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Thriller on the hardwood!!

Posted in Basketball, Wolves in college, tagged , , , , on November 3, 2018| Leave a Comment »

CHS grad Makana Stone snagged a game-high nine rebounds Saturday in a double-overtime women’s basketball thriller. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Exhibition or not, this one was a thriller.

Neither Whitman College or Central Washington University will count Saturday’s women’s basketball rumble in their win/loss record, but both teams fought like it was a playoff game.

By the time the dust had settled, Central Washington, riding a 27-point performance from Taylor Shaw, held off pesky Whitman to snatch a 80-76 victory in double-overtime.

Coupeville grad Makana Stone helped spark the Blues, scoring six points and grabbing a game-high nine rebounds as she and her NCAA DIII team held their own with the DII Wildcats.

Whitman actually led for most of the game, holding a two-point advantage after one quarter before stretching the margin to 10 heading into the fourth.

Central Washington stormed back on its home court in Ellensburg, however, using a 21-11 run in the final quarter to give the fans free basketball.

Once in overtime, the teams exchanged daggers.

With Whitman holding a three-point lead and time running out in regulation, the Wildcats channeled the Golden State Warriors.

Kaelie Flores knocked down a three-ball under heavy pressure with just six ticks to play to knot things ups, while Whitman’s own trey attempt at the buzzer rimmed out.

The first five-minute overtime was all about Shaw, who knocked down nine straight points, including a three-point play the hard way to stake Central to a late two-point lead.

Whitman’s Mady Burdett answered, draining a pair of pressure-packed free throws with 26 seconds to play, tying the game while keeping fans in their seats and the lights on in the gym.

In the second OT, the game was decided in the game’s final minute.

Clinging to a one-point lead, Central hit the front end of a one-and-one opportunity at the free throw line, but bounced the second attempt off the iron.

Snatching the offensive board, the Wildcats missed the put-back, but hauled down a second carom, this time banking a shot to stretch the lead out to where it finished, at four points.

Stone, a junior, added two steals and an assist, while Burdett paced the Blues with 23 points.

After playing two exhibition games, Whitman opens the season, and starts counting wins and losses, next Saturday, Nov. 10, when it plays at Eastern Oregon University.

The Blues, who have made back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances with Stone in the lineup, have a 25-game regular season schedule.

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Back to the hardwood!!

Posted in Basketball, Wolves in college, tagged , , , , , on November 1, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville grad Makana Stone went for 11 points and 10 rebounds Thursday as she kicked off her junior season at Whitman College. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Year three begins.

Coupeville High School grad Makana Stone returned to the hardwood Thursday, kicking off her junior season at Whitman College by posting a double-double in a women’s basketball exhibition game.

The Blues, moving into a new era after the graduation of All-American Casey Poe, fell 68-58 to Lewis-Clark State College while playing in Lewiston, ID.

Stone played strongly in the loss, however, banking home 11 points and pulling down a game-high 10 rebounds. She added a steal, block and assist, checking all the boxes.

Neither this game, or Whitman’s next, an exhibition road game in Ellensburg against Central Washington University, count in the standings.

The first game which affects the ol’ win/loss record arrives Nov. 10, when the Blues travel to La Grande, OR for a non-conference bout with Eastern Oregon University.

While this was Whitman’s first action of the season, Lewis-Clark already had two games, and two wins, under its belt.

A tall team, with nine of its 12 players measuring 5-foot-10 or taller, the Warriors were led by Jossilyn Blackman, a Washington state transplant (Battle Ground HS) who led all scorers with 21 points.

The game was a back-and-forth affair until the fourth quarter, with Whitman up by a bucket at the half and still clinging to a 39-37 lead late in the third quarter.

Lewis-Clark pulled ahead by one, then used a three-ball from Hannah Burland to exit the third up 46-42.

Stone cut the lead back to a single bucket when she knocked down the first basket of the fourth quarter, but an immediate three-pointer from Abbie Johnson essentially sealed things.

Whitman never got closer than four down the stretch, and Lewis-Clark closed the game effectively.

Mady Burdett scorched the nets for 17 to pace Whitman, while Taylor Chambers came off the bench to bank 10, giving the Blues three players in double-digit scoring.

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Set your winter calendar!!

Posted in Basketball, tagged , , , , , on October 9, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Seven weeks from today, junior Hannah Davidson will likely help Coupeville kick off a new basketball season. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Seven weeks.

It’s both an eternity and a quick flick of the calendar.

And, as of today, seven weeks is exactly how long until the first official high school basketball game tips off.

Coupeville’s squads, led by David and Amy King (girls) and Brad Sherman and Chris Smith (boys) hit the courts Nov. 12 for the first day of practice, while the Wolf girls host Meridian Nov. 27 to start the 2018-19 season.

In preparation of that, CHS Athletic Director Willie Smith officially released the buffed, shined and (hopefully) final version of the schedules Tuesday afternoon.

As Wolf hoops kicks off its first voyage through the North Sound Conference, the two squads sit with 10 league games and eight non-league games apiece.

The girls get a true split schedule, with nine at home and nine on the road, while the boys will spend a bit more time on the bus, with a 10-8 split in favor of off-Island match-ups.

