Maddie Georges slashes to the hoop. (Bailey Thule photo)
Deja vu, but with a better ending.
For the second time in less than 24 hours, the Coupeville High School varsity girls’ basketball team frittered away a fourth-quarter lead against Friday Harbor, but this time, when the buzzer rang, the Wolves were on top.
Forcing a turnover on the game’s final play, CHS escaped with a 26-25 win in a tiebreaker game played on a neutral court in La Conner, punching their ticket to the bi-district playoffs.
Coupeville, now 9-10, opens the four-team single-elimination tourney Monday, Feb. 13, hosting Auburn Adventist Academy — which it beat in the regular season — at 5:15 PM.
La Conner faces Northwest Christian (Lacey) in the nightcap at 7:00, with the winners returning to the CHS gym Wednesday, Feb. 15 to play for the tourney title and a trip to state.
Saturday’s game, which featured two groggy teams tipping off at high noon after wrapping their Friday showdown about 6:00 PM, was life or death.
Coupeville and Friday Harbor split their two-game season series, thanks to the Wolverines rallying from 14 down in the fourth and winning in overtime on their home floor.
Since both teams were swept by La Conner, Saturday’s rumble was for the #2 playoff seed from District 1.
Gone was the rabid crowd of Friday night, gone were a three-pack of refs who called a LOT of fouls, and yet Saturday’s game played out uncannily similar.
Coupeville once again never trailed from opening tip well into the fourth quarter, though with both squads rimming out a series of shots, the scoring was much lower in the rematch.
Instead of a 14-point advantage, the Wolves were up by nine this time, after Maddie Georges sank a three-ball from the right side while under heavy pressure.
And once again, Friday Harbor, a scrappy team with no quit, started chip-chip-chippin’ away at the lead down the stretch.
Wolverine junior McKenna Clark rattled home eight of her team-high 10 points in the waning moments, including hitting six consecutive pressure-packed free throws.
But a pair of charity shots from Coupeville senior Alita Blouin — the Wolves only points in the game’s final six minutes-plus — were epic.
“The Assassin,” staring daggers through any fool unlucky enough to foul her, barely rippled the net as both shots went down, providing the Wolves with their final margin.
To get to the win, Coupeville had to survive a goosebump-inducing final 40 seconds, however.
Katie Marti (left) and Mia Farris contemplate the defensive destruction they’re about to unleash. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
First, the Wolf defense forced a turnover.
Then they held on to the ball with iron grips, not allowing for any drops, wayward passes, or deflections as Friday Harbor frantically fouled three times, trying to stop the clock.
The third, and final foul, pushed the Wolves into 1-and-1 territory, and while the ensuing free throw wouldn’t stay in the bucket, Coupeville played the final six seconds to perfection.
The missed free throw was batted skyward, draining precious time.
Finally able to snatch the madly bouncing ball, a Wolverine shot towards the right side of the floor, only to dribble on the line as three Coupeville players trapped her in the backcourt.
The buzzer sang its song just as the ref on that side made the call, and CHS coach Megan Richter could collapse on the bench with a smile on her face.
“These girls are stressing me out and I’m exhausted,” she said with a big laugh.
“They played their hearts out today and left it all on the floor. They fight until the end, and I couldn’t be more proud of them!”
The Wolves marinate in their win, while looking forward towards the playoffs. (Bennett Richter photo)
While the game ended in a burst of adrenaline and intensity, it began sort of slowly.
Both teams looked tired in the early moments, and Friday Harbor didn’t score until nearly eight minutes into the game.
Not that Coupeville was lighting up the scoreboard all that much.
Georges dropped in a pair of buckets while on the move, and Ryanne Knoblich sank a free-throw, but the Wolves were only up 5-2 at the first break.
The offense picked up a bit in the second frame, with Georges draining a three-ball and a pull-up jumper, but Friday Harbor closed on a 6-0 run to knot things at 12-12 headed into the half.
During the break, Wolf senior Carolyn Lhamon worked on her shot with her coaches, and it paid immediate dividends.
She snatched an offensive rebound and slapped it back up and in, then came around to pull off a three-point play the hard way on a power move in the paint.
Toss in a superb bit of teamwork, with Lyla Stuurmans slipping an inbound pass through the defense to set up a Katie Marti layup, and the Wolves were up 21-15 entering the fourth quarter.
Richter gave floor time to eight of her 11 players, with five of them scoring.
Georges, who had 13 on Friday, came back around to notch a game-high 14 Saturday.
Now with 384 points and counting, the slick-shooting Wolf point guard is up to #26 on the all-time CHS girls’ hoops scoring chart.
Friday, Georges slipped past Whitney Clark (359), while Saturday she hopped Katie Smith (374), younger sister of current Coupeville JV coach Kassie O’Neil.
Lhamon banked in five points to back her teammate, while Knoblich (3), Blouin (2), and Marti (2) also scored.
Stuurmans, Gwen Gustafson, and Mia Farris rounded out the players on the floor, while Skylar Parker, Jada Heaton, and Madison McMillan made some serious noise from their perch on the bench.
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