Yes, this photo of Kyla Briscoe is from last year, but it perfectly captures how Sequim felt as Briscoe’s CHS teammates ran wild Monday. (John Fisken photo)
Unleash the beasts.
There came a moment Monday, midway through a very-competitive game, when the Coupeville High School varsity girls’ basketball squad began to channel the Detroit Pistons of the Bad Boys era.
Five players moving as one, each one attacking, relentlessly and without mercy, causing the other team to panic and crumble in on itself.
Sparked by a full-court press defense initiated by the players themselves — Kalia Littlejohn subtly nodding at coach David King and whispering “We good, my man?” and King nodding back, small smile on his lips — the game changed in a flash.
And that’s how you go from a four-point deficit halfway through the third quarter to a 12-point lead and eventually a very-satisfying 37-31 win over visiting Sequim.
The non-conference victory, coming against a large 2A school, gives the 1A Wolves their tenth straight win, lifting them to 14-3 on the season.
When the game changed from a war between fairly-even teams to a beat-down of savage proportions, it came because of Coupeville’s #1 strength — its defense.
Mikayla Elfrank was chasing everything down, including a moment she hurtled cross-court, went air-borne and somehow, against all the rules of how reality works, managed to spin a ball off of her startled foe’s leg and out of bounds.
With every roar from the crowd, the Wolves found a new spring in their strut and Sequim’s shoulders sagged a little further.
Kalia Littlejohn, working in tandem with big sis Mia, savaged the rival ball-handlers with glee, at one point spiking the ball out of a six-foot player’s hands and turning it into a game-busting breakaway layup.
Regardless of how he shuffled his lineup, King was rewarded.
Sometimes it was Lindsey Roberts and Kailey Kellner banging on the boards or Allison Wenzel elbowing everyone in sight or Tiffany Briscoe launching herself onto a loose ball like she was recovering a football fumble.
Notably, both of the Sequim players who could have given Briscoe a run for the ball chose not to, unable to contend with … yes … say it together … a rampaging beast.
Huge smile on her face, and all the air knocked out of her chest, Briscoe was promptly set upon by all four of her teammates, fellow defensive demon Lauren Grove patting her on the head as the rest slapped her back.
Once Coupeville had the lead, turning a 17-13 deficit into a 19-17 lead headed into the fourth, the Wolves were relentless.
Showcasing a nifty touch at the free throw stripe, Elfrank, Mia Littlejohn and Kellner combined to hit eight free throws in the fourth quarter.
When they weren’t getting fouled, the Wolves were running their fourth-quarter offense at a nice clip, with Mia Littlejohn bobbing, weaving, burning time off the clock and setting up her teammates.
She had a hot shooting touch all game, pacing Coupeville with 15, but it was her passing, crisp set-ups and sweet lil’ dishes while gliding through the paint, that drew much appreciation from her coach.
Mia Littlejohn’s biggest assist might have come with a little over a minute to play, as she waited for Elfrank to progressively bump her defender deeper and deeper into the paint.
At the last second, the Wolf point guard arced a note-perfect pass over a defender’s arms, dropping it right onto her teammate’s outstretched finger tips, then watched in glee as Elfrank banked home a bucket to stretch the lead to 35-25.
Sequim found a little pluck, and a lot of luck, dropping back-to-back three-balls, both on shots that were not sure things going up, to tighten things back up in the final 60 seconds.
After the visitors made one of two free throws with 5.2 ticks on the clock — the second was successful but waved off for Sequim’s third lane violation of the night — Coupeville was clinging to a 35-31 lead and had a choice to make.
King, a former softball coach who led the Wolves to the state tourney, inserted CHS catcher Sarah Wright into the game to trigger the inbound play.
Cue the play that blew the roof off the joint.
Wright launched a full-court heave over the crowd and fellow sophomore sensation Lindsey Roberts, she of the school record sprinters speed, ran it down, reaching to the heavens to tip and snare the ball.
Somehow keeping her balance, while mom Sherry went appropriately bonkers in the stands, the heir to the vaunted Roberts athletic legacy roared in for a layup and the celebration was on.
The final bucket capped a game that was a defensive war in the early going, as Coupeville crept out to a 6-5 lead after one and a 12-10 advantage at the half.
Mia Littlejohn knocked down eight of her points before the break, while setting up the other two Wolf baskets with delightful dishes to Roberts and Briscoe.
The only time Coupeville fell behind came in the third, and it responded with a great save along the baseline from Roberts, which set up a three-ball from Mamma Mia.
And then the defense got nasty and did what it does.
Elfrank scored seven of her nine in the fourth quarter to back up Mia Littlejohn’s 15, while Kellner and Roberts each dropped in four.
Kalia Littlejohn added three and Briscoe’s bucket rounded out the scoring.
The two teams will face off again Thursday, this time in Sequim, before Coupeville closes the regular season Saturday (3:30 JV/5:00 varsity) with a home Olympic League game against Port Townsend.
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