The Coupeville girls basketball team will get their season-long wish following a narrow 42-41 victory over Forest Ridge on Tuesday night: A date with No. 1 King’s tonight in the Class A tri-district championship game.
“From the first day of this season we had King’s in our sights,” said a relieved Wolves head coach Greg Oldham. “We thought they would be in the district championship game and we wanted to be right there with them. It wasn’t pretty but we made it happen.”
The Wolves will be there but it wasn’t easy. Forest Ridge gave them everything that they could handle as they rallied from a seven-point deficit to tie the contest late in the fourth quarter at 41-41.
“The game wasn’t what we really expected but we’ll take it,” said Oldham. “It was a really weird game. You just have to smile and shake your head but it all adds up the same way.”
Thanks in part to point guard Ashley Ellsworth-Bagby, Coupeville escaped the Raiders comeback. The 5-foot-7 senior had all eight of the Wolves’ points and eight of her team-high 10 points in the fourth quarter. None was more important than the game-winning free throw with just four seconds remaining.
Forest Ridge’s Jackie Spencer tied the game at 41-41 with a three-pointer with just 33 seconds left on the clock. The Wolves brought the ball down the court and got several good looks, before Ellsworth-Bagby grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled going up strong to the hoop. Ellsworth-Bagby missed the first free throw, but sank the second to give Coupeville the lead.
The Raiders had one last chance with four seconds remaining, but their long pass was knocked away by Wolf senior Tracy Taylor into the hands of Brianne King, who ran out the clock and preserved the win.
“They’re a team that if they stay close is kind of scary because they like to chuck up the three,” Oldham said. “We let them hang around. They have a nice little team.”
Junior Brianne King added 7 points and four steals on the evening while senior Tracy Taylor had a team-high nine rebounds. Oldham praised the pair after the game.
“Brianne had a couple of steals that stopped on of (Forest Ridge’s) little runs and Tracy had a great rebounding game,” he said. “She really shut them down on the offensive boards.”
Coupeville controlled the game almost the entire way but was never able to shake Forest Ridge completely. The Wolves led 21-12 at halftime but the Raiders got back in the game after hitting a half-court three-pointer as time expired in the third quarter to make the score 34-27 entering the final period. In the final frame the Raiders rallied behind the outside shooting of Spencer who hit two threes, including the one that tied it in the final minute of the game.
“It was wild and crazy,” said Oldham about the final period. “It was difficult to keep up the intensity level high knowing that we were going to state. We had kind of a letdown.”
Six of the eight quarterfinal teams in the tri-district – including both Coupeville and Forest Ridge – were already assured of making it to the state tournament in Yakima next week.
With both teams already in the state tourney, the game between Coupeville and King’s will be played for the tri-district title and will give the Wolves their biggest test of the season.
“I think we bring something to the table that they haven’t seen before,” said Oldham. “Both teams will be better prepared for state for having played each other.”
The Wolves’ task won’t be easy. The top-rated Lady Knights are 21-1 on the season with their only loss coming at the hands of a Canadian high school earlier this month. King’s placed fourth at last year’s Class A state tournament.
The tri-district championship game tonight is being held at Mountlake Terrace High School. Tip-off is 8 p.m.
Coupeville 42, Forest Ridge 41
At Lynnwood H.S.
Coupeville – 12 9 13 8 – 42
Forest Ridge – 8 4 15 14 – 41
Coupeville: Ellsworth-Bagby 10, S. Mouw 8, A. Mouw 2, E. Lamb 9, King 9, Taylor 4. Forest Ridge: Spencer 14, Prentke 14, Phillips 2, Walker 5, Glockner 4, Lapp 2. 3-point goals: Spencer 2, Prentke 2, Ellsworth-Bagby 1, King 1. Records: Coupeville 21-2 overall, Forest Ridge 13-8.
Class A tri-district tournament
Game 9: Archbishop Murphy 53, Seattle Christian 47 (loser out).
Game 10: King’s 68, Overlake 31.
Game 11: Cascade Christian 49 Bush 36 (loser out)
Game 12: Coupeville 42, Forest Ridge 41
Game 13: Archbishop Murphy 51 Forest Ridge 37
Game 14: Overlake 57, Cascade Christian 46
Game 15: Forest Ridge vs. Cascade Christian (winner 5th, loser 6th, both to state), 5:00, tonight at Mountlake Terrace H.S.
Game 16: Archbishop Murphy vs. Overlake (winner 3rd, loser 4th, both to state), 6:30, tonight at Mountlake Terrace H.S.
Game 17: King’s vs. Coupeville (winner 1st, loser 2nd, both to state), 8:00, tonight at Mountlake Terrace H.S.
