Mia Farris stops ‘n pops. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
The action came in waves Tuesday night.
Ultimately that made for a tricky ride, however, as the Coupeville High School varsity girls’ basketball team soared like seasoned surfers at times, only to be swept under by a brutal undertow at other moments.
From the giddiness of hitting five of their first six shots, to the despair of being on the wrong end of a 21-0 run later, the Wolves experienced all the colors of the rainbow.
By the time the clock ticked to 0:00, CHS was on the losing end of a 61-39 clash with visiting Mount Vernon Christian, dropping the home heroes to 4-4 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 7-9 overall.
MVC is a pristine 7-0 in conference action and is built to make a run at a state title, so the loss was not unexpected.
How we got there was, however, just that – a bit unexpected.
The Wolves hit the floor radiating intensity and started dropping daggers and getting their fans hyped up.
Teagan Calkins swished a three-ball from the right side of the floor moments into play, then came back around to bang home a bucket off a lob from Danica Stong.
Add two points for Strong herself — set up by a sweet dish off the fingertips of Lyla Stuurmans, and Coupeville was sitting pretty up 7-0.
Mount Vernon never panicked, though, hitting the first three of its ten three-balls, and slowly fought back to a 14-14 tie by the end of the quarter.
Calkins remained at her furious best, channeling her “Red Dragon” persona as she banged away for 10 points in the opening frame.
Most of her buckets were set up by precision passes from her teammates, with Mia Farris and Katie Marti picking up assists as well, and the Wolves offense was clicking.
Until it wasn’t.
MVC closed the first quarter with back-to-back treys, then peppered the net for the first 15 points in the second.
Lyla Stuurmans finally broke the drought, nailing a jumper off a pass from Haylee Armstrong, but the Hurricanes slapped home two more baskets to carry a 33-16 lead into the halftime break.
And yet, there was real hope.
Coupeville cut the lead down to 10 early in the third, saw the deficit swell back up to 17, then stormed back within eight at 40-32.
Calkins continued to singe the net from all angles, while Tenley Stuurmans tickled the twine on several free throw attempts to keep things interesting.
The ‘Canes offense was too much to totally shut down, though, as the visitors knocked down three-balls #8-10 in the final quarter to make the game seem like more of a runaway than it really was.
Right before the final buzzer Calkins slipped a free throw through the net for her 19th, and final, point of the night.
That gives the Wolf junior an even 200 for her varsity career, as she becomes the 65th CHS girl to crack the club between 1974-2025.
Strong popped for seven points in support, with Tenley Stuurmans (5), Farris (4), and Lyla Stuurmans (4) also scoring.
With those four points, Lyla Stuurmans moves to 238 for her career, slipping past Wolf legend Breeanna Messner (235) to become the #50 all-time scorer in program history.
Armstrong, Marti, Madison McMillan, and Jada Heaton rounded out the rotation for Coupeville, which returns to action this Friday, Jan. 31, when it travels to La Conner.
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