Makana Stone paced Coupeville with 17 rebounds in Sunday’s doubleheader. (John Fisken photos)
Kailey Kellner (second from right) provides some vocal support in a game earlier this season.
Fall ball isn’t really about wins and losses.
Well, every basketball team wants to grab as many victories as possible, and a depleted Coupeville High School girls’ squad didn’t get that done Sunday, but putting in work, in all its forms, is what truly matters.
The off-season sport, with CHS coaches David and Amy King merely interested spectators while former Wolf legends Sherry Roberts, Brittany Black and Kacie Kiel call the coaching shots, is a chance for returning players and newcomers to mesh.
Hopefully.
With only five players available to suit up for much of Sunday’s doubleheader — a 31-19 loss to 3A Mount Vernon and a 39-12 loss to perennial postseason rival Meridian — the Wolves hung close, then ran out of gas against teams with deeper benches.
Foul trouble stung, as well.
Coupeville tacked on two late-arriving players midway through the day, but then had two starters foul out almost immediately, negating the surge in roster size.
With no subs early against Mount Vernon, the Wolves spread out on offense and played a patient style, which worked for a time.
But with tired legs (being out of season, several of the players are pulling double time with their fall sports teams) betraying them, Coupeville struggled in the second half.
The game against Meridian was similar, though with seven players available, all of whom snatched at least one rebound, tiredness was less of a factor.
The twin-bill, filled with big highs and big lows, captured the work-in-progress Wolves in all their glory.
While Coupeville is the defending 1A Olympic League champs, they lost six players to graduation.
The returning stars will need to mesh with a talented, but raw, pack of freshmen who have yet to play a second in an actual high school game.
One of those 9th graders, Sarah Wright, showed strong movement with (and without) the ball, drawing praise from hoops gurus in the crowd.
The consensus was she’s a hard-working fireball ready to explode.
Wolf senior Makana Stone, the Olympic League MVP last year, paced Coupeville with 17 rebounds across the two games.
Lauren Grove (8), Kailey Kellner (7), Wright (6), Mia Littlejohn (3), Lindsey Roberts (3) and Kalia Littlejohn (3) all chipped in on the boards, while Grove, Roberts and Stone collected blocks, as well.
Coupeville Sports 