Let's Breakdown Context Sentences, starting from Level 1 ‼ (初心者向け)

[alo]

@polv

八個はっこ

From the post on the thread you linked:

Why isn’t a counter used in this context sentence on WaniKani?

This is one of those sentences that’s a bit confusing because it writes words only half in-kanji. It’s not はちこ, but はっこ, or 八個 in full kanji. So it is indeed using a counter!