After playing what coach Blake Severns called its worst game of the year in a 33-30 home loss to Granite Falls Friday, the Coupeville girls basketball team responded with its best effort the next night in defeating visiting King’s 46-42.
The split evened the Wolves’ Cascade Conference record to 2-2 and set their season record at 7-3. They travel twice next week, to Archbishop Murphy Tuesday and Sultan Friday, before returning home Tuesday, Jan. 19, for a game against Lakewood at 7 p.m.
Coupeville found out it couldn’t just show up and expect to win when Granite Falls came to town. The Tigers entered the game with a lowly 1-7 record against the 6-2 Wolves and appeared to be on the way to another defeat when Coupeville fell apart in the final minutes.
The Wolves, who had given up just 22 points in over three-and-a-half quarters, inexplicably allowed Granite Falls to score 11 in the final three minutes. Up 30-22, a cascade of Coupeville turnovers began. The Wolves were still ahead 30-26 when the team’s leader, Megan Smith, fouled out with 1:30 to go. Without their glue, the Wolves continued to unravel and the Tigers turned the Coupeville miscues into points and a win.
Severns said, “We weren’t focused. We didn’t work hard. Then when we made mistakes, we got down on ourselves.”
Ashley Manker scored 15 points, half of the Wolves’ total. Smith finished with six, Courtney Boyd four, Marie Hesselgrave three and Katie Smith two.
The win over King’s (2-2, 5-5) was as good as the loss to Granite was bad.
The Wolves never trailed in the game, but never led by enough to get comfortable.
Coupeville led by three with 2:26 to go when Smith was fouled on a rebound after the Knights missed a free throw. She sank both foul shots to make it 42-37.
From that point King’s started fouling to stop the clock and Coupeville missed five consecutive free throws. However, the Wolves’ defense forced two turnovers to overcome the misses.
With 51 seconds left, King’s Makenzie Taylor hit a 3-pointer to trim the lead to 43-40. After a Coupeville miss, the Wolves forced another turnover which forced the Knights to foul Cassidi Rosenkrance. She hit the second of two free throws.
Marie Hesselgrave rebounded a King’s miss, was fouled, then iced the game by rattling in two free throws with six seconds left. It was a satisfying finish to a frustrating night for Hesselgrave. The starting post played just six minutes because of foul trouble until reentering the game with 2:26 left.
Severns said, “I am so proud of the girls. They responded (after the Granite Falls loss); it tells a lot about our girls. I am blessed to have them on our team.”
The Coupeville coach lauded the play of Kendra O’Keefe who was forced to play out of position with Hesselgrave in foul trouble: “She came up huge for us defensively.”
Severns also praised Manker’s aggressive offense that got the Knights’ post Ali McConnaughey in foul trouble and limited her playing time.
Manker finished with 10 points, Smith had 17 and the two each had seven rebounds.
Rosenkrance had six points, four assists and three steals. Katie Smith provided a spark off the bench with six points, Hesselgrave finished with four and O’Keefe three.
