The Coupeville High School girls basketball team will be led by a new coach this season, and the transition to a new system is going smoothly for the Wolves, according to Scott Fox.
Fox welcomes back six letter winners from last year’s team that posted a 9-10 record and finished third in the North Sound Conference.
However, one of the letter winners, sophomore Ja’Kenya Hoskins, is likely out for the year with a broken ankle.
Back are seniors Hannah Davidson, Avalon Renninger, Scout Smith and Tia Wurzrainer and junior Chelsea Prescott.
Smith will guide the team as the point guard, Renninger and Wurzrainer will split time at the second guard, Davidson will handle the post position and Prescott will play small forward.
Senior leadership is the team’s strength, according to Fox.
“They have been playing together for four years and know what it takes to win,” he said.
The squad’s weakness is the inexperience of the varsity newcomers.
“There is a big difference between JV or middle school and varsity basketball,” Fox said. “I tell the kids that the margin for error is greatly reduced the higher up you go in sports.”
The newcomers most likely to fill out the varsity, according to Fox, are sophomores Audry Shaw (guard) and Izzy Wells (forward) and freshmen Maddie Georges (guard) and Carolyn Lhamon (forward).
“Being my first year, my goals are small with being competitive as the number one,” Fox said. “Any time you implement a new system there are going to be growing pains as we go through the process. I think we can compete in every game, and we’re working hard in practice to achieve that goal. (Former coaches) David and Amy King did a good job of teaching the fundamentals, so I inherited seniors that know how to play.”
Fox is excited about the future of his program: “We have great kids here and the support from the school and parents has been incredible.”
The Wolves play in the Sedro-Woolley Jamboree at 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 30, and then two games on the road: 5 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 4, in Darrington and 5:40 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 5, in Oak Harbor.
The first home game is 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7, with Orcas Island.
