Finally home, Coupeville grabs nice win | Girls basketball

Home sweet home.

After playing its first five games on the road, the Coupeville High School girls basketball team finally played on its own floor and it was a happy homecoming, defeating rival South Whidbey 39-24 Friday, Dec. 14.

Coach David King said, "It was good to be home and playing in front of our home crowd. The girls could feel the energy the fans brought."

For the second game in a row the Wolves limited their opponents to single digit scoring in three quarters. The strong defense combined with a season low 13 turnovers helped Coupeville even its season mark at 3-3 (2-1 in conference).

The Wolves got off to a good start, hit a bit of a bump and then went on an 18-0 run that bridged the second and third quarters to put away the Falcons (0-3, 4-4).

Bessie Walstad sank the game's first two hoops to help Coupeville go up 8-2, but behind Madi Boyd's six points, the Falcons led 12-10 at the end of the quarter.

South Whidbey pushed that lead to 15-10, but the Wolves dominated the remainder of the quarter and went to the locker room with a 26-15 advantage.

King said, "In the second we did a better job on defense and getting out and running; our defense got our offense going. We shared the ball well and executed our offense."

Five different Wolves scored in the second period with Amanda Fabrizi, Bree Messner and Jai'Lysa Hoskins each getting four.

Coupeville's offense slowed in the second half, scoring only half as many points as the first, but its defense made sure the Falcons never got back into the game.

The Wolves led 32-19 after three quarters.

Coupeville received strong all-around games from a number of players.

Messner scored a season high 12 points and added six rebounds, Walstad finished with seven points and Hailey Hammer six. Hoskins had six points and "many hustle plays on the defensive end," according to King.

Makana Stone collected six points, five rebounds and three blocks. Fabrizi recorded four points, six rebounds, three steals and three assists.

King said, "Overall this was probably our most complete game in the young season from start to finish with everyone contributing."

The stay a home was short. Coupeville goes back on the road for two games this week, starting at Sultan (1-2, 1-7) at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 18, and then at Friday Harbor (0-4) at 6 p.m. Thursday in a nonleague game. It returns home for a non-conference game with Orcas Island (2-0) at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 22.

Contact Whidbey News Times Sports editor Jim Waller at jwaller@whidbeynewsgroup.com or 360-675-6611 ext. 5060.

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