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Archive for February, 2019

Clean sweep for Wolf hoops stars

Posted in Girls Basketball, Middle School, tagged , , , , , on February 26, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Carolyn Lhamon knocked down 10 points Tuesday, helping the CMS 8th grade varsity rout Granite Falls. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Get out the brooms.

Pulling off a sweep for the first time this season, all three Coupeville Middle School girls basketball teams swatted visiting Granite Falls Tuesday, sending Wolf coaches, players, and fans home wearing smiles.

“It was an awesome night for all the girls!,” said CMS 7th grade coach Megan Smith.

How the afternoon played out on the hardwood, while I was off working in the woods on my sister’s farm:

 

7th grade varsity:

Coupeville put Granite down hard, romping to a 19-2 lead before coasting in for a 23-12 win.

The victory snaps a three-game losing skid and lifts the squad to 2-3 at the halfway point of its season.

The Wolves took a chomp out of the Tiger defense from the start, with five different players scoring in the first half.

While the offense was clicking, the defense was in seek-and-destroy mode, as Coupeville held the visitors to a single field goal across the game’s first 14 minutes.

Granite garnered a bit of a comeback in the second half, using a 10-4 surge across the final two quarters, but it was too little, too late to catch the runaway Wolves.

Lauren Marrs paced CMS with a game-high nine points, while Brionna Blouin tossed in six, and Erica McGrath banked in four.

Skylar Parker and Reese Wilkinson rounded out the scoring with a bucket apiece.

It was the first middle school points for both McGrath and Parker.

Ava Mitten, Allison Nastali, Kayla Arnold, Kaitlyn Leavell, and Desi Ramirez rounded out the CMS roster.

 

8th grade JV:

The only saving grace for Granite was the game was limited to two quarters.

Coupeville came out on fire, jumping to an 8-0 lead at the first break, then picked up the offensive pace in the second quarter, roaring home with a 20-4 win.

The second-straight victory for the JV, it lifts the Wolves to 2-2 on the season.

CMS spread its offense out, with four different players knocking down a bucket in the opening frame, before Mercedes Kalwies-Anderson and Karyme Castro teamed up to singe the nets in the final quarter.

The duo combined for 10 points in the second period, with Kalwies-Anderson dropping in six, and Castro ruffling the nets for four.

Cristina McGrath added four points, notching a basket in each quarter, while Trinity McGee, Jessenia Camarena, and Melanie Navarro chipped in with a bucket apiece.

Claire Mayne, Abigail Ramirez, Adrian Burrows, and Jessica Ross-McMahon also saw floor time for the Wolves.

 

8th grade varsity:

Coupeville’s most-dangerous team remains perfect.

Thrashing Granite Falls to a 33-6 tune, the high-flying Wolves roll to 3-0 heading into a road trip Wednesday to Langley.

While both of the other Wolf teams held the Tigers scoreless in one quarter of their games, the 8th grade varsity went one better, tossing a pair of goose eggs onto the scoreboard.

The Wolves opened the game with a 9-0 run through the first quarter, then pulled off a 6-0 bagel job in the third frame.

The quarters when Granite did manage to score didn’t go much better for the Tigers, as they were battered by the quick, aggressive girls repping Coupeville uniforms.

Carolyn Lhamon and Nezi Keiper dominated down in the paint, racking up 10 and eight points, respectively, while Alita Blouin stung the defenders for five of her own.

Getting their first varsity points of the season, Jill Prince (4) and Trinity McGee (2) were joined by Gwen Gustafson (2) and Maddie Georges (2) in the scoring column.

Hayley Fielder, Ryanne Knoblich, Jordyn Rogers, and Jessenia Camarena rounded out the rotation, playing inspired defense and helping set up their teammate’s buckets.

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NCAA denies Stone, Whitman

Posted in Basketball, Wolves in college, tagged , , , , , , on February 25, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville’s Makana Stone led Whitman College women’s basketball in 12 statistical categories during her junior season. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Well, that’s unfortunate.

The pinheads running the NCAA D-III women’s basketball national championships left Whitman College out of the 64-team bracket, bringing a quicker-than-expected end to Makana Stone’s junior campaign.

The former Coupeville ace misses March Madness for the first time in three seasons.

As a freshman, Stone and the Blues won three games in the tourney, advancing all the way to the Elite Eight before being knocked out. Last year, Whitman fell in the first round to East Texas Baptist.

