Wolf hoops stars Reese Wilkinson (45) and Kierra Thayer (32) battle for control of the paint. (Jackie Saia photo)
Welcome to the Carlota Marcos-Cabrillo experience.
The Coupeville High School foreign exchange student entered Christmas break as a cheerleader and emerged from it a fully formed basketball sensation.
Making her hardwood debut for the Wolf JV Wednesday, Marcos-Cabrillo threw down a team-high 11 points, sparking Kassie O’Neil’s squad to a 39-36 win over visiting Granite Falls.
The non-conference win, coming in Coupeville’s first girls’ hoops game since Dec. 17, lifts the Wolves to 3-3 on the season.
Next up for the young guns is a home game Friday against Orcas Island, in what will be the team’s first league clash.
Wednesday’s return to the floor was a tense, back-and-forth affair capped by Marcos-Cabrillo going off for back-to-back breakaway buckets, followed by Liza Zustiak proving her chops as a stone-cold killer.
The Wolf freshman nailed a long pullup jumper, her feet just inside the three-point arc, staking the Wolves to a 39-34 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
While Granite Falls did tickle the twines for a pair of free throws with 15 seconds to play, the Tigers could get no closer thanks to a ferocious Wolf defense.
Teagan Calkins went airborne to pick off a pass, and multiple Coupeville players slammed into the floor to fight over a loose ball as the clock madly ticked away.
Given a final chance to tie, thanks to a questionable decision by the refs, Granite Falls bounced its one, and only, three-ball attempt of the night off the top of the backboard.
The furious finale arrived some two hours after a surprise opener, with Marcos-Cabrillo trading her cheerleader outfit for a basketball jersey, joining the hardwood starting five to the great delight of her former cheer teammates.
Carlota Marcos-Cabrillo made her Coupeville basketball debut Wednesday, and immediately wowed Wolf Nation. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Coupeville fell behind early, trailing 6-0 until Madison McMillan and Kierra Thayer got rolling.
The duo combined for all the buckets during a 10-0 run, changing the flow of the game.
With McMillan crashing hard through the paint en route to three baskets, and Thayer using her long arms to snatch a pair of offensive boards and put them back up and in, the Wolves were on the move.
Marcos-Cabrillo netted her first points as a Wolf on a steal and breakaway bucket, but Granite Falls refused to go down easy.
The Tigers actually regained the lead at 14-12 right before the end of the first quarter, before Coupeville once again went on a tear.
The Wolves opened the second quarter on an 8-0 run, with McMillan, Reese Wilkinson, Calkins, and Jada Heaton all scoring, and never gave the lead back.
Granite hung around, staying within 24-22 at the half, and tying the game at 30-30 with under a minute to play in the third quarter.
But sparked by their defense, whether it was Kassidy Upchurch pulling down multiple rebounds or Kayla Arnold and Desi Ramirez-Vasquez frustrating Tiger ballhandlers, the Wolves had an answer at every turn.
CHS closed the third quarter with an exclamation point, as Thayer fired a half-court outlet pass onto the fingertips of a rumblin’ McMillan, who sliced ‘n diced the defense for a layup.
The ball hit glass, then dropped sweetly through mere moments before the buzzer sang the song of its people, setting off a celebration down the Wolf bench.
The good times continued from there, with Marcos-Cabrillo and Zustiak sticking in the final daggers for a win fueled by rock-solid effort from every player on the active roster.
McMillan banked in 10 to go with Marcos-Cabrillo’s 11-point debut, while Thayer (6), Heaton (4), Calkins (4), Zustiak (2), and Wilkinson (2) also scored.
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