The future is bright for Coupeville’s varsity girls, who clinched a playoff spot Friday by thumping South Whidbey. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
“Just very proud of the effort on a very emotional night.”
Coupeville High School varsity girls basketball coach David King walked off the floor Friday night having seen his team win its third-straight game, sweep the season series with their Island rivals, move into a tie for 2nd place in the North Sound Conference and clinch a playoff berth.
Having pounded visiting South Whidbey 37-16, the Wolves rise to 5-2 in league play, 7-7 overall, with three to play.
CHS is tied with Cedar Park Christian (5-2), two games off of King’s (7-0) and has a week before they get a rematch with CPC.
But like his players, King savored the win while also realizing the night was about far more than just a hoops game.
Friday’s tilt was Coupeville’s Coaches vs. Cancer game, and the school raised $483.20 for Project Violet at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
Before tip-off, the Wolf girls paid tribute to Ronald Smith, the grandfather of JV player Kiara Contreras, who lost his fight with Mesothelioma in Dec. at age 77.
They also brought former CHS player Brisa Herrera to the court, welcoming home a young woman who is cancer-free after a four-month battle with ovarian cancer shortly before her 2018 graduation.
Her high school coach, Amy King, hugged her, and a wave of emotion rose from the packed stands, swelling longest, loudest and proudest from the student section, which was full of many who attended classes with Brisa.
As each Wolf starter was introduced before the game, they, and several of the Falcons, stopped to bump fists with Herrera.
And then Coupeville, whole again with the return of injured starters Lindsey Roberts and Hannah Davidson, went to work.
A long shot off the fingertips of Chelsea Prescott knotted the game at 2-2, and then Avalon Renninger stroked a pull-up jumper and the Wolves never looked back.
While they let the Falcons stay close for a quarter, taking just a 7-4 lead into the second quarter after Davidson capped things by rolling hard to the hoop for a bucket off a Prescott pass, that quickly changed.
Death came from above, as three separate Wolves successfully launched three-balls to cap a game-busting 13-0 run midway through the second frame.
Roberts hit from the top left, Scout Smith nailed hers from the top right, then Ema Smith casually flicked her trey in while on the move at the top of the arc.
As shot after shot went high into the heavens and then splashed down, the delight of the Wolf fans grew, and the slump in the shoulders of the Falcons grew.
Shutting down South Whidbey’s top post player, Lexi Starets-Foote, Coupeville denied South Whidbey much of anything.
“Our posts, Hannah and Nicole (Laxton), brought their A-game,” King said. “They battled all game long.
“I (also) liked our effort in the press once we started to cover the middle.”
Up 20-6 at the break, the Wolves stretched the lead out to the 19-22 point range in the second half, and spread their offensive attack out, with nine of 12 CHS players scoring on the night.
Roberts, who suffered a nasty finger break/fracture at Sultan, had fingers on her left hand taped together for her return, but was electric as usual and didn’t seem overly bothered by the injury.
Her track speed is still at 100% and she used it for one superb breakaway, pulling in an outlet pass from Scout Smith and beating the pack for a loping layup.
“It was great having both Hannah and Lindsey back,” King said. “It solidifies our rotation and gives us a bigger presence in the middle.”
Ema Smith, who has stepped up big-time over the past week-and-a-half, knocked down three treys on her way to a game-high 11 points.
While Roberts, who tossed in six points Friday, gets justifiable props for being #23 on the CHS girls career scoring list, the Emanator has quietly risen to #56 all-time.
After tallying 94 points as a junior, Smith is at 95 and counting for her senior campaign. With 189 career points, she’s just 27 shy of breaking into the career Top 50.
Scout Smith, who had a team-high six rebounds and five steals, banked home five points in support of her veteran teammates.
Prescott (4), Davidson (4), Tia Wurzrainer (2), Anya Leavell (2), Renninger (2) and Laxton (1) also scored, while Ja’Kenya Hoskins snatched four rebounds, Izzy Wells snared two boards, and Mollie Bailey ran the offense in the late going.
While the final stretch of the regular season won’t be easy, with games against Cedar Park, King’s and Granite Falls, Coupeville is guaranteed to advance to the double-elimination district tourney regardless of how that stretch plays out.
The Wolves, who sit three games up on Sultan (2-5) and Granite Falls (2-5) and five up on South Whidbey (0-7), can finish no lower than fourth in the six-team league.
CHS swept the season series from Sultan, won the first meeting with Granite and needs just one win, or one Granite loss, to guarantee a top-three finish.
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