Joel Walstad is ready to shock the world: “Sweep the leg! Sweep the leg!” (John Fisken photos)
Madeline Strasburg is ready to rumble.
Time to beat the best.
Cue the soundtracks for “The Karate Kid” (the ’80s one!!) or “Rocky” and blast them until the windows tremble. It’s playoff time and the little guy is ready to drop a hay-maker on the biggest and the baddest in all the land.
Both Coupeville High School basketball squads will enter the district playoffs as underdogs, coming in as the #3 seed from the Cascade Conference, which pits them against the #1 seed from the Northwest Conference.
What that means is two separate bus trips to Lynden, as the Wolf girls face Lynden Christian Monday at 7 PM, followed by the Wolf boys making the same trip on Tuesday.
Island rival South Whidbey, the #2 seed from the Cascade Conference, is on the same side of the bracket as Coupeville (the Falcon girls play, minus top scorer Hayley Newman, at Nooksack Valley, while their boys travel to Meridian).
If the Wolves and the Falcons both win or lose, they will wage an all-Island rumble in Langley. The second playoff games are Wednesday, Feb. 6 (girls) and Thursday, Feb. 7 (boys).
Win at least one of their opening two games, and the Wolves will continue to play in the double-elimination tourney, with at least one and possibly two more games.
The top three girls’ teams and top four boys’ squads (in an eight-team field) advance to tri-districts.
Both of Coupeville’s opening round opponents offer a big challenge. The Lady Lyncs are 17-3 while the boys’ squad is the defending 1A state champs. Both squads are ranked in the top 10 in their respective state polls.
The brackets:
http://www.wiaadistrict1.com/tournament.php?tournament_id=747&sport=12&ps_type=1
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