Coach Geoff Kappes and the Coupeville girls basketball team have said all season that all they needed was a chance to get into the Class 1A playoffs and they would be going places.

On Tuesday the Wolves took the first step, knocking off the Meridian Women of Troy 53-45 in the first round of the Northwest District playoffs.

The victory was an important one because a team that wins in the first round is now in a double-elimination situation with one more victory meaning a trip to the state tournament.

Coupeville had its problems during the regular season being one of only two Class 1A teams in the Cascade League, but playing against tough Class 2A competition paid off.

The Wolves started out slowly, but came back with four solid quarters of basketball to advance to the second round.

Meridian scored the first six points of the game, but Kappes called a time out and that got the Wolves back on track.

A three-point basket by Megan Smith got things started and Coupeville then went on a 10-0 run to take the lead.

After the 4:17 mark of the first period, the Wolves outscored the Trojans 14-3 to hold a 14-9 lead after the first eight minutes.

“It was a battle and I feel like I played tonight,” Kappes said.

Coupeville stayed hot in the second period holding Meridian scoreless from the floor until the 3:44 mark, building what appeared to be a comfortable 22-11 lead.

However, things went south in a hurry when the officiating crew called some questionable fouls on the Wolves, including a technical on the coach.

This allowed the Trojans to go on a 12-0 run and when Bree Park scored with seven seconds remaining on the clock, Meridian was in front 23-22.

“When things like that happened in the past, we have tended to kind of focus on things that weren’t going well,” Kappes said. “Tonight, we were able to put that behind us and say ‘what do we need to do to improve the way we are playing,’ and that’s exactly what we did.”

At the buzzer, Shawna West finally broke the Wolves’ long dry spell and Coupeville went into the halftime break leading 24-23.

The two teams traded baskets and the lead early in the third quarter until a pair of free throws and a basket by Ashley Manker, another hoop by Sarah Burgoyne followed by a three-point bomb by Smith put the Wolf pack in front to stay.

“I didn’t play a good game, but it was a good thing we won,” Smith said. “We came together as a team and played as a team. We scouted them Saturday night and we knew if we played as well as we did against Cedarcrest on Friday, we could win pretty easily. We went down a little bit, but we came right back. I’m pretty excited.”

Smith scored a game-high 18 points, including a trio of three-point baskets.

Holding a 39-33 advantage heading into the final eight minutes, Coupeville pushed the lead to 11 points, 47-36, with 3:49 remaining in the game.

However, Meridian rallied to shave the margin to 47-41 before senior Alyssa Kelley hit three straight free throws to push the lead back to nine points.

“We work on them every day and I think anyone could have made them. It was just my turn, I guess,” she said.

“Not true,” Kappes replied. “Alyssa is our rock. She is our strength when we are in need and she comes through.”

West was the second player in double figures for Coupeville with 10 points and recorded four blocked shots in the first half.

“We won! We wanted to win our last home game for our seniors and we did it,” she said.

Bree Park led Meridian with 12 points. Teammates Terri Tigert and Kate Suhadolink hit for 11 points each.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the girls I coach,” Kappes said. “Each and every one of them are special people.”

Lynden Christian 72, Coupeville 42

In Thursday’s second round of the playoffs, the Wolves were defeated 72-42 by Lynden Christian.

Coupeville squares off against Nooksack Valley in a loser-out game at 9:00 this morning at Mount Vernon High School.

Nooksack Valley lost 43-18 to King’s on Thursday.