“For the second year in a row Coupevilles’ girls basketball team hosted the preseason jamboree Monday night. The Wolves were able to show fans their new style of play, and they put on an exhibition with Archbishop Thomas Murphy that could be a preview of some great games this season.Coupeville came out in their second contest of the night against ATM making bad passes and bad decisions on offense, and letting the Wildcats gain the lead, 11-2. I think it was because it was ATM and we have kind of a rivalry with them, said Emily Young. The Wolves would come storming back on a 9-3 run led by two three-pointers by Brianne King, but Coupeville would come up short and eventually lose the 10 minute exhibition, 14-11. We beat them in quickness and if we had more time like in an actual game, towards the end of the game we would totally blow them out of the water, said Laura Young.After we got our nerves out and we got the ball going the right way we got our jitters out, said King. We just started playing. We get pumped up whenever we play ATM because of last year.Last season ATM had a record of 19-0 and were ranked No. 1 in the state before losing their last three games, two to Coupeville, and being ousted from the playoff picture.I expect that when we play them they will be great games with them up early and we will come back and hopefully come out on top, said head coach Greg Oldham.The Wolves know that they are undersized against ATM but also know that they can play right with the Wildcats.They are big and tall and not as quick, so that gives us an advantage, said Ashley Ellsworth-Bagby. We have been doing a lot of conditioning.The distinct size differential between ATM and the rest of the league was on display in both of the games that the Wildcats played, as they also defeated Concrete 7-4 in a game that was a defensive struggle.It’s harder for a taller, stronger-built girl to run down the floor than it is for my little quick ones, said Oldham.In the Wolves first game, Coupeville beat a hapless Orcas Island, 19-7. Tracy Taylor led the Wolves with seven points and King added four. Ellsworth-Bagby had three assists to lead the Wolves as Coupeville dominated, forcing 14 turnovers and shooting 50 percent from the floor.It was good to see Tracy get some good easy shots and finish them. That helps Ashley out too, because she has someone to pass too who can finish it, said Oldham. It makes you wants to keep throwing that pass. The Vikings had a long night as they went on to get pounded by Darrington, 18-2.We expected ATM to be good, and they are, but Darrington is a fun team. They like to run up and down and they are very skilled, said Oldham. I think our games with them are going to be a lot of fun because we have very similar styles of play. The coach thinks that there are four teams that could challenge for the top spot, but he also says that any night, any team in the league could win.We want the teams in our league to be good and we want those teams in our league to be tough because that is how you become better, said Oldham. It is silly to play a bunch of weak teams and then get your lunch handed to you at districts. Although the Wolves had a good showing, the coach knows there is a lot of work still to be done in playing this new style of basketball.We shot the ball pretty well but we could have shot it better, said Oldham. We had some easy opportunities that we missed. I was really happy with the position that we got ourselves into on the floor, both offensively and defensively. We were in position to make great defensive and offensive plays. Game 1Coupeville 19Orcas Island 7Game 2 La Conner 15Friday Harbor 7Game 3Concrete 4ATM 7Game 4Darrington 18Orcas Island 2Game 5Concrete 11Friday Harbor 7Game 6Darrington 12La Conner 13Game 7Coupeville 11ATM 14 “
Wolves host pre-season jamboree
"Wolves rekindle rivalry with ATM, look good against Orcas Island "