The Wolf JV girls celebrate their fifth straight win Thursday night. (Amy King photos)
The Fab Five Frosh are (back, l to r) Tia Wurzrainer, Scout Smith and (front) Maya Toomey-Stout, Emma Mathusek and Avalon Renninger.
Let them play and they will impress you.
The Coupeville High School JV girls’ basketball squad has gotten the short end of the stick this year, as what was a 19-game schedule has morphed into a 15-game affair thanks to rivals frequently failing to pull together a team.
Thursday night, way down in the wilds of Sequim, facing a large 2A school, that wasn’t an issue, and, like usual, the Wolf young guns rose to the occasion.
Freshman Maya Toomey-Stout, AKA “The Gazelle,” came flying out of nowhere to pick off a pass at the buzzer, sealing the deal on a wild ‘n woolly 29-27 CHS victory.
The team’s fifth straight win, it lifts the Wolves to 11-3 heading into Saturday’s home finale against Port Townsend.
A game that featured rough and tumble play (Scout Smith being tackled while on the floor), strong defense and Tia Wurzrainer’s first high school points, it brought a smile to coach Amy King’s face.
“It was a long day but worth it,” she said.
After catching an early ferry, and being crammed onto a bus with the CHS boys, the Wolf girls got to spend time at both a park and the library after arriving in Sequim, then hit the court hopped-up and ready to rumble.
“Here we are at the end of the season. Last road trip. We all knew it was going to be a tough night so it was ‘do our best, play like a team, have confidence and hold our own’,” King said.
Sequim surprised Coupeville with an immediate 2-2-1 trapping press and took control early, rolling out to a 10-7 lead after one quarter.
With a bit of time to adjust, however, the Wolves found their groove and Wurzrainer was one of the first to benefit.
A defensive dynamo who plays with a pass-first attitude on offense, she became the final Wolf JV player to net a bucket this season when she knocked down a shot off of a feed from Toomey-Stout on the break.
“We all went nuts with her shot,” King said.
After that, the game got rough with a capitol R, but the Wolves played through a game of non-calls, elbows and collisions.
“The whole game was rough and just got rougher with every passing minute,” King said. “I was very proud of the girls – they didn’t complain, just toughened up and played through it.”
Coupeville knotted things up at 16-16 going into the break, then pulled away with a 7-6 advantage in the third and a 6-5 edge in the fourth. A suffocating D was the key.
“Our defense was lock-down and a few standouts for me were Tia, Emma (Mathusek), Maya and Avalon (Renninger),” King said. “I think this was Tia’s best defensive game. She really was everywhere.
“Everyone really worked well together, though.
“Ashlie (Shank), Maddy (Hilkey) and Brittany (Powers) moved very well together, spacing was nice – talking and helping with direction,” King added. “Nicole (Lester), Sarah (Wright), Ema (Smith) and Ashlie all took turns playing in the post. That was not an easy job … they had a player who just bull-dozed her way through the key and was held pointless.”
Down the stretch both teams adopted a war-like attitude when it came to corralling rebounds or loose balls.
“There were players on the floor on both ends of the court. Going after loose balls, knock the ball loose and everyone was going after it,” King said. “Some rebounding found at least eight players in the key fighting for the ball.
“It was a tad wild.”
Making their best defensive stand in the game’s final minutes, the Wolves held Sequim to a single fourth-quarter basket, then sealed the deal when Toomey-Stout blasted through her own teammate (Scout Smith) to pilfer the game’s final pass.
Wright paced CHS with eight points and seven rebounds, while Powers swished a three-ball for part of her five points.
Ema Smith (5), Renninger (4), Wurzrainer (2), Lester (2), Scout Smith (2) and Hilkey (1) rounded out the scoring.
“These girls have come so far since that first game in early December. Everything about their games have improved,” King said. “It is strange that this is their last road game of the season, but I am so happy to have been a part of their accomplishments.
“Awesome job ladies!”
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