Taylor Marrs (left) played solid defense Tuesday in a home rumble with Lakewood. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
It was a fab finale.
After two sub-par offensive showings to start the afternoon Tuesday, the Coupeville Middle School girls’ basketball players kicked it into high gear in their third, and final, tussle with visiting Lakewood.
Rolling to a lopsided win, the Wolves sent their fans to the parking lot with a skip to their step, while the hoops queens lingered on the hardwood to wish one of their own a happy birthday.
How the day played out:
Level 1:
The buckets for Coupeville were about as few and far between as any snowflakes left in the vicinity of the school.
Like the pavement, the Wolves’ shooting touch was a bit on the dry side, as they fell 44-4 to a super-solid visiting team which likely is the class of the Cascade League.
Lakewood, delivering crisp passes, snatching every rebound in sight, and drilling shots from near, far and everywhere in between, operated in cruise control most of the way.
Coupeville’s top squad, which slips to 1-4 on the season, had few answers, and spent much of the game trying not to get run over.
The first 21 points of the game came off of the fingertips of the visitors, with CMS not breaking through until Chelsi Stevens banked in a layup with a hair under three minutes left in the second quarter.
It was the first bucket of the season for the hard-working defensive dynamo and was set up by a nice drive and dish by teammate Adie Maynes.
Tenley Stuurmans soundly rejected a Lakewood shot, while Taylor Marrs made off with a steal to set up a bucket by Ari Cunningham, but that was about it for the Wolves, who went scoreless for the final nine minutes-plus.
While Stevens and Cunningham were the only Coupeville players to score, Olivia Hall, Lillian Ketterling, Ava Lucero, Marrs, Laken Simpson, Maynes, Stuurmans, and Sydney Van Dyke all brought energy and effort to their time on the floor.
Amelia Crowder (first player on left) prepares to go destroy some folks.
Level 2:
Much closer, but still a loss.
Coupeville hung tough and made a solid run to open the fourth quarter, but couldn’t get all the way back, falling 17-10 in a game high on intensity, and low on buckets.
The loss drops the Wolves to 3-2.
Lakewood opened play with three straight baskets, two of them coming on long jumpers, and never gave the advantage back.
While unable to substantially pull away, the Tigers scored just enough to stay tantalizingly out of reach.
A 6-2 lead after one quarter turned into a 10-6 advantage at the half, then a 12-6 margin through three, with the only bucket in that last frame coming off a rebound with 31 ticks left on the clock.
Coupeville sliced the lead back to 12-10 after opening the fourth quarter with back-to-back putbacks of their own, thanks to Allison Powers and Isabella de Souza Oliveria Mc Fetridge.
But a Lakewood free throw forced the lead back out to three points, and two late buckets from the visitors set the final margin.
The Wolves continued to fight until the final buzzer, with Amelia Crowder swatting a Tiger shot away to cap a busy day on defense for the coach’s daughter.
Willow Leedy-Bonifas paced the CMS attack with a team-high four points, while Kennedy O’Neill, Powers, and de Souza Oliveria Mc Fetridge chipped in with a bucket apiece.
Sophia Batterman, Elizabeth Marshall, Sage Stavros, Crowder, and Amaiya Curry rounded out the active roster.
Cameron Van Dyke pushes the action.
Level 3:
Scoring inside and outside, the Wolves led from start to finish, throwing down more points than Coupeville’s top two teams combined. Just in the first half.
By the time they were done, the CMS snipers had a 29-16 victory in hand, lifting their record to a crisp 3-1.
The Wolves opened with a savage display of defense, sparked by Brooklyn Pope cleaning the boards and wild woman Kaleigha Millison freakin’ out anyone foolish enough to dribble within two miles of her madly karate-choppin’ hands.
Poking the ball free on a regular basis, then hitting the gas, Coupeville opened up an 8-5 lead by the first break.
Pope knocked down a pair of buckets in the paint, while Cameron Van Dyke swished a short jumper and Zayne Roos banked in a shot to end the frame.
It was the first basket of the season for both Van Dyke and Roos, though the former came back around late in the second quarter to drill another rainbow over outstretched arms.
Lakewood slipped a free throw through the twines to open the frame, cutting the margin to 8-6, before Coupeville went on a 9-0 run to bust the game wide open.
The Wolves got scoring from Annaliese Powers, Emma Cushman, Pope, and Van Dyke during the tear, spreading the love and bringing whoops from their coaches on the bench.
Up 17-6 at the half, CMS gave a little back in the third quarter, with Lakewood getting its deficit down to five twice.
But both times the Wolves responded, with Annaliese Powers and Millison rattling the rim on shots in the paint.
Back in front 21-14 heading into the fourth, Coupeville ripped off the first eight points in the final frame, only allowing Lakewood to score when the clock had slipped under a minute left to play.
Down the stretch, Zariyah Allen came up huge for the Wolves on defense, scrambling back twice to snuff out Lakewood fast breaks.
Pope finished with a game-high eight points, while Annaliese Powers popped for five — her first points of the campaign — and Van Dyke, Millison, and Cushman each added four.
Roos and Cassandra Powers rounded out the attack with a bucket apiece, while Claire Lachnit, Selah Rivera, and Allen ruthlessly patrolled the back line on defense.
What’s next:
Coupeville hosts Sultan Thursday in the home finale, then hits the road for the final two rumbles of the season.
The Wolves get an immediate rematch with the Turks, but on their home court, Mar. 4, then cap things with a trek to South Whidbey Mar. 5.
