The Coupeville girls basketball team used another outstanding first quarter to remain undefeated, picking up a 46-34 victory over the Forest Ridge Raiders last Thursday.
The Wolves, who through six games have averaged six more points than their opponents in the first quarter, jumped out to an 18-5 advantage after eight minutes. They then spent much of the rest of the contest slowing the game down and holding on for the win.
The Raiders narrowed the lead to eight in the fourth quarter, but the Wolves were able to hold on for their sixth consecutive win. Head coach Greg Oldham, who thinks they might see Forest Ridge again at districts, was impressed with there resiliency.
“They were very scrappy,” he said. “They kept fighting back and wouldn’t quit.”
Oldham credited his team’s first quarter outburst to solid communication on the floor between team members.
“When we communicate, very few teams in Class A can beat us,” he said. “When we don’t communicate any Class A team can beat us. In the first we played hard and communicated and a 18-5 lead was the result.
“Boy when we do that we are a really good team. Every combination we tried in the first played well.”
The Wolves were missing senior Tracy Taylor, so head coach Greg Oldham went down to his JV squad to call up some replacements. The team has carried only nine players all season so Oldham had the opportunity to give some of his younger players their first varsity experience. The four he brought up were sophomore Samantha Roehl and freshmen Taniel Lamb, Lexie Black, and Whitney Clark. The foursome combined for 20 minutes, four points, and seven rebounds.
“I could have brought up one or two junior varsity kids, but I thought why not bring up more, so I brought up four and we had a full deck,” he said. “All four came in and had positive stats. They all did a good job in their first varsity action.”
Junior Brianne King led the Wolves in scoring with 21 points including one three-pointer and added four steals.
“We’re pretty ecstatic about her scoring this year,” Oldham said. “She’s a streaky shooter, so once she gets a few good early chances she’ll have a good night.”
Senior post-player Sarah Mouw contributed another solid game with 11 points and 13 boards. Through six games the 6-foot-0 Mouw is almost averaging a double-double (9.8 points and 9.2 rebounds a game). She has brought the Wolves a sturdy inside presence that they lacked last season.
“Sarah got three key defensive rebounds in a row in the fourth when Forest (Ridge) was coming back,” said Oldham. “It was a key time in the game. We didn’t have anyone who could do that last year.”
After their outstanding start, the Wolves once again had problems maintaining the lead. Coupeville had a 13-point lead at the end of the first quarter, but was then outscored 29-28 the rest of the contest. According to Oldham, losing some of the lead is going to happen with the team trying to slow the game down, but he also sees an area where the team can improve.
“I keep trying to press upon the kids that we haven’t played an entire game to our level yet,” he said. “We need to play well for all 32 minutes, to play a complete game. The closest we got was against Granite Falls.
“We might not get many more chances for the rest of the regular season, but we need to be prepared because in the postseason we will need to be at our best.”
The Wolves next contest is Friday night at South Whidbey when it faces the host Falcons in the first round of the South Whidbey Invitational. They will play again on Saturday with the opponent to be determined.
Coupeville 46, Forest Ridge 34
At Coupeville H.S.
Forest Ridge – 5 10 9 10 – 34
Coupeville – 18 7 13 8 – 46
Forest Ridge-Spencer 10, Prentke 16, Dinsmore 3, Walker 3, Glockner 2. Coupeville-A. Mouw 2, Ellsworth-Bagby 2, T. Lamb 2, E. Lamb 6, King 21, Black 2, S. Mouw 11. 3-point goals-Prentke 2, Spencer, Dinsmore, King. Records-Forest Ridge 4-2 overall. Coupeville 6-0.
