The clock struck midnight on Friday Harbor’s Cinderella-like season in a frustrating 41-26 defeat Wednesday on Whidbey Island.

The Wolverines, held to their second-lowest scoring total of the season, were ousted from post-season play as a defensive-minded Coupeville squad advanced into the second round of the Northwest 1A District playoffs with a victory in the post-season opener in tow.

Coupeville’s Ashley Manker tallied a game-high 16 points and teammates Marie Hesselgrave and Cassidi Rosenkrance added nine and eight, respectively. Rosenkrance also had seven steals.

The Wolves (12-9) will square off against Lynden Christian, ranked No. 3 among the state’s Division 1A schools, on the road Friday in the next round of the district playoffs.

For Friday Harbor, which clinched its first outright league title in 26 years, the defeat brought the curtain down on what is sure to stand as landmark season. The Wolverines, at 5-14 a year ago, improved to 15-5 in regular-season play this year.

At Coupeville, however, they struggled to score from the start, managing just five points in the opening period.

The ineffectiveness of junior Maggie Andersen, hindered by a severe thumb injury suffered in the regular-season finale three days earlier, didn’t help matters. Andersen, the team’s leading scorer, was blanketed by double-teams throughout the game and held scoreless for the fist time this season.

“Without her scoring we’re not the offense that we should be,” Head Coach Eric Jangard said. “They did play tough defense though, you can’t take that away from them. We don’t get held to five points in the first quarter very often.”

Still, Friday Harbor produced enough defensive pressure of its own to remain within striking distance up until the final period. The Wolves’ leading scorer, Megan Smith, who dropped 30 points on the Wolverines a year ago in the post-season opener, tallied just two points in the contest.

“We played great ‘D’,” Jangard said. “When you draw up the game plan you focus on Megan Smith, and if you hold her to two points, you’d think it would add up to a win. It just wasn’t our night.”

Junior Kelsey Barnes tossed in a team-high nine points and senior Kayla Short, in the final game of her prep career, added six. The Wolverines got four points apiece from sophomores Liz Taylor and Mandy Turnbull.

What they didn’t get, was enough offensive production in the pivotal final period. Trailing 27-22 at the end of the third quarter, the Wolverines managed just four points in the final eight minutes of regulation. Meanwhile, Coupeville hits its stride and put 16 points up on the board, its tallest total of four quarters, and ran away with the win.