The most intriguing game on the schedule for either teams might be the opener for the CHS boys.

The foe in that game, a home tilt Nov. 28, is the big school to the North, 3A Oak Harbor.

It’s the first time the two schools have faced off in a regular-season hardwood game since Coupeville stunned the Wildcats 66-61 way back on Dec. 21, 2009.

 

This winter’s schedules (times are for JV and varsity, and * = league game):

 

GIRLS:

Tue-Nov. 27 — Meridian — (5:15/7:00)
Sat-Dec. 1 — Bush — (4:45/3:00)
Mon-Dec. 3 — @Sequim — (3:45/5:30)
Wed-Dec. 5 — Friday Harbor — (5:15/3:45)
Sat-Dec. 8 — @Orcas Island — (1:00/2:30)
Fri-Dec. 14 — @Concrete — (7:30/6:00)
Tue-Dec. 18 — Sultan — (5:00/6:45) *
Thur-Dec. 20 — Port Townsend — (3:30/5:15)
Sat-Dec. 22 — @Nooksack Valley — (2:45/1:00)
Fri-Jan. 4 — @King’s — (3:30/5:00) *
Tues-Jan. 8 — @Cedar Park Christian — (5:00/6:45) *
Fri-Jan. 11 — @Sultan — (3:30/6:30) *
Tue-Jan. 15 — Granite Falls — (5:00/6:45) *
Fri-Jan. 18 — South Whidbey — (5:00/6:45) *
Tue-Jan. 22 — @South Whidbey — (5:00/6:45) *
Fri-Jan. 25 — Cedar Park Christian — (5:00/6:45) *
Tue-Jan. 29 — King’s — (5:00/6:45) *
Fri-Feb. 1 — @Granite Falls — (3:30/6:30) *

 

BOYS:

Wed-Nov. 28 — Oak Harbor — (5:15/7:00)
Sat-Dec. 1 — Bush — (3:00/4:45)
Mon-Dec. 3 — @Sequim — (5:30/3:45)
Wed-Dec. 5 — Friday Harbor — (3:45/5:15)
Sat-Dec. 8 — @Orcas Island — (2:30/1:00)
Tue-Dec. 11 — Sultan — (5:00/6:45) *
Fri-Dec. 14 — @Concrete — (6:00/7:30)
Thur-Dec. 20 — @Port Townsend — (4:30/6:00)
Sat-Dec. 22 — @Nooksack Valley — (1:00/2:45)
Fri-Jan. 4 — @King’s — (3:30/6:45) *
Tue-Jan. 8 — Granite Falls — (5:00/6:45) *
Fri-Jan. 11 — @Sultan — (5:00/8:00) *
Tue-Jan. 15 — @Cedar Park Christian — (5:00/6:45) *
Fri-Jan. 18 — South Whidbey — (5:00/6:45) *
Tue-Jan. 22 — King’s — (5:00/6:45) *
Fri-Jan. 25 — Cedar Park Christian — (5:00/6:45) *
Tue-Jan. 29 — @South Whidbey — (5:00/6:45) *
Fri-Feb. 1 — @Granite Falls — (5:00/8:00) *

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The Dude abides, now and forever!!

Posted in Basketball, tagged , , , , on September 14, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Bob Fasolo and his band of hoops cutthroats. (Photo courtesy the Fasolo family)

He was the coolest coach to ever walk into a gym.

Except he didn’t walk, he strutted like the king of the jungle, cause that’s what he was.

Bob Fasolo has been gone for 10 years now, but we’ll still be telling tales about him 100 years down the road.

He always looked like he had a surfboard in hand, even when he didn’t, and he oozed raw, freakin’ coolness with every action and story he told.

I never wrote about any of his teams, but I spent a few nights in the gym playing hoops with him, always mesmerized by his ability to talk non-stop, swish jumpers and strut, all in the same fluid motion.

Every time we saw each other, in a gym, at the grocery store, or on one of his many frequent hang-outs at Videoville, sprawled across the counter, chewing on a Red Vine, as he debated his video choices, Bob was the ultimate pimp.

I don’t mean in the sense that he ran hookers on the corner, but that he was the coolest cat this side of a ’70s inner city crime epic.

Every time he said my name, he managed to take the words “Dave, my dude,” turn it into a free form jazz explosion that rumbled from somewhere down in his chest, then stretch the words out so far even Matthew McConaughey would have been like, “dang, son!”

Bob was the closest any Coupeville resident has ever come to being the living, breathing embodiment of The Dude.

If Jeff Bridges hadn’t been available to make “The Big Lebowski,” Bob would have done just fine in the role.

He was The Man, always and forever.

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Hard work, big payoff!!

Posted in Baseball, Basketball, tagged , , , , , on August 19, 2018| 1 Comment »

Hawthorne Wolfe glides in for a bucket. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Wolfe, here streaking for home, was a key player on a Babe Ruth team which finished 2nd at state and advanced to regionals this summer.

Talent? Check.

Hard work and commitment? Check and check.

Hawthorne Wolfe is that rare young athlete who checks all the boxes, and his appearance in a Coupeville High School uniform this coming year is highly-anticipated.

On the basketball court, he’s a three ball-droppin’ terror who can also wheel and deal with the ball, while on the baseball diamