was a gut-wrencher, with the ball hitting the bottom of the net with 0:00.1 of a second left on the clock in the first quarter.
Coupeville refused to bend a knee in the game’s final moments, though, as Ema Smith and Kalia Littlejohn came hard after Hurricane ball-handlers as the game clock ticked down.
Ema Smith, making her season debut, had a particularly strong series of plays in the final 45 seconds, twice forcing jump balls before knocking down a long jumper that was a half-step away from being a three-ball of its own.
While that shot was a dagger, her teammate, Sarah Wright, had the most entertaining basket of the night.
The Wolf junior stopped and popped a shot early in the second quarter which bounced around, hitting every single side of the rim multiple times.
All 10 players eventually stood and watched as the ball bounced, bucked, popped and then, after an eternity, splashed through, giving Wright an opportunity to justifiably fist-pump as she back-pedaled.
While the Wolves didn’t get a break-out scoring performance, they did share the work, with Elfrank topping the charts with nine points and 11 rebounds.
Roberts and Littlejohn knocked down five points apiece, while Ema Smith (4), Wright (4) and Kyla Briscoe (2) rounded out the attack.
Coupeville Sports 