Skyler Lawrence gave Coupeville a much-needed spark Tuesday, snatching five boards. (John Fisken photo)
Amy King had to pull out the Vince Lombardi speech.
Disappointed by her team’s first-half performance Tuesday, the easy-going Coupeville High School JV girls’ hoops coach let loose a bit at halftime.
“It was an ugly, slow-start, Monday’ish-road-trip sort of game, even though it’s a Tuesday,” she said. “After some ‘strong words of wisdom’ during halftime, the girls were ready to play.”
And they did, using a second-half defensive stand to rally for a 29-20 win at Port Townsend.
The victory, the team’s third in the last four games, lifted the young Wolves to 7-9 overall, 5-2 in 1A Olympic League play.
Coupeville, which had crushed the RedHawks twice earlier this season, played fairly lackluster in the early going.
“Port Townsend came out on fire and our defense was flat-footed,” King said. “We were quiet. Not even rebounding.
“Offensively the ball moved slowly, not strong passes or cutting or anything,” she added. “We tried every man play we knew to try and get something to click.”
Trailing 14-12 at the break, something needed to change.
After King’s halftime talk (no word on whether any chairs were thrown … admittedly, as awesome as that would be, it’s also just as unlikely), things clicked, though.
With freshman Ashlie Shank leading the way, “driving the lanes, taking good shots and quicker on defense,” Coupeville pulled together to hold Port Townsend to just six second-half points.
Swing player Allison Wenzel “brought much needed energy to the floor” and Sarah Wright “ripped the rebounds like she has the past few games, even driving the ball up the floor.”
“Everyone contributed, feeding off of each other in the fourth and taking the win,” King said. “It was a tough one, but it was a win and we are happy for it.”
Wright paced Coupeville with eight points and 10 rebounds, while Shank (7), Wenzel (5), Lauren Rose (3), Skyler Lawrence (3), Maddy Hilkey (2) and Brittany Powers (1) also scored.
The Wolves controlled the boards, ripping down 40, with Brisa Herrera (3), Nicole Lester (2) and Lindsey Laxton (1) backing up Wright, Wenzel (5) and Lawrence (5).
Coupeville Sports 