Coupeville High School’s girls basketball team has suffered many losses of the blow-out variety this season.
Although a loss by any score is difficult to accept, being defeated in a close game is even more heart wrenching — especially when the loss occurs on a team’s home court.
In Tuesday’s Cascade Conference matchup against Granite Falls, the Wolves were on the verge of picking up their first league victory of the season.
Unfortunately, Tiger senior center Audrey Murphy scored a basket in the final second of the game and Granite Falls kept Coupeville winless with a come-from-behind 51-49 victory.
“It’s tough to lose a close one,” coach Blake Severns said. “We haven’t had a close one in awhile, so that makes it doubly tough.”
The Wolves took a 10-8 lead after the first quarter and thanks to nine points by Megan Smith in the second period, extended the lead to 24-15 at halftime.
In the third period, Coupeville went cold from the floor scoring just two baskets, while the Tigers went on a 12-0 run to hold a 29-28 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Coupeville recovered in the final eight minutes and a pair of free throws by Jesse Caselden at the 5:01 mark gave the Wolf Pack a 10 point, 41-31 lead.
After that point, Granite Falls went on a 12-1 run to reclaim the lead, 43-42.
“We gave up some runs we couldn’t afford to give up, but we had some runs, too,” Severns said.
Trailing 49-46, Coupeville’s Kassie Lawson nailed a three-point basket with 18 second showing on the clock to tie the score and overtime was a definite possibility. But it was not to be.
“That last three-pointer I threw up was pretty crucial for the end of the game,”Lawson said. “We played with everything we had tonight and there was a lot of passion in the game.”
Lawson scored 13 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter.
Smith was the second player in double figures for the Wolves, 0-11 league, 3-14 overall, scoring 14 points. She also had seven rebounds and six steals.
Murphy scored a game-high 26 points for the Tigers, 7-4 league, 10-7 overall.
“They have a really good player in Audrey Murphy and she is a tough matchup for us,” Severns said. “They also had some other players step up and hit some shots tonight that made a big difference in the game. We still have a few games left and we’ll just have to keep working hard.”
Granite Falls 51, Coupeville 49
Granite Falls 8 7 14 22 — 51
Coupeville 10 14 4 21 — 49
Granite Falls (51) — Audrey Murphy 11 4-7 26, Erika Smith 2 0-0 4, Kirsten Kramer 2 0-0 4, Jamie Alexander 1 0-0 2, Kerry Wesala 0 0-0 0, Sarah Hensley 0 0-3 0, Shelby Spencer 0 0-0 0, Anna Jensen 3 0-2 6, Peyton Spencer 4 1-1 9. Totals 23 5-13 51. Coupeville (49) — Kassie Lawson 8 1-3 19, Megan Smith 4 3-3 14, Jessy Caselden 1 2-2 4, Cassidi Rosenkrance 0 1-2 1, Mandi Murdy 3 1-3 7, Katie Smith 0 4-6 4, Courtney Boyd 0 0-0 0, Taylor Sherman 0 0-0 0, Marie Hesselgrave 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 12-19 49. Three-point goals — Granite Falls 0, Coupeville 5 (Lawson 3, M. Smith 2). Turnovers — Granite Falls 24, Coupeville 18. Total fouls — Granite Falls 18, Coupeville 16. Fouled out — none.
