Girls wear Granite Falls down in 26-point victory
Published 4:00 pm Wednesday, December 5, 2001
A day after the Coupeville boys knocked off Granite Falls, the girls basketball team was able to make it two-for-two with a 70-44 victory over the Tigers last Saturday night.
Led by guard Brianne King’s 22 points, the Wolves overcame a one-point deficit after the first quarter to coast to a 26 point victory.
The Wolves blistered the Tigers in the even quarters, outscoring them 39-13 in the second and fourth periods. Granite was able to play even in the odd periods.
“It was really a function of our style of play,” said Wolves’ head coach Greg Oldham. “With our transition offense and pressure defense we were able to wear them down.”
Led by Jessica Goss, the Tigers were able score quickly and get up early on the Wolves. Granite Falls led the game by one point after the first quarter.
“We came out a little sloppy to begin the game,” said Oldham. “Ashley and Brianne got on a hot streak and brought us back. Even though we were down one at the end of the quarter, I really wasn’t worried; we could see that they were getting tired.”
Coupeville kicked things into gear beginning in the second quarter when the team’s pressure defense frustrated Granite. The Wolves recorded six steals during the quarter, including two by King who was able to get easy buckets off both of them. The junior guard was also able to get hot with her shooting hand during the quarter as she filled the basket with 11 of her game-high 22 points.
The Wolves finished the game with 16 steals, including six by King.
Oldham said a key to turning the game around was getting Goss in foul trouble in their second quarter.
“They don’t have a very deep team, only four players do a majority of their scoring,” he said. “With Goss on the bench, they only had three who could really score.”
Oldham was pleased with how well everyone on the team contributed to the victory. Besides King’s 22, senior point guard Ashley Ellsworth-Bagby had 11 points and added seven assists. All nine varsity athletes played double-figure minutes and all scored.
“We were really balanced and everyone contributed,” Oldham said. “That just makes it harder for other teams to guard us. No one had a bad game and that’s a great way to start.”
Senior post player Sarah Mouw led the team with 12 boards and added eight points. Oldham would like to see the team improve at getting her the ball inside the paint.
“We didn’t do a good job getting the ball inside,” he said. “Part of the reason is we’re really not used to it. We started the second half by getting Sarah the ball and she scored twice in a row. I’m pretty sure we’ll get better at using her as a weapon.”
Oldham was happy to beat the Tigers a 2A school, one division larger than Coupeville.
“We want to put together a tough non-league schedule,” he said. “The jump from 1A to 2A is small and we beat them last year. But it’s more about going up against good competition and playing well.”
Up next for the Wolves is Seattle Christian. Oldham expects to have a tough game on their hands as he rates Seattle Christian one of the top four teams in the tri-district.
“I’m expecting it to be a good early-season battle.”
