Letting a win slip away, the Coupeville High School girls basketball team lost 31-27 at Orcas Island Saturday, Dec. 8.
The Wolves led by 8 at halftime and by 4 at the end of the third quarter but couldn’t hold on.
“Tough loss and this one hurt,” coach David King said. “We had control of the game going into halftime.”
The two teams were tied at 5 after the first quarter, as Coupeville failed take advantage of its scoring opportunities.
“We started slow in the first quarter, then midway through our press started disrupting Orcas Island,” King said. “The press got us deflections and steals; we just couldn’t convert those into points.”
The Wolves took advantage of those opportunities in the second period. Chelsea Prescott scored 6 points and Ema Smith 5, including a three-pointer, as Coupeville outscored the Vikings 15-7.
The Wolves, however, managed only 3 points in the third quarter when everything went “sideways,” according to King. Coupeville went over five minutes without scoring and saw its lead shrink to 23-19 heading into the final eight minutes.
The Wolves held onto the lead until late in the fourth quarter before falling.
“We played very well for about a quarter and a half,” King said. “The game is four quarters, and we just didn’t get it done and Orcas did.
“We can’t take possessions off — not keeping the ball moving — on offense,” King said. “We turned the ball over 21 times, (and that is) going to show up in our ability to score.
“I was pleased with the press and the many deflections and steals (16); (we) just need to convert these.”
Not much went right in the second half, but King lauded a play by Lindsey Roberts, who raced to save a long pass, crashing into a fan after passing to Avalon Renninger for a bucket.
Prescott finished with 9 points, Ema Smith 5, Roberts 4, Renninger 4, Scout Smith 3 and Tia Wurzrainer 2.
Scout Smith also had five rebounds, two steals and two assists. Hannah Davidson and Renninger collected six rebounds and Roberts 5; Ema Smith had two blocks.
Coupeville (1-4) travels to South Whidbey (0-4) for the league opener at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 12.
