Coupeville Sports

   Sarah Wright knocked down four points and played aggressively on defense Saturday against highly-touted Bellevue Christian. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

It’s a work in progress, and they showed progress.

Playing aggressively, yet under control, in the first half Saturday, the rebuilding Coupeville High School girls basketball team rattled visiting Bellevue Christian.

And, while the Vikings, who boasted a huge height advantage, eventually pulled away for a 51-29 non-conference win, it didn’t come as easily as the score might indicate.

BC, which improves to 5-2, padded the margin with a string of fourth-quarter buckets.

Otherwise, the game was a pitched battle until Coupeville, now 1-7, suffered through a crippling third-quarter shooting drought.

The Wolves jumped on the Vikings early for an 8-2 lead, and led as late as 15-14 with three minutes to play in the first half.

Ema Smith, joining the starting lineup, gave CHS a jolt of energy, knocking down a pull-up jumper to open the scoring, then draining a pair of free throws.

While all of her points came in the first quarter, the junior fireball played wicked defense all game.

Teaming up with Sarah Wright to form a feisty, elbows swingin’ duo, Smith helped keep Bellevue’s Twin Towers under control for much of the game.

The Vikings boast four players 5-10 or taller (to just one on Coupeville’s current roster), and two of those are 6-1 and 6-2.

Smith and Wright tangled with the tall trees, bumping and knocking them out of place on a regular basis, forcing the BC duo to sweat for what buckets they could get.

Wright hit the boards with a wild glee, fighting for every loose ball like her life depended on it, and she banged home a bucket after nabbing a first quarter carom.

Up 8-2, the Wolves hit a bit of a dry stretch, allowing BC to run off nine straight points and regain the lead at 11-8 heading into the second.

Coupeville had an immediate response, however, as Lindsey Roberts drilled a three-ball to kick off the second quarter. The play was a thing of beauty, as the ball skipped from Chelsea Prescott to Wright to Roberts to the bottom of the net.

Breaking Bellevue’s press on back-to-back plays, the Wolves snagged their final lead at 15-14 when Prescott slapped home a layup off of a long pass.

Once again, a very-solid, veteran BC squad held fast, though, closing the half on a 10-3 run.

And yet, there was a hint of trepidation in their eyes as the Vikings exited the floor.

After blowing South Whidbey out by 30 Friday, the second half of their Whidbey doubleheader wasn’t going completely to plan.

Wright came out swinging in the third quarter, backing down her defender and banking home a bucket on the first play to pull the Wolves within 24-20.

Unfortunately, that was the moment Coupeville’s shooting touch decided to vanish.

The Wolves only managed one field goal the rest of the night, a put-back from Roberts late in the fourth.

Other than a string of free-throws, CHS couldn’t get anything to drop over the final 15 minutes, including a three-ball from Mikayla Elfrank which went 95% of the way down, then somehow popped right back out.

While Coupeville couldn’t buy a field goal in the late going, it did enjoy one of its best shooting performances from the free throw line this season, hitting 12-18. That included 7-10 in the second half.

Elfrank paced CHS with nine points. That lifts her to 215 for her career and slides her past former Wolf great Linda Cheshier into 50th place on the Wolf girls career scoring chart.

Prescott and Roberts added five apiece, Wright and Ema Smith both popped for four, and Kyla Briscoe and Scout Smith each dropped in a free throw.

Avalon Renninger was a whirling dervish on defense during her stint on the floor.

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