Ema Smith scored 10 points Wednesday, including hitting a pair of three-balls, as Coupeville knocked off Sultan in its playoff opener. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Seize the moment.
Handed an unexpected home playoff game Wednesday, thanks to snow and ice derailing the first two days of the district playoffs, the Coupeville High School girls basketball team rose to the occasion.
Using a third-quarter that was filled with equal parts offensive fire and defensive grit, the Wolves blew open a close game with Sultan, eventually strolling home with a 48-37 win in front of their enthusiastic home fans.
The victory, the fifth in the last seven games for Coupeville, evens its record at 9-9, heading into a second loser-out playoff game.
That bout, tentatively set for Friday, sends the Wolves to Shoreline to play North Sound Conference champ King’s. The Knights are 16-5 after being bopped 65-48 by Lynden Christian, the #2 seed from the Northwest Conference.
With another snow storm expected to arrive Friday night, there is a chance the game will be moved to Thursday.
Whichever day it’s played, the winner punches their ticket to bi-districts, while the loser packs up their stuff and heads for the season-ending banquet.
The weather has put a crimp in how the postseason is proceeding, but hasn’t seemed to faze the Wolves.
The snow and ice which smashed Washington state delayed the start of the District 1 tourney, and what was supposed to be a double-elimination event was changed into a modified single-elimination one.
With the change, CHS went from opening on the road to hosting a game, while drawing a lesser-ranked opponent.
But, with the change, the Wolves also lost any chance to have a bad game and still be able to bounce back.
If the fact Wednesday’s game was a loser-out affair, it didn’t seem to bother Coupeville’s players, who came out looking relaxed and with a bounce in their step.
Given an extra home game, senior captains Lindsey Roberts and Ema Smith embraced the situation, combining to score 26 points while driving the Turk defenders batty.
The duo kicked off the game by hitting three-balls, with Smith drilling hers from the top of the arc, while Roberts was waiting when teammate Hannah Davidson yanked down a rebound and whirled, firing a beautifully-placed kick-out pass.
Lofting the ball almost as soon as it hit her fingertips, Roberts erased Sultan’s only lead of the game, with her trey putting the Wolves up 6-4.
A pair of free throws from Chelsea Prescott and a hustle basket from Ema Smith later, and CHS headed to the first break up 10-6.
Smith’s bucket came off of an offensive rebound which hit the hands of two players as it shot backwards, before popping straight up in the air.
Floating in the airspace above the paint, “Ema the Electrifying” speared the ball while dancing through a mass of defenders, then flipped the orb back up and in, barely ruffling the net as she did.
The second quarter was the lowest-scoring frame of the night, with both teams exchanging defensive stands more than popping buckets.
Roberts, playing on mom Sherry’s birthday, provided much of the second-quarter fireworks with a three-point play earned the hard way.
Pump-faking her defender into the still-frosty parking lot, the four-year varsity vet spun past her, crashed hard to the hoop and slapped home the bucket.
Then, grimacing slightly as she let the burn of an elbow she took to the noggin settle in, the unflappable one zipped the “and-one” free throw through the bottom of the net.
It was one of two truly standout offensive plays in the quarter, the other provided by Scout Smith and Prescott, as the former whipped a pass half the length of the court, feeding her younger teammate for a breakaway layup.
Making the play sweeter, and more highlight-reel-worthy, a lonely Sultan defender almost got back in time to stop Prescott.
Almost.
Showing composure under fire, the Wolf sophomore slowed her roll at just the right moment, let the Turk fly by out of control, then stepped strong to the glass and made dang sure the ball went down and stayed down.
As the teams went to the locker room at halftime, it felt like a game in which Coupeville was very much in control.
The scoreboard however, showing just a 17-11 Wolf lead, gave the Turks some hope.
Enter Roberts, fire shooting from her eyes, and exit Sultan, staggered, unable to slow down, much less stop, a Cow Town hoops legend who exited by reminding all of us just how good she can be.
