Coupeville girls finish second
Published 8:00 pm Saturday, February 14, 2004
EVERETT—Considering they were facing the number-two ranked team in the state on its home court, things couldn’t have looked brighter for the Coupeville girls in their final regular season contest Tuesday night.
Previously unbeaten Archbishop Thomas Murphy was possibly in its most vulnerable position of the year, playing one night after losing its first game of the season on a long road trip to Orcas Island.
“I was excited all day after I opened up the paper and saw the score,” Coupeville head coach Greg Oldham said prior to Tuesday’s game.
The excitement was for good reason. Not only would a win secure the Northwest A championship for the Wolves, but it would mean the first ever home loss to a league opponent for ATM.
Unfortunately for Coupeville, all the cards for an upset were not in the deck.
Difficulty making baskets close to the hoop and 25 turnovers bit the Wolves in a 48-41 loss.
CHS had struggled converting easy baskets all night, none which was more evident with 51.7 seconds to go in the game.
Down 46-38, junior Lexie Black pulled down an offensive rebound after a missed free throw. Black’s short put-back rimmed in and out, while two contested follows by teammate Vanessa Davis were also off the mark.
“We didn’t finish at the key point of the game and they did,” Oldham said.
A made shot would have put the Wolves within two possessions of a tie and pulled them as close as they had been since the second quarter.
The Wildcats continued to leave the door open for CHS by missing two separate one-and-one attempts, but CHS could not counter offensively.
Down 48-38 with four seconds to go, junior Taniel Lamb dribbled half the distance of the court and drained a running 30-foot three point shot. The buzzer-beater caused an uproar on the Coupeville bench, but was too little too late for the Wolves.
Even though the shot didn’t win the game, Oldham thinks a play like that could be beneficial for his team as they enter the playoffs.
“She knows now she can take a ball with four seconds left through traffic and make a fairly long shot,” he said. “That could help us later on.”
CHS, who only shot 18-for-47 (38-percent) for the night, played a close first quarter with ATM. They held the lead on three separate occasions and were only down 12-10 after one.
Three turnovers on their first three possessions of the second quarter, however, put the Wolves in a hole for the remainder of the game. The Wildcats used a three pointer by Jaimie Lyons to go up 17-10 with 6:20 left in the first half. From that moment on, ATM let Coupeville pull no closer than five points for the rest of the night, as they took a 27-18 lead to the locker room.
Vanessa Davis led Coupeville with 15 points on 13 rebounds. Lexie Black followed with 11 points, 13 rebounds and five blocked shots. Lisa Coate had a game-high 19 points for the Wildcats.
The loss put Coupeville’s final regular season record at 8-2 in league and 14-6 overall and gives them the second seed in the Tri-District tournament. They will face the number-one seeded team from the Chinook league, Kings, in the first round. Game time is set for 6 p.m., Friday, Feb. 20 at Mountlake Terrace High School.
“They’re arguably the most athletic team in the state,” Oldham said.
Although they are fast, teams with height have given them some trouble and height is definitely an asset for the Wolves, who have three players over 6-feet tall.
“If they turn it into a track meet we may lose by 30, if we turn it into a monster truck match we’ve got a pretty good shot,” Oldham said.
Six of the eight teams competing in the Tri-District tournament advance to the state tournament, beginning March 3 at the Yakima Sundome.
Coupeville 10 8 9 14—41
Archbishop 12 15 11 10—48
Scoring—CV: V. Davis 15, L. Black 11, Mouw 6, Lamb 5, Clark 2, B. Black 2.
ATM: Coates 19, Frahm 11, Lyons 10, Taylor 4, Ecknes 2, Lasswell 2.
