Cousins Jada Heaton (left) and Liza Zustiak form a dangerous duo for Coupeville’s JV hoops squad. (Photos courtesy Jennifer Heaton)
Future hoops stars, working hard to bring that Halloween candy home.
The odds were better than the evens.
Facing off with visiting Sultan Saturday, the Coupeville High School JV girls’ basketball squad put together its best effort in the first and third quarters.
Unfortunately, the Turks stung the Wolves in frames two and four, sending Kassie O’Neil’s team to a 42-23 loss.
The non-conference defeat drops the CHS young guns to 1-2 heading into their final week of games before the Christmas break.
While Coupeville’s varsity girls have five games left to play in the tail end of 2022, that includes a varsity-only contest with Crescent and two games at an Eastern Washington tournament.
The JV girls travel to Sedro-Woolley Dec. 15 and Forks Dec. 17, and don’t play at home again until Jan. 4, when they kick off three straight games in their own gym.
Playing in front of their home fans Saturday, the Wolves hung tough in the early going, trailing just 7-3 at the first break.
Sultan used a 13-4 run in the second frame to pad its halftime lead to 20-7, but Coupeville responded with its best offensive performance of the night.
With Madison McMillan and Jada Heaton each rumbling for six points in the third quarter, the Wolves outscored the Turks 14-12 to stay combative until the end.
McMillan paced CHS with a game-high 12 points, while Heaton banked in seven and the duo of Kayla Arnold and Reese Wilkinson added a bucket apiece.
Kassidy Upchurch, Brynn Parker, Liza Zustiak, Desi Ramirez-Vasquez, and Skylar Parker also saw floor time for the Wolves.
