The Coupeville girls basketball team led just twice at King’s Friday, but one time came when the game clock read 0:00.
The Wolves defeated the Knights 39-37 in overtime to move into a fourth-place tie with King’s in the Cascade Conference. Coupeville (5-5, 10-6) and King’s (5-5, 8-8) are a half-game behind third-place Cedarcrest (5-4, 6-9).
The Wolves go to Granite Falls (3-6, 4-11) Tuesday, Feb. 2.
Each time King’s would spurt into the lead, Coupeville would answer. The Knights jumped to an 11-4 lead in the first quarter as the cold-shooting Wolves couldn’t take advantage of a handful of Knight turnovers.
Steadily, Coupeville crept back into the game and knotted the score 18-18 on Ashley Manker’s 3-point play just before halftime.
The Wolves scored the first bucket of the second half to make it 20-18; that would be Coupeville’s only lead in regulation. Less than a minute later King’s was back on top and the Wolves played catch-up the remainder of the game.
The Wolves came from six down to tie the score at 30 on Katie Smith’s three-point play with 3:22 left in the game. That would be final field goal in regulation.
Missed free throws buried King’s down the stretch.
After the Knights’ Jocyln Kirton hit the first of two free throws with 3:07 left, neither team scored for two minutes until Anna Barhanovich also hit the first of two foul shots with 1:01 left to put King’s in front 32-30.
Coupeville’s Cassidi Rosenkrance nailed two pressure-packed free throws to even the score at 32 with 48.7 seconds left.
Kirton then missed two foul shots with 26 seconds to go and the two teams headed to overtime.
King’s jumped to the lead again in overtime, 35-32, but Coupeville tied it at 36 when Rosenkrance hit the front end of a one-and-one opportunity with 1:26 left.
After a Knight miss, Coupeville rebounded but turned the ball over. The Knights handed it right back on their own miscue.
Smith grabbed a rebound on a Manker miss to give Coupeville another chance. The Wolves worked the ball back into Manker, who sank a left-handed jump hook to put Coupeville ahead for good, 38-36, with 23 seconds left.
Karlie Storkson of King’s could have tied it but sank just the second of two free throws with 8.4 seconds left.
Coupeville continued the suspense. Three times the Wolves went to the line in the final five seconds, making just one of six to keep the Knights’ flickering hopes alive.
King’s turned the ball over after one miss, and Coupeville’s Marie Hesselgrave ran down an offensive rebound on another.
Smith finished with a season-high 11 points and Manker had 12 to lead the Wolves. Megan Smith scored eight points and Rosenkrance six.