This time around, despite boasting a 20-7 record and having been ranked in the top 25 several times, the Blues were denied a ticket to the dance.

George Fox University (24-3), the regular-season and postseason tourney champs, were the only school from the Northwest Conference to make the field.

Even then, the Bruins were surprisingly denied a home game to open the tourney, and will travel to St. Louis to face Greenville University (23-4).

Whitman, which went 13-3 in league play and finished second in the nine-team conference, came within a win of earning an automatic bid to the NCAA tourney.

The Blues scorched Puget Sound in the semifinals of the league postseason tourney, but suffered through a turnover-riddled night in the championship game against George Fox.

Stone had the best season of her time in Walla Walla, earning First-Team All-Conference honors for a second-straight season and earning Player of the Week three times.

She led the Blues in 12 different statistical categories, including scoring average, hitting for 14.9 points a game.

The former Wolf star finished with 388 points, 227 rebounds, 40 assists, 31 steals, and 21 blocked shots in 26 games.

Stone hit on 162-318 from the floor (50.9%) and 63-79 (79.7%) from the free throw line.

With a season left, Coupeville’s progeny sits on the cusp of hitting a host of statistical milestones during her senior season.

She has 928 points, 440 rebounds, 123 assists, 65 steals, and 39 blocks for her career, putting her dangerously close to cracking both the 1,000-point and 500-rebound club.

Stone has hit 394-781 field goal attempts (50.4%) and 139-199 free throw tries (69.8%), and Whitman has rolled to a 68-17 record since she first pulled on a Blues uniform.

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Stone sizzles, Blues title hopes fizzle

Posted in Basketball, Wolves in college, tagged , , , , , , on February 23, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Makana Stone collected 10 points, 13 rebounds, and three steals Saturday in a college basketball playoff game. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Now they wait to find out their fate.

Swamped by too many turnovers and too many missed shots, especially from outside the paint, the Whitman College women’s basketball squad came up short Saturday in Newberg, OR.

Falling 66-52 to host George Fox University in the championship game of the Northwest Conference postseason tourney, the Blues fell a win shy of earning an automatic bid to the NCAA D-III national championships.

While George Fox (24-3) is definitely on its way to March Madness, Whitman (20-7) waits until the selection show Monday to find out if it gets in with at an-large bid.

The Blues have a strong body of work to support their quest for an invite, including a 19-point win over George Fox earlier this season.

Unfortunately, Whitman couldn’t repeat that victory Saturday, a game in which it got swarmed by an ultra-aggressive defense and buckled.

In a contest where 10 different Bruins scored, Whitman essentially played 2-on-5 for much of the night.

Senior Maegan Martin, who had never topped 20 in her college playing days, poured in a game-high 28, while Coupeville’s Makana Stone delivered with 10 points, 13 rebounds, three steals, and a big blocked shot.

Whitman’s twin towers got little help from their teammates, however, with no one else scoring more than three points.

In between a horrifying amount of turnovers (some forced, many not), the Blues hit on just 19 of 47 shots, including a crippling 6-21 in the first half.

For the game, the #1 three point shooting team in the league went 0-9, while George Fox rattled home 7-19.

Whitman came into the title game averaging 76 points a night, but started cold and never fully recovered.

The Blues didn’t get their first bucket until two-and-a-half minutes in, when Mady Burdett knocked down a runner.

It would be the only shot the First-Team All-Conference guard, who averages 15 points a game, would hit while being hounded relentlessly by platoons of Bruins.

Down just 16-10 at the first break, Whitman suffered through a brutal second quarter, watching its deficit balloon out to 21 points shortly before halftime.

Martin swished a pair of free throws, followed by Stone taking a steal coast-to-coast for a layup to end the half, but George Fox squashed every Whitman comeback hope in the second half.

Down by 20, the Blues ended the third on a 9-0 surge, but the Bruins immediately answered to open the fourth.

It was virtually the same seven minutes later, as Whitman, behind their interior one-two punch, closed to within 10 with a hair over three minutes to play.

George Fox promptly came up court, ran the clock down, then drilled another three-ball to permanently ice the game.

While she’s hoping for a trip to the NCAA tourney, Martin, Whitman’s lone senior, played what could be her final collegiate game with a vengeance.

