Archbishop Murphy out scored the Coupeville High School girls basketball team by 20 points in the second half on the way to defeating the Wolves 61-27 Wednesday, Jan. 2, in Everett.

A solid second quarter gave Coupeville some momentum, but the big second half by the first-place Wildcats (5-0, 8-2) squelched any hopes of a comeback by the Wolves.

Only two players scored for the Wildcats in the first quarter, but the pair, senior Beth Carlson and freshman Madison Pollock, combined to tally 18 and Archbishop Murphy led by 12 after one period.

The Wolves were stung by 17 first-half turnovers that ATM converted into fast break layups, according to coach David King.

King said the Wolves were hurt on the offensive end by not adjusting to pressure applied on the wings.

“We didn’t look to go backdoor and didn’t come to meet the ball,” King said.

Displaying more offensive patience, Coupeville played on par with ATM in the second period.

King said, “We swung the ball from side to side and got some open looks and good post ups by Bessie Walstad and Breeanna Messner.”

Walstad finished with five points and Messner four in the quarter.

Coupeville trailed 32-18 at the half and King said, “We felt pretty good going into halftime.”

In the third quarter, the Wolves lacked “fire,” King said, and Archbishop Murphy didn’t allow Coupeville back into the game.

The Wildcats led 45-21 after three periods.

“They outscored us with precision half-court offense and running the break,” King said.

Things didn’t improve in the fourth as Archbishop piled up 16 points and the Wolves were held to buckets by Amanda Fabrizi and Jai’Lysa Hoskins.

Carlson, one of the best players in the area, finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

King assigned freshman Makana Stone to Carlson. He said, “Makana did a very good job on her, she fought for the defensive position in the post and made Beth earn her points.”

King also praised the play of Madeline Strasburg, who “came in and brought some energy.”

He added, “She has really worked on and is showing improvement on the offensive end. I can always count on her defensively. She comes in and does a good job to disrupt the other team on offense.

“Offensively she is doing what is asked and is listening to the coaches about squaring up to the basket, looking for her shot or driving to the hoop if it’s there. As a team we need to follow her lead on this and become more aggressive on offense.”

Messner led the Wolves with eight points. Walstad had five, Stone four, Hoskins three, Fabrizi three and Lauren Escalle two.

King said, “We are halfway through our season and we are still playing tentative on the offensive end. We need to come out every practice and every game and play hungry. Until we do that we are going to continue to have good games and games like this one.”

Coupeville (2-3, 4-6)  goes to Granite Falls (0-5, 1-10) at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 4.