Coupeville’s Sarah Wright makes a cultural connection Saturday with a rival from Australia. (Amy King photos)
The Wolves show off gifts from the visitors.
Genna Wright (left) and Maddie Vondrak play with their new finger puppet koalas.
Two continents, one shared love of goofing off for photos.
It was exactly what they needed.
Hours after a rough loss on their home court Friday night, the Coupeville High School girls basketball team dug down deep Saturday morning and rallied to pull out a win against a traveling team from Australia.
The 42-34 win over Flinders Christian Community College, captured on South Whidbey’s court, lifts the Wolves to 1-3 on the season.
It also caps a brutal open stretch to Coupeville’s schedule, in which it played four games in six days.
Now CHS gets a bit of a break, before welcoming Sequim to town Dec. 8.
The match-up with Flinders, which was added to the schedule at the last second, turned out to be a great experience for the Wolves on two fronts. They played a stellar game against a quality foe, and they got a unique cultural experience.
“The players and coaches from Flinders Christian were top notch!,” Coupeville coach David King said. “Our players enjoyed this experience so much they were hoping we could do something like this every year.
“Yes, it was a basketball game; someone was going to win and someone lose,” he added. “But meeting others from the other side of the world and having both sides come out of it like they were long-lost friends was great to see.”
Coupeville was originally set to hop back on the bus right after their game, but changed plans and hung out with their Australian counterparts as the Flinders boys team played South Whidbey in the second half of a doubleheader.
The Falcons kept Whidbey Island’s record intact, winning that one 44-33.
“We sat with the Flinders girls and I’m not sure how much actual game-watching was going on, but the conversations never stopped,” King said. “An experience to not be forgotten by those involved in the game.”
The girls game involved two tired squads, as Flinders arrived at Sea-Tac Friday night after an 18-hour plane trip (and a three-hour delay).
After their Saturday opener, the Aussies play several more games as they travel across Washington and California.
So, while the Wolves “did start a bit slow,” falling behind 12-6 after one quarter, King wasn’t about to use tiredness as an excuse.
Instead, he and his players focused on the areas which have hurt them in three close losses, from simplifying what they were doing on offense to hitting their free throws.
And boom, it all worked.
“We wanted to play to our strengths and play consistently. We did that throughout the game,” King said.
With Lindsey Roberts finding her groove on the offensive end of the floor in the second quarter, tossing in half of her game-high 12 points, the Wolves went on a 15-5 tear, turning a six-point deficit into a four-point advantage at the half.
She wasn’t the only Wolf getting hot, as Ema Smith, in her second game this season, and first as a starter, banged home a pair of buckets in support.
The second half was a war of attrition, with Coupeville stretching the lead to 10, Flinders roaring back to cut the margin to just two, then the Wolves regaining the momentum.
“When we moved the ball on offense we were able to penetrate into the key or get some open jumpers,” King said. “Flinders set up a press that had us struggling for a bit. After making an adjustment in a timeout and then again at halftime, we were able to navigate it and put pressure on them in the half court.”
One second-half play in particular brought a smile to the faces of the CHS coaching staff.
Pounding the ball down low, Wolf junior Sarah Wright, giving up several inches to a 6-foot-1 Flinders defender, made King positively gush.
“She squared up, gave an up-fake and got the defender to bite. One dribble to get space and a clean shot went up and hit nothing but net,” King said. “Almost daily we talk about getting the defender to go for a fake and Sarah has been working on this since our season started.
“We ask our post players on offense to call, better yet demand the ball in the post if they have the advantage,” he added. “Sarah did just that. Set up on the low block, and called for the ball by letting her teammates know she had a mismatch.
“Music to my ears.”
Wright was a terror all day, ripping down eight rebounds to lead the Wolves in cleaning the glass.
Roberts filled up the stat sheet as well, adding seven rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal to go with her career-high 12 points.
With 162 career points, the Wolf junior is just four points shy of passing mom Sherry (Bonacci) Roberts to become the highest-scoring Wolf hoops star in family history.
She’s already passed grandfather Sandy Roberts, dad Jon Roberts, uncles Jay Roberts and Danny Bonacci and aunt Jennifer (Eelkema) Roberts.
Mikayla Elfrank, “playing her usual disruptive game,” tossed in eight points, while Ema Smith and Wright added seven apiece. Kalia Littlejohn and Kyla Briscoe rounded out the attack with four points each.
Two of those points came on a play where she pilfered the ball and turned the steal into a fast-break layup.
“We have talked about Kyla being more decisive; that’s the kind of play we are talking about,” King said.
Coupeville also got strong play from Allison Wenzel, Avalon Renninger, Nicole Lester, Scout Smith (making her first start) and Chelsea Prescott.
For Prescott and Lester, it was their varsity debut and “both represented themselves well.”
Flinders shared its scoring load, with all nine players notching their name in the book.
Laura Gillett and Leah Davies each went for six to pace the visitors, while Charlie White (5), Natalie Cannon (5), Georgia Howes (5), Bridget Beckett (2), Charli Murr (2), Holly Gibson (2) and Olivia Brice (1) also scored.
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