Scout Smith and Coupeville led for three quarters Wednesday, but an ice-cold fourth killed their chances. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Like getting put through a wood-chipper for 32 minutes.
Riding high off of a big win the night before, the Coupeville High School girls basketball squad stumbled a bit Wednesday, enduring their own Fargo moment as they were bruised, battered and, finally, shredded 28-20 by host Chimacum.
The loss drops the rebuilding Wolves to 2-2 in Olympic League play, 4-10 overall.
Coupeville, chasing a fourth-straight league title, sits in third place, trailing the Cowboys (3-1, 6-7) and Port Townsend (3-2, 5-7), while Klahowya (0-3, 2-10) brings up the rear.
While this title hunt isn’t going as easy as the previous three, when CHS went 27-0 in conference play, the young, undermanned Wolves are still very much in the thick of things with five league games left on their schedule.
Wednesday night, take away an ice-cold fourth quarter, and despite the bruises and whiplash endured, Coupeville almost pulled off a win that would have elevated them into first place.
But that final eight minutes, when the Wolves failed to score a single point, doomed them.
Despite facing withering pressure, and committing a head-spinning 43 turnovers, Coupeville led 3-2 after one quarter, 8-7 at the half and 20-19 after three.
How they led is something CHS coach David King is still trying to figure out.
That, and how he wandered into a WWE taping instead of a basketball game.
“Unreal and so very rough. I think that’s the only way I can describe tonight’s game,” he said. “Chimacum is aggressive and we wilted against everything they threw at us.
“How good was their press?,” King asked. “According to our play and turnovers, it appears it is a top-tier press. In reality, it’s aggressive and good — we just made them look like all-stars.”
While Chimacum’s defensive heat and willingness to whack a girl certainly helped, most of the Wolves turnovers were self-inflicted, as King ticked off a list of miscues.
“Throwing passes into defensive arms/hands. Overthrowing, throwing behind a teammate or trying to dribble-drive up the court out of control,” he said. “We will go back to the basics and see if we can fix this reoccurring issue.”
Where Coupeville was effective was on the boards, where four different players snared at least seven rebounds.
Lindsey Roberts hauled in 10 caroms, while Allison Wenzel, Ema Smith and Hannah Davidson added seven apiece.
The Wolves shared the offensive load, as well, with Roberts tossing in seven points to lead the way.
Kyla Briscoe (4), Ema Smith (4), Sarah Wright (2), Davidson (2) and Scout Smith (1) rounded out the limited attack.
The game also marked the varsity debut of Wolf juniors Ashlie Shank and Maddy Hilkey.
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