Anyone who wasn’t present in the Wolf Den for Wednesday’s Class 1A sub-district basketball matchup between the Coupeville High School girls and Friday Harbor missed one heck of a basketball game.
Battling through a turnover-plagued first half, the Wolves finally got things under control, pulled together and beat the Wolverines 48-40 to advance in sub-district competition.
Neither team did a very good job of taking care of the basketball in the first half. Some of the mistakes had to do with tight defense by both teams with a lot of hands and arms in the passing lanes, while others were simply the result of poor passes.
Friday Harbor committed 18 miscues in the first two quarters, while Coupeville gave the ball away 17 times.
“We had way too many turnovers in the first half, but we took care of the ball much better in the second half,” coach Blake Severns said.
The Wolves took a slim 8-7 lead after the first period of action and then held the Wolverines to just three points in the second quarter to build a 20-10 halftime advantage.
Megan Smith had the hot hand for three quarters of play, scoring all of her game-high 21 points, including four long-range bombs, but fouled out with 3:11 remaining in the fourth quarter.
“I really didn’t pay too much attention in school today,” Smith said. “I came out before the game and started shooting, but I didn’t do so well at first. Then I went out of the game and when I came back in, I just kept shooting and they started going in.”
Coupeville cruised into the final quarter of action with what appeared to be a comfortable 11 point, 32-21 lead, but then things got a bit tense.
Friday Harbor went on a 6-0 run to open the fourth quarter on a basket by Kiersten Radden and two more by Kelsey Barnes. With 6:54 remaining in the game, the Wolverines trailed by just five points, 32-27.
“It got a little close there at the end and they came back at us pretty hard,” Severns said.
But, that was as close as Friday Harbor would get.
With Smith on the bench after committing her fifth foul, Hayley Ebersole and Kassie Lawson took things over and knocked down a pair of 3-point baskets for Coupeville to increase the lead. In the waning moments of the contest, the Wolves managed to hit some clutch free throws to put the game out of reach.
“It would have been our last game if we’d lost, but we couldn’t let our seniors go yet,” Lawson said. “We feel confidence in ourselves and this is just one step to our goal. We’re going to state.”
Lawson was the second player in double figures for Coupeville with 11 points.
Ebersole was tough in the second half, scoring all of her six points.
“I thought we really came together tonight and played with heart,” she said.
Brooke Jangard scored 13 points and Kelsey Barnes had 10 points for the Wolverines.
“They hit some big shots and we hit some big shots,” Severns said. “We made just enough shots to win, that’s what it’s all about.”
Coupeville 48, Friday Harbor 40
Friday Harbor 7 3 11 19 — 40
Coupeville 8 12 12 16 — 48
Friday Harbor (40) — Brooke Jangard 3 7-10 13, Kelsey Barnes 42-4 10, Maggie Andersen 2 0-2 4, Kayla Short 1 0-2 2, Kiersten Radden 4 1-1 9, Lizzy Guard 1 0-2 2, Ellie Guard 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 10-21 40.
Coupeville (48) — Megan Smith 8 1-2 21, Kassie Lawson 3 3-7 11, Hayley Ebersole 1 3-4 6, Shawna West 1 2-5 4, Ashley Manker 2 2-4 6, Paige Mueller 0 0-0 0, Kayla Lawson 0 0-0 0, Sarah Vass 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 11-22 48.
Three-point goals — Friday Harbor 0, Coupeville 7 (Smith 4, Kas. Lawson 2, Ebersole). Turnovers — Friday Harbor 25, Coupeville 24. Total fouls — Friday Harbor 21, Coupeville 22. Fouled out — Short, Smith.