An Honorable Mention selection when the NWC picked its All-Conference teams last week, she has been a strong role player all four years.

Martin’s career high entering Saturday’s game was 19 points, but she carried the Blues, hitting 11-18 from the field and 6-7 from the line.

Stone dominated the boards, with her 13 rebounds coming in a game in which no other player, on either team, collected more than six.

It was the 12th double-double for the former Wolf ace this season.

As she waits for an NCAA bid, Stone sits with 388 points, 227 rebounds, 40 assists, 31 steals, and 21 blocks during her junior campaign.

She’s hit 162-318 (50.9%) from the floor and 63-79 (79.7%) from the line.

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Kings are gym rats no more

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , on February 22, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Amy and David King resigned this week, likely ending coaching careers which have spanned nearly two decades at Coupeville High School. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

After impacting hundreds of Coupeville High School athletes over the past two decades, David and Amy King are handing off their clipboards.

The Coupeville High School girls basketball coaches, who previously worked with Wolf volleyball, baseball, and softball programs, as well as little league, SWISH and middle school teams, submitted resignations this week.

“As of now, this is a retiring,” David King said.

“Always willing to give advice or input if asked,” he added with a chuckle.

Their departure opens up varsity and JV coaching positions.

After years of balancing prep sports with their real-world jobs, the decision to retire gives the Kings a chance to step back and have more time for other pursuits.

That begins with the couple’s 33rd wedding anniversary, which, coincidentally, is today, Feb. 22.

Three years ago, when the Kings hit the big 3-0, they celebrated in the gym with their players while preparing for a trip to the state tournament.

The duo, whether coaching together or separately, are cut from old school cloth.

At a time when many fellow CHS coaches are just getting started, the Kings, along with track guru Randy King (no relation) and tennis whisperer Ken Stange, are true rarities, veteran coaches who always showed a willingness to innovate.

David King started in the CHS girls basketball program as a volunteer coach from 2003-2009.

After taking a season off, and putting in time as a SWISH coach, he returned to high school ball, with two years as JV coach, and seven with the varsity.

He also worked as an assistant coach with the school’s baseball team for three seasons, before bouncing across the street to join the softball staff.

Once there, he worked with Jackie Calkins, then with his wife, putting together three years at the high school level and one with the Central Whidbey Little League juniors program.

Amy King piled up 27 seasons, 24 as a coach and three as a volunteer, across basketball, volleyball, and softball.

She put in four seasons on the diamond, and seven on the volleyball court. The first five were with middle school teams, the final two as high school JV coach.

Her longest run came in basketball, however, where she has been involved with the CHS program as a varsity assistant and JV head coach since 2002.

During that time, she worked with five different head coaches, doing stints with Greg Oldham, Geoff Kappes, Blake Severns, and Jackie Bykonen, before she and the hubby claimed total control in 2012.

Preaching a love for defense, David King guided the Wolf varsity into the playoffs every season as head coach, even as Coupeville bounced through three different leagues.

The Wolf varsity won 79 games between 2012-2019, covering two seasons in the 1A/2A Cascade Conference, four in the 1A Olympic League, and one in the 1A North Sound Conference.

Despite running a gauntlet of private school powers in the postseason, Coupeville crafted several signature playoff wins as well.

The biggest, arguably, was a 49-33 dismantling of Seattle Christian Feb. 19, 2016, a win which came in a loser-out game in a hostile road gym, sending the Wolves to state for the first time in a decade.

Coupeville won three-straight conference titles, going 9-0 each time, in the Olympic League, and missed a fourth crown by a single game.

While defense was his hallmark, guiding ball-hawks from Kacie Kiel to Tia Wurzrainer, David King also helped shape 11 of the top 50 scorers in Wolf girls basketball history during his time as head coach.

While they had vastly different personal playing styles, Makana Stone (#3), Lindsey Roberts (#18), and Kailey Kellner (#30) were among those who thrived offensively under his guidance.

Amy King, like most JV coaches, had one of the hardest jobs in prep sports — trying to win games, while also having to often juggle lineups when star players were called up to get varsity floor time.

She persevered, winning 64 games with an often-depleted roster over the past seven seasons, including going 14-5 overall, 9-0 in league play, during the 2014-2015 season.

Under her tutelage, future varsity standouts like Lauren Grove, Breeanna Messner, and Amanda Fabrizi made huge jumps in confidence and skills.

