Kyla Briscoe, one half of the “Battlin’ Briscoes.” (John Fisken photos)
Tiffany Briscoe, the wily veteran in the duo.
So close. So very, very close.
Despite a super-thin bench (just 2.5 reserves) the Coupeville High School JV girls’ basketball squad went to the wire Tuesday in its season-opener, before being nipped at the end by host South Whidbey.
Up a point entering the fourth, the Wolves, playing without their enforcer in the paint with Skyler Lawrence shy on practices, couldn’t contain a tall Falcon who bulled her way for several key late baskets in the 27-23 SWHS win.
Still, in a game where Coupeville only had two full-time reserves (freshman Mia Littlejohn was the half, limited to two quarters so she could swing up and play two quarters with the varsity), the Wolves showed a ton of scrappiness.
“They left it all on the court,” said CHS coach Amy King.
“We played zone so we could have strength left to finish the game. Halfway through the fourth quarter, Allison (Wenzel) asked when we were going to play man,” she added. “I asked them – anyone have legs left for man defense and a little up top press? Looking at the faces of the whole team – red faces with that winded look, all breathing hard and working to catch their breath – the response was yes.”
Fighting first-game nerves a bit, (four of eight players are freshmen) the Wolves were still aggressive, never backing down. Down 9-6 after one, they took a 14-13 lead into the halftime locker room.
“We played a very aggressive zone defense the majority of the game, trying to conserve some energy to make it through the entire game without burning out,” King said. “Had a few glitches but we pulled out of it quickly and gave them a scare.”
Sophomore Lauren Grove led the Wolf attack from the point, calmly directing traffic and beating the crud out of folks on defense. She finished with five points, five rebounds, two steals and at least one well-earned bruise.
“Lauren left the game a little injured – she went all out, trying to steal the ball, got kinda “football” tackled by a SW girl and ended up sprawled on the floor to end,” King said with a laugh. “This shows the intensity and determination Lauren has.”
Kailey Kellner and Mattea Miller paced the Coupeville offense with six points apiece. Kellner added six boards, three steals and a block while Miller was lights-out from long distance, netting a pair of long-range three point bombs.
“The first was nothing but net – perfect form from basic 3-point range,” King said. “The second one I’m thinking would have been a great “last second of the game to win” shot – more like the WNBA 3 point line.
“Her defender sagged off her and she had a great feeling about the shot – up it went – picture perfect and made the fans and teammates erupt!”
Kellner, who moved to Coupeville from England midway through her freshman season, has settled in and become a team leader.
“Kailey really made her presence known. She is so strong with the ball — rebounding, shooting, screening and has improved her game on the defensive end this season,” King said. “Kailey jumped for us (first time ever) and she had an awesome drive in the fourth – trick dribbling is all I can say.
“We believe it was because she was so tired that the ball lost control, but it definitely would have been a “Harlem Globetrotter” move and got great reactions from the crowd.”
King credited all of her girls for their play, from longtime pro Littlejohn (“Mia is a very strong ball-handler and was able to get past some of the press on her own; she showed how athletic she really is with her defense”) to relative newcomers Brisa Herrera and Wenzel.
“Brisa did a great job down low. She got rebounds both on the offensive and defensive ends,” King said. “Allison was fun to watch. Once she got warmed up and got nerves out, she was a beast.
“She is quick, strong on defense and remembers every play,” she added. “She was rebounding, had those hands up so her player couldn’t get shots off and was a big part of our press break. Allison got a basket off an offensive rebound put back. Very exciting!”
Rounding out the team-wide display of hustle and grit were the battlin’ Briscoes, sophomore Tiffany and freshman Kyla.
“Tiffany always gives full effort 100% of the time. She is so good on defense – watching not only where the opposition is on the court, but where her teammates are and constantly talking to them about help defense and helping them know where they need to be,” King said. “Tiffany is a fighter; fought for every rebound, anticipated passes and fought for those.
“She had an awesome floating raindrop shot in the second quarter. Nothing but net – I just need to get her to shoot more,” she added. “Tiffany had four rebounds, a block and two points, but those stats say nothing about her true game.”
And don’t sleep on the younger sister, cause she’ll break you.
“Kyla has speed and basketball skills. She played very strong defense, even took over as point guard in the third quarter when Lauren needed a break,” King said. “I asked her if she could take the point for a few minutes and her response was “I will try.” That’s all I ever ask – to try.
“We will see her break out in games this season – it is there.”
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