Halftime adjustments helped the Coupeville High School girls basketball team to a 58-35 win at Port Townsend Friday, Jan. 23.

“It was a battle from the opening tip until late into the fourth,” coach David King said.

The turning point came in the third quarter.

“The players took to heart what we needed to fix coming out for the third,” King said.

The Wolves, who were forced to use a zone defense much of the first half because of foul issues, returned to a man-to-man in the third period, resulting in steals and fast breaks.

“Players were flying around, anticipating passes and tipping or stealing them,” King said.

Coupeville also took advantage of its height in the post and Julia Myers led the offense with eight points in the period as the Wolves outscored the Red Hawks 22-8 and led 47-27 heading into the fourth quarter.

Though the Wolves led by 20, King said his club never felt comfortable because of the Red Hawks’ effort and the scoring ability of PT’s Kaitlyn Meeks, who finished with 20 points.

Hailey Hammer scored four points and Coupeville led 9-7 after one quarter.

The Red Hawks jumped ahead 13-11, then the Wolves received a spark from Monica Vidoni. With Myers and leading-scorer Makana Stone in foul trouble, Vidoni picked up the slack with eight second-quarter points, including two three-point plays. One was set up by a nice feed from McKenzie Bailey.

The Wolves build a 25-13 lead, then the Red Hawks rallied back into the game with the half’s final six points.

When the game resumed in the third quarter, the Wolves began to roll, then “the fourth belonged to Stone,” according to King. The junior scored nine points to put any PT comeback hopes on hold. One Stone’s baskets came off a “sweet” pass from Hammer, according to King.

The game was “rough” and “ugly,” King said, and the winless Red Hawks (0-4, 0-14) “came ready to play and showed no fear.”

“PT was very aggressive all game long,” he said. “It seemed like every time we corralled a defensive rebound we had two defenders in there harassing us.

“One thing we had to adjust to was how the game was being called. No matter what we thought or think about a referee crew, it’s our responsibility as coaches and players to adjust our game play. I think we did that in the second half.”

Stone, who missed a much of the game because of foul trouble, still posted 20 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Kacie Kiel added two points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Hammer had eight points, seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

Madeline Strasburg registered five points and four assists.

Myers finished with 12 points, Vidoni eight, Mia Littlejohn two and Kailey Kellner one.

Coupeville (4-0, 10-5) goes to Chimacum (1-3, 2-12) at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 27.