Wolf senior Allison Wenzel had three rebounds and two steals Saturday in her final high school hoops game. (Susan Wenzel photos)
With nine players set to return next year, the future remains bright for Coupeville basketball.
There are several ways to look at the final game, and the year as a whole.
After three straight seasons of dominating the Olympic League, with a trip to the state tourney in the middle, the Coupeville High School girls basketball squad wasn’t able to reach those lofty levels this time around.
Battered by graduation and injuries, the Wolves, who won 15+ games in each of the last three seasons, finished 8-14 in 2017-2018, capping their season with a 55-23 first-round playoff loss Saturday to visiting Bellevue Christian.
And yet, CHS coach David King was still smiling in the aftermath, calling it “one of our best seasons” and his players exited, heads high, a glimmer of determination in their eyes in place of tears.
That’s largely because almost the entire roster, after learning under fire as underclassmen, can return next season.
Having lost four starters before the season, the Wolves played Saturday minus two of their three leading scorers, with Mikayla Elfrank (and her badly-injured ankle) in street clothes and Sarah Wright out of state.
That gave King a chance to give solid minutes to freshman Chelsea Prescott, sophomores Scout Smith, Hannah Davidson and Avalon Renninger and swing players Ashlie Shank and Maddy Hilkey.
Despite facing a tall, aggressive BC squad, the Wolf young guns never backed down, showing the same guts and determination they have all season.
Five of the six scored, with Shank knocking down a three-ball for her first varsity points and Renninger swishing her first varsity field goal.
The only player from that six-pack not to take a shot was Hilkey, and she tied for the team lead on the night with two assists, both off of especially sweet set-up passes.
Coupeville’s active players, which also included seniors Kyla Briscoe and Allison Wenzel and juniors Ema Smith and Lindsey Roberts, didn’t lack for heart or desire.
Or, in Briscoe’s case, refreshing chippiness, as the easy-going one inadvertently body-slammed a rival player off the hard-wood while trying to stuff a shot.
Catching the Viking right across the forehead as she went airborne, then hooking her, Briscoe put the BC player to the floor with enough force that the rafters in the gym shook.
That she immediately profusely apologized to her fallen foe showcased Briscoe’s eternal class and compassion, even if her rooting section went bonkers screaming for their newly-minted WWE superstar.
Coupeville’s biggest issue on this night was simply that BC had a lot more offensive fire power.
Freshman gunner Rylee Reese paced the Vikings with a game-high 15, three times pulling up to knock down a trey from behind the arc, while BC’s multiple tall trees crashed through the paint all night.
Roberts, who gave up several inches to Bellevue’s post players, fought like a wild woman, however, and refused to cede ground.
After battling illness all week which required her to sit out several practices, the long ‘n lanky speed demon paced the Wolves with nine points and 16 rebounds.
With her work on the glass, Roberts accounted for nearly half of Coupeville’s 34 rebounds by herself.
BC had a sweet shooting touch, from inside, outside and every place, however, and twice used 12-0 runs to cripple any Wolf comeback hopes.
The best Coupeville could do in response was a 9-2 mini-surge that started with Roberts dropping a three-ball from the left side on the final shot of the first half.
She then opened the third quarter with a put-back, before Scout Smith drilled a pair of soft jumpers while on the move.
CHS put together one other short run, with Renninger’s pull-up jumper, a beautiful bank shot by Prescott and another put-back off of an offensive board from Roberts accounting for six consecutive points.
King came away pleased with what he saw from his still very raw, developing roster.
“We settled down a little in the second half, got over some early nerves and dealt better with Bellevue’s pressure,” he said. “I thought we fought and worked hard as a team.”
With her nine points, Roberts raised her career total to 298, putting her in 36th place on the Wolf girls all-time scoring chart as she eyes her senior season.
Her scoring totals have increased each season, as she has jumped from #6 on the team as a freshman to #4 as a sophomore to #1 this season.
Prescott and Scout Smith each added four, Shank knocked down three on her long-ball, Renninger netted a bucket and Davidson swished a free throw to round out the scoring.
Next season will bring a jump from the four-team Olympic League to the newly-formed six-team North Sound Conference.
With just seniors Elfrank, Briscoe and Wenzel departing, there is prime opportunity awaiting the young players who learned on the fly this time around.
“I hope they embrace it,” King said. “If they are willing to put in the work, to go to camp and take advantage of off-season opportunities, they can accomplish great things.”
2017-2018 varsity scoring stats:
Lindsey Roberts 161
Mikayla Elfrank 99
Sarah Wright 99
Ema Smith 94
Kyla Briscoe 78
Scout Smith 56
Kalia Littlejohn 38
Chelsea Prescott 38
Hannah Davidson 11
Allison Wenzel 5
Avalon Renninger 3
Ashlie Shank 3
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