They went into the 1A state tournament unranked, but the Coupeville girls basketball team will leave Yakima today, March 5, with a top eight placing.

The Wolves defeated Zillah, 45-41, in a Friday morning loser-out contest that locked them into a 5th/8th place game against White Swan at 9 a.m.

Things looked rough for CHS early Friday, as the Leopards jumped out to a 17-8 lead in the first quarter.

“We turned the ball over a lot, it was just really horrendous,” CHS head coach Greg Oldham said.

The Wolves got it together before halftime, however, pulling within two, 21-19.

Coupeville went up by three after the third quarter and took as large a lead as nine in the fourth, due in large part to its aggressive defense.

Zillah put together a late rally to pull within four, but the Wolves were able to hang on.

Lexie Black scored a team-high 12 points for Coupeville and recorded a school-record 10 blocked shots.

Freshman Shawna West scored nine points for CHS, eight of which came in the second half. Brittany Black also had nine, followed by Taniel Lamb with eight.

Today’s opponent White Swan is where Oldham started his career as a head coach. This is the first time he has faced his old team.

“I’m excited, it’s really going to be a lot of fun,” he said.

Coupeville 49, Cascade Christian 35

Seniors Taniel Lamb and Lexie Black didn’t want their high school basketball careers to come to an end Thursday afternoon, so they did something about it.

The duo combined for over half of Coupeville’s point total and came up with several key defensive plays and rebounds en route to a 49-35 victory over Cascade Christian in the consolation quarterfinals.

“They played really consistently,” Oldham said.

Lamb scored 12 points for the Wolves, but more importantly had seven steals and six rebounds.

“She used her quickness to really disrupt what they were doing,” Oldham said.

Coupeville converted 27 Cougar turnovers into 23 points.

Black had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Wolves. She scored nine of her points in the second half.

CHS led 25-17 at halftime and never let Cascade Christian pull any closer than eight points in the second half.

Liberty Bell 58, Coupeville 45

Facing the fourth-ranked team, Liberty Bell, in an opening state game was a task Coupeville couldn’t overcome Wednesday evening.

After losing a four-point advantage early in the first quarter, the Wolves couldn’t regain a lead, eventually falling 58-45.

“They were really quick, they shot the ball well and they made their easy opportunities count,” Oldham said.

The Wolves, on the other hand, fell behind by double-digits after they missed several easy baskets in the second quarter.

“We had three layups we just flat out missed,” Oldham said.

Liberty Bell went up 31-18 at halftime and kept a double-digit cushion almost the entire contest. The Wolves were able to pull within six points midway through the fourth, but couldn’t get any closer.

Brittany Black led CHS in scoring with 15 points. She had 11 of those in the second half.