Audrianna Shaw (5) played often-brilliant ball on both ends of the floor Tuesday night, sparking the Wolf JV to a come-from-behind win over South Whidbey. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Sweet, sweet revenge is ours.
Despite not netting a field goal for nearly 13 minutes to open the game Tuesday, the Coupeville High School JV girls basketball team stormed from behind to topple visiting South Whidbey.
With the 37-31 win, sparked by a dynamic fourth quarter from Audrianna Shaw, the Wolves earn a season split with their next-door neighbors, avenging a two-point loss at Langley in mid-January.
The victory lifts CHS to 7-2 in North Sound Conference play, 11-4 overall.
Megan Smith’s squad has one game left on the schedule, a home non-conference rumble with La Conner Thursday. Tip-off is set for 6 PM.
Tuesday’s tilt with the Falcons didn’t start off all that great for Coupeville.
Unable to get anything to drop from the floor, the Wolves could only scrape out a pair of Shaw free throws in the first quarter, and they were spaced more than five minutes apart.
Making matters worse, South Whidbey hit a miracle three-point shot at the first-quarter buzzer, the ball corkscrewing through the air, then catching a small sliver of glass and (somehow) banking itself through the net.
With the Falcons up 11-2 and whoopin’ it up over their gift from the heavens, the Wolves needed to catch a break.
They’d have to wait awhile, though.
Coupeville went scoreless through the first four-and-a-half minutes of the second quarter as well, though it did clamp down on defense and ice out the Falcons.
Shaw finally broke the scoreless stalemate with two more free throws at the 3:26 mark, and then, mercifully, things took a huge positive swing.
It started with Anya Leavell sliding in front of a pass and picking it off, then slashing downcourt and pegging a smooth pass onto the waiting fingertips of a streaking Gwen Gustafson.
The Wolf frosh beat the Falcons to the hoop, slapped home a layup, and 12 minutes and 43 seconds after the opening tip, Coupeville had a field goal.
The hometown hoops stars liked that first score so much, they immediately added two more, with Shaw slashing inside for a bucket, then Leavell taking another steal coast-to-coast.
While South Whidbey recovered to score the final basket of the half, staking itself to a 13-10 lead at the half, the momentum had turned.
After combining to score just 23 first-half points, the two teams suddenly got all offensive in the third frame, with the Wolves having the upper hand during a 15-12 mini-surge.
Alita Blouin, stalking the court like a blood-thirsty assassin, led the way, tossing in seven points on a variety of moves, while breaking at least twice that many ankles.
She had plenty of help, with fellow freshman Ryanne Knoblich rumbling through the paint for a pair of huge buckets and Ella Colwell ripping down rebounds by the handful.
There were seven lead changes and six ties during the third quarter, with neither team ever up by more than a single bucket, setting the stage for a furious finale.
And the fourth quarter lived up to the anticipation, as the arch-rivals swapped leads back and forth.
Abby Mulholland rolled hard to the hoop, slapping home a go-ahead bucket, before Shaw pilfered a steal, zipped down court, and dribbled rings around two defenders as she wiggled through an incredibly small hole for a crowd-pleasing layup.
But South Whidbey wasn’t quite ready to crack, and a three-point play the hard way put the Falcons back on top 31-29 as the clock ticked madly down.
Which meant it was time for Smith to lean on her wily vets, and the Wolf swing players came through big down the stretch.
A pair of free throws from the always-unflappable Mollie Bailey knotted the score at 31-31, then the Wolves busted open the game with a brilliant bit of teamwork.
Shaw jumped a wayward pass, picked it off, flipped the ball to Bailey, then got down the floor as fast as her feet would carry her.
Weaving through back-pedaling defenders, Bailey sucked the defense to her, before skipping a pass right back to her running mate, who sealed the win with a breakaway bucket.
Coupeville tacked on two more baskets, one each for Leavell and Shaw, just to make sure things wouldn’t get dicey, but it probably wouldn’t have mattered, as the Wolf defense was lights-out across the game’s final three minutes.
Shaw finished with a game-high 12 points, while Blouin (7), Knoblich (4), Bailey (4), Leavell (4), Gustafson (3), Mulholland (2), and Colwell (1) also scored.
Jessenia Camarena, Morgan Stevens, and Kylie Van Velkinburgh chipped in with strong defensive work, with Camarena providing a particular jolt off the bench.
Forcing several jump balls, and slingin’ elbows with the best of them, she’s a somewhat underrated hustle player, and one who continues to show great promise for the Wolves.
