Kyla Briscoe scored seven points in a game-busting 9-0 run to end the third quarter Tuesday, as Coupeville held off Port Townsend 40-39. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
One day at a time. One win at a time.
In this most unpredictable of seasons, the battered but unbowed Coupeville High School girls basketball team still has a lot of life left in it.
That was proven yet again Tuesday, as the Wolves, playing without leading scorer Mikayla Elfrank, spread the buckets among seven different players, using a superb second-half run to nip visiting Port Townsend 40-39.
A bit of sweet revenge after the RedHawks handed CHS its first-ever Olympic League loss back in mid-Dec., the victory lifts Coupeville to 2-1 in conference play, 4-9 overall.
It also moves them back into a first-place tie with Chimacum (2-1) heading into a road game Wednesday with those same Cowboys.
It’s actually a three-way logjam, but Port Townsend (3-2) trails by percentage points (.600 to .667), while Klahowya (0-3) comfortably sits in the cellar at the moment.
The Wolves, who have won back-to-back games for the first time this season, and three of their last five, recaptured a huge dose of the mojo which carried the program to undefeated league titles the past three years running.
Specifically, they flashed the kind of heart and grit needed if they want to make it four years straight.
Down by four at the half, Coupeville came out of the break aggressive, confident and ready to tear up both the floor, and the RedHawks standing on that chunk of hardwood.
Using a 9-0 run at the end of the third quarter, with Kyla “Dead-Eye” Briscoe rattling down seven of those points, the Wolves snatched a lead they would never relinquish.
Briscoe went coast-to-coast on a steal, then knocked down a jumper off of a rebound, before pausing for a moment to let freshman Chelsea Prescott get in on the scoring fun, as she banked home a runner off of a nice cut and catch in the paint.
Then, bam, the ball went back to Briscoe, who knocked most of the air out of Port Townsend with a three-ball which nestled through the bottom of the net a tick or two before the quarter-ending buzzer.
Up 29-24 heading into the fourth, CHS kept up the assault, as Ema Smith sank her own trey to stretch the run to 12-0.
After a Port Townsend basket stopped the bleeding, Lindsey Roberts went to work, knocking down back-to-back buckets to push the lead out to its largest margin at 36-26.
The first basket came courtesy a sizzling set-up pass from Scout Smith, while the second one was all Roberts, as she attacked the hoop and ripped through a pair of defenders who weren’t doing a whole lot of … defending.
In years past, when the Wolves sliced ‘n diced the Olympic League, the game would have been likely over at that point.
But, this year is its own thing.
Coupeville had to replace four starters entering the season, and has lost two more as the games have played out.
Which means the current Wolves are a fairly young, still-developing squad and tend to play in spurts, some incredibly good, some incredibly nerve-wracking for their coaches.
So when they gave back a sizable chunk of the lead, it wasn’t surprising.
But the ability to fade, but not totally fade out — one the defensive-minded Wolves fully displayed down the stretch Tuesday — is hugely encouraging.
Sarah Wright was a whirlwind on defense, harassing RedHawks and poking the ball away repeatedly, before she and Roberts iced the game with big-time buckets in the final minute.
The Roberts basket came off of a nifty Prescott pass, while Wright got hers the old-fashioned way — go rip a rebound out of someone’s hands, then slam it back into the hoop.
Port Townsend’s star, Kaitlyn Meek, slashed the lead to 40-36 on a layup, before a desperation three-ball from Jaz Apker-Montoya with seconds to play cut the final margin to a measly point.
The CHS players, who could have, and should have, let the clock run out without in-bounding the ball, chose to tempt fate, but it worked out fine, as the RedHawks were unable to get a steal on the final play of the game.
While Port Townsend controlled the flow of the game in the first half, Coupeville stayed within shouting distance, trailing just 9-8 after the first quarter.
The Wolves shooting touch deserted them a bit in the second quarter, allowing the RedHawks to claim their biggest lead of the game at 18-11 with a minute left in the half.
Prescott swished a free-throw, then Coupeville’s defense forced one of many turnovers, resulting in a Briscoe-to-Roberts bucket to close out the half.
The Wolves spread their offensive love around, with Roberts leading the way with 10.
Briscoe added eight, with defensive hell-hound Ema Smith tossing home seven before tweaking her knee and heading to the bench for some ice.
Prescott (5), Scout Smith (4), Wright (4) and Hannah Davidson (2) also etched their names in the scoring column, while Allison Wenzel brought intensity on defense and Avalon Renninger was a vocal supporter from her perch on the bench.
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