Coupeville Sports

   Amy and David King have guided the CHS varsity girls hoops squad to three straight 15+ win seasons.

With success comes the desire for more.

Girls basketball has been the strongest sports program at Coupeville High School the past three years, and it isn’t even close.

With 46 wins overall, a 27-0 mark in Olympic League play, three straight league titles and a trip to state last year, the Wolf hoops players are the current gold standard.

Now, coaches David and Amy King and their players want to get to another level, reviving memories of the late ’90s and early 2000’s, when CHS won seven games at the state tourney and hung banners for top eight finishes three times.

Coming off a season-ending playoff loss to Cascade Christian, David King swings by The Coaches Corner to reflect on the current success and the outlook for the future.

Before we left the locker room on Thursday, I told the players to hold their heads high. They should be proud of the season we had.

Yes, it was a disappointing end to the season; we just didn’t play as well as we would have liked.

But we are looking at the season as a whole.

15-6 isn’t bad at all. Who would have thought it after losing a two-time Olympic MVP (in Makana Stone)?

I’ll tell you who, the players and coaches in our locker room!

We did some pretty good things all season long.

Our defense, like in years past, is what we are built on. As our defense goes, our offense follows.

We also struggled at times, mostly offensively and that’s something we need to fix. Especially if we want to come back stronger next season.

Here are a few things I would like to say to the returning players. We can’t be satisfied with how we finished our season.

Once we settle and are happy with our current status, then others will pass us by.

That may be a teammate putting in the extra work to raise their game and earn more playing time or earn a starting spot.

It’s also the other teams in our league or the non-league teams.

Our team has shown a commitment to defense. This off-season we need to turn it up a notch.

When all five players are clicking on defense, it’s a thing of beauty.

Offensively we struggle. Many of us went to the shooting clinic. Many worked to continue what they learned.

This process never stops. For us to go further next year we have to be willing to change and improve our shooting.

We have to step on the court with confidence, improve our mental toughness and execute our offense. I believe these three things go hand in hand.

For the fans of our team, we want to thank you for the support all season. The players do appreciate it.

Some believe we should be playing in a tougher league or schedule harder non-league teams so when we get into the playoffs we can represent at a higher level.

We as coaches see these players every day for three months. That’s just during the season.

I can guarantee that they show up to practice and work hard. They suit up and give their best effort in the games.

We are in the league we are in.

Almost all nine of our league games were competitive. The non-league schedule was also competitive.

We had 7 home games out of 21 games.

As players and coaches we can only control our own play. We can’t worry about who is on our schedule.

Play a perceived easy opponent or play a tougher opponent, we still have to show up and play our game. If we don’t, that’s on us.

Just like we can’t control the many away games this year.

Talk about toughness, not having a home game for 40+ days could wear on a team. But not this group of players.

One thing I’ve said for years to teams and players — you are only as good as you allow yourself to be.

If the effort and attitude is there along with a willingness to put in extra work, then the teams we play don’t matter.

Players need to be be unselfish in their play, and make the necessary changes to improve their game.

The future is very bright for this program. We have athletes coming back, but there is work to be done.

I wouldn’t bet against this group.