Turks take over late | Girls basketball

Outscoring Coupeville 13-7 down the stretch, the Sultan High School girls basketball team eked out a 30-27 win over the visiting Wolves Tuesday, Dec. 18.

Coupeville led 20-17 early in the fourth quarter, but the Turks plugged away to secure the win. The Wolves had a chance to tie it at the end. On an inbounds play from half court with 3.9 seconds left, Lauren Escalle’s three-point shot was tipped and Sultan escaped.

The first quarter belonged to Coupeville, the second to the Turks.

Hailey Hammer scored twice to help the Wolves lead 8-2 after the first period. Coupeville’s fast break was creating scoring opportunities and the damage could have been greater but “the ball wouldn’t fall” on some chances, according to coach David King.

Sultan (2-2, 2-7) did one better in the second quarter, out scoring Coupeville 8-0. King said, “Our defense wasn’t there like it had been earlier in the game and we were out of rhythm in our offense.”

He added, “Sultan didn’t come at us with much pressure from the defensive end, we just didn’t allow ourselves to be patient on offense, and when we got open shots we rushed them. Many times it was a one and done; we weren’t aggressive at going after offensive rebounds.”

After trading dominating quarters, things evened out in the third. With six points coming from Bessie Walstad, Coupeville entered the final period up 18-17.

Walstad finished with eight points, Makana Stone seven, Hammer four, Amanda Fabrizi four, Escalle two and Messner two. Stone had six rebounds and Messner five.

King said, “Overall, we just didn’t come ready to play and go home with a win. We played hard, but our energy level wasn’t used at times in the right places. We are young and it showed in the game. This is a good learning experience for us and now we get to go right back out on Thursday and bounce back from this game.”

Coupeville (2-2, 3-4) now plays two nonleague games, going to Friday Harbor (0-5) at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 20, and hosting Orcas Island (2-1) at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.

 

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

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