Julia Myers — she’s kind of a big deal. (Poster created from a John Fisken photo)
Julia Myers prevented David King from having a heart attack Wednesday.
Having watched his Coupeville High School girls’ basketball team fritter away a huge chunk out of a 17-point fourth-quarter lead over visiting Friday Harbor — which closed the game on a 14-3 run — King was growing new gray hairs at a terrifying rate.
Then Myers, the scrappiest of scrappy defenders, came through with two huge plays to seal the deal on a 40-34 non-conference win, and King could finally relax.
First the junior forced a Friday Harbor player into a crucial turnover with 16 seconds to play, then Myers out-jumped the world to haul in an offensive rebound with six ticks on the clock, allowing Coupeville to run the clock out.
The second win in as many days for the Wolves, it lifted them to 8-8 on the season, two more victories than last season, when Myers had to sit out the year while recovering from a nasty soccer injury.
Up until the fourth, Coupeville had been slowly, surely squeezing the life out of Friday Harbor.
With first Kacie Kiel, then Amanda Fabrizi shouldering the offensive load, the Wolves stretched their lead from one at the end of the first to nine at the half and 15 going into the fourth.
Madeline Strasburg seemed to put the final stamp on the game when she picked off a pass to open the fourth, spun up-court and found McKayla Bailey with a perfect lead pass.
Bailey’s running layup, her first basket as a varsity player, stretched the lead to 37-20.
But then things got a little off-kilter.
Strasburg took a poke to the eye, forcing her to the bench, and Friday Harbor suddenly decided to start hitting outside shots. As the lead begin to wither, concern spread through the CHS gym.
Makana Stone made the first stand, with a sweet layup over the outstretched hands of seemingly all five Wolverine defenders. That bucket snapped an 8-0 Friday Harbor run.
But things weren’t done yet, as the visitors surged again, putting together a 6-1 mini-run to further tighten the collar on King’s shirt.
Enter Myers, and exit the Wolverines.
Kiel was Coupeville’s go-to scorer early, raining down six points in the first quarter with a pair of long jumpers and a put-back on an offensive rebound.
Later, it was Fabrizi with the hot hand, as she opened the third with a high, arcing three-point shot that went in, came out, rolled around the rim 31 times, wobbled back and forth and then, finally, flopped through the bottom of the net.
The duo paced the Wolves with 10 points apiece, while Strasburg pumped in nine and Stone chipped in with five.
Breeanna Messner, Bailey and Carlie Rosenkrance also dropped in a bucket apiece, with Rosenkrance joining Bailey in getting her first varsity bucket.
Coupeville Sports 