Coupeville High School girls basketball coach David King liked just about everything he saw on the court from his team at Archbishop Murphy Tuesday, Feb. 4. However, when he looked up at the scoreboard, the lights revealed a 50-48 win for the Wildcats.

“We wanted to put a complete game together, that meant all facets of the game,” King said. “After all was said and done, this was one of our best games along with getting contributions from everyone. A total team effort.”

The game was close all night, and with the help of an Amanda Fabrizi three-pointer, the Wolves took their final lead, 48-46, with about a minute left.

When Archbishop Murphy went to its leading scorer Megan Wall to counter, the Wolves’ defense, led by Kacie Kiel, forced the ball out of her hands. Unfortunately, Haley Sizelove knocked down a three to give the Wildcats the lead.

After a Coupeville miss, Wall made one of two free throws.

With less than 10 seconds left, the Wolves had one more chance. King drew up a play, his players “ran it perfectly” but the shot missed.

“It just wasn’t meant to be,” he said.

King lauded his team’s defense, particularly the effort of Kiel and Julia Myers on Wall.

Wall finished with 15 points but became frustrated and rushed shots, King said.

“Kacie played lights out defense,” King said, including taking two charges from Wall.

Murphy (7-5, 8-8) opened the game on a 6-0 run, but Makana Stone scored the next seven and Coupeville went on top.

Bree Messner added four points in the quarter and the Wolves led 15-12 heading into the second period.

Fabrizi and Stone each scored four points but Archbishop Murphy led 28-24 at the break.

Stone scored six points and Messner four in the third quarter to bring the Wolves within two, 39-37.
King called it “a game we could build on.”

The Wolves’ execution forced Murphy out of its preferred defense, a 1-3-1, zone and its full-court press.

“Everyone that played gave us great minutes,” King said. “We moved the ball well offensively and we rebounded well. Our free throws looked better, we shot them better, but we need to keep improving. They are working hard at this daily and last night we saw improvement.”

Stone filled the stat sheet with 19 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks.

Messner had a nice all-around game with nine points, six rebounds, four steals, three assists and a block.
Kiel finished with eight points, seven rebounds and a block; and Fabrizi tallied 10 points, two steals and a block.

Maddi Strasburg added two points, three rebounds and four assists; and Myers had three assists and a block.

At 6:45 p.m. Friday, Feb. 7, Coupeville will honor its seniors, Messner and Fabrizi, before the Granite Falls (0-12, 1-17)  game. Saturday at 5 p.m., the Wolves play at King’s (11-0, 14-3) in the final regular season game.

Coupeville (4-8, 8-10) goes to Mount Baker for the first round of the district tournament a 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11.