There has never been a moment in her prep career when Lou, daughter of two CHS Athlete of the Year winners, has been anything less than a varsity player, in any of her three sports.
The rare athlete who can’t tell you what a JV game feels like, the next-to-last star in her large, extended family (lil’ bro Landon is on his way), Lindsey Roberts has been the real deal, every step of the way.
In track, her blazing feet do her talking. In soccer, her bionic kicking leg shatters the atmosphere.
But in basketball, Roberts has played many roles in the past four years, from rebounder to defensive ace to Scottie Pippen-style running mate.
Wednesday night, in her final appearance on the CHS hardwood, she truly stepped up and, without maybe saying the words out loud, screamed “Give me the dang ball if you want to live!”
It showed every time she touched the leather, especially in the third quarter, an eight-minute stand in which she, and her teammates, smacked Sultan into the bleachers.
Roberts kicked things off, taking a pass from Prescott, then going all Matrix, sliding between four defenders in the paint for an emphatic bucket.
After that came a jumper in the paint, in which she elevated, hung in the air for about 37 seconds, then spiked the ball through the net with a line-drive shot which melted the face of the Turk closest to her.
Not content to stop there, Roberts pulled off another three-point play the hard way, and doing so with the kind of power move in the paint which caused Sultan’s coach to stagger back, as if he, and not his players, had just been gut-punched.
With their fleet-footed supernova running wild, the Wolves ramped up their defense, then took turns raining down buckets from all angles.
Ema Smith let another three-ball splat, Scout Smith nailed a pull-up three-ball of her own, then Davidson pulled off her own power bucket in the paint, before Avalon Renninger got fancy.
Weaving with the ball, the junior guard snapped her defender’s ankles off, then pulled up on a dime and rimmed home a left-handed runner which sent the Wolf bench into a rolling wave of joy and hysteria.
Capping the quarter, freshman Ja’Kenya Hoskins sprinted up court, reversed direction, then shot into the air, and, out-leaping a Turk, picked off a long pass, preventing Sultan from getting a final shot off.
With all the buckets raining down, to the tune of a 22-11 Wolf run in the third, Hoskins play could have easily gotten lost in the noise.
But it shouldn’t, as it was the final, thrilling nail puncturing the Sultan balloon, and letting all the air spill out across the floor.
The Turks, to their credit, pulled things back together, and thanks to some seriously erratic reffing in the fourth, managed to get to the line a fair amount.
Not enough of their freebies slid through the net, though, and down the stretch, Coupeville kept things safe with some nicely-crafted buckets.
On one, Roberts drove the baseline, came out on the other side, then hopped into the air and fed Scout Smith, who drained the jumper as dad Chris screamed like a banshee.
On another, Davidson, playing as aggressive and confident in the paint as she has at any time in her Wolf career, backed down her defender and banked home a gorgeous turn-around shot.
And yes, dad Micheal was screaming like a banshee, as well.
The playoff win was a showcase in balance, with seven of 10 active players scoring, led by Roberts with 16 and Ema Smith with 10.
Both players made inroads on snagging personal achievements, as well.
Roberts, who sits with 448 points, passed Maureen Wetmore (438) and is tied with Vanessa Davis for #18 on the Wolf girls career scoring chart.
Wrapping up her second varsity season, Ema Smith made the jump into the top 50, moving past Lisa Roehl (216) and Beth Mouw (216), and into a tie at #49 with Annette Jameson (223).
The young guns also chipped in, with Scout Smith knocking down eight points, Prescott reaching 100 on the season with six, Davidson rattling home four, and Renninger notching two.
Freshman Izzy Wells rounded out the scoring attack, scoring the game’s final bucket on a nicely-executed bank shot.
Roberts paced the Wolves on the boards with seven, while Scout Smith collected five rebounds, two steals and two assists while running the point almost flawlessly.
Hoskins and Nicole Laxton combined to pull down five rebounds, with defensive hawk Tia Wurzrainer harassing Turk ball-handlers into committing countless mistakes.
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