Amy King was also famous for making sure every single player on her team scored at least once.

She never failed in that task, no matter how many foreign exchange students or first-time players suited up.

That fact is almost as impressive as her ability to craft a poem about a game while camped in a darkly-lit bus bouncing across the back-roads of rural America.

While both had success in separate endeavors, their work together, as “Coach King Boy” and “Coach King Girl,” is how many will remember them.

Their teams were built around hard work, fun, and family, then topped off with success.

The Kings were the only active CHS coaches to have guided athletes in two completely separate sports to the state championships.

Along with the 2016 basketball run, the duo led softball to state in 2014, breaking a 12-year dry spell for that program.

CHS Athletic Director Willie Smith, who coached Wolf girls basketball (1998, 2000) and baseball (2008, 2014) teams to state, knows what it takes to build successful programs, and he hailed the duo for their success, and growth.

“They will definitely be missed; they have been a steady, positive part of our programs as head coaches and assistants for years,” he said. “They have dedicated a large portion of their lives to our kids and have built a solid, successful program, leaving a strong base for whomever takes over the program.”

While he will miss having the Kings working the sidelines, the Wolf AD appreciates what they brought to the school.

“It has been fun to watch David grow as a head coach,” Smith said. “He’s always been willing to do whatever he needed to do to create a lasting, fundamentally-sound program.

“I’ve appreciated both he and Amy’s willingness to always look at themselves as the first evaluative point in their program,” he added. “Very sad to see them go, but excited for them to be able to spend some time with each other in a setting that’s different than a basketball gym!”

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Third time’s the charm for Stone, Blues

Posted in Basketball, Wolves in college, tagged , , , , , , on February 21, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville’s Makana Stone, here with mom Eileen, went off for 22 points and 11 rebounds Thursday in a college basketball playoff win. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Sweet, sweet revenge.

If you lose twice to the same team in the regular season, but bounce back to win the third meeting in the playoffs, who really cares about the first two games?

Not the Whitman College women’s basketball team, which rallied behind an inspired performance from Coupeville’s Makana Stone Thursday to derail visiting Puget Sound 69-61.

The victory, coming in the semifinals of the Northwest Conference postseason tourney, lifts the Blues to 20-6 and sends them to the tourney title game.

That game, where the winner earns an automatic berth to the NCAA D-III national championships, goes down Saturday in Newberg, OR.

Second-seeded Whitman, which avenged eight and five-point losses to #3 UPS, faces league champ George Fox (23-3) in the finale. The Bruins drilled #4 Linfield 76-49 Thursday in their semifinal game.

The title tilt will be the rubber match for the two squads, as Whitman and George Fox split their regular season bouts.

The Blues won 73-54 on the road Jan. 12, before falling 61-57 at home Feb. 8 in Walla Walla.

Thursday night’s game pitted Stone, a junior just named to her second-straight All-Conference team, against the league’s MVP, junior post player Jamie Lange.

While both played well, Coupeville’s ace came out ahead on three counts.

Stone’s game-high 22 points and 11 rebounds edged out Lange’s 18 and 11, the UPS star fouled out, and, most importantly, Whitman won.

As expected, it was a close game most of the way, just as the first two meetings between these teams played out.

Puget Sound jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter, but couldn’t pull away, eventually settling for a narrow 14-11 lead at the first break.

Whitman, behind six points from Stone, carried the second quarter, using a 15-12 run to knot things at 26-26 at the half.

Whatever happened in the locker room, be it a dramatic speech, or just some quality Gatorade, the Blues came out on fire in the third quarter, busting open the game.

The host team pulled out in front by eight points heading into the fourth, then eventually ran their lead all the way to a 13-point bulge in the fourth.

UPS rallied, however, twice cutting the lead to five.

That was as close as the Loggers would get, though, as Stone went off for 10 of her 22 points in the game’s final 10 minutes.

Her offensive display included a dagger of a jumper in the late going, which took the remaining air out of the visitors.

Stone added a pair of steals and two teeth-rattling blocks to her game-busting performance, while teammates Mady Burdett and Maegan Martin added 14 and 10 points respectively.

On the season, Stone sits with 378 points, 214 rebounds, 40 assists, 28 steals, and 20 blocks.

She’s hit on 158-309 field goals and 61-77 free throws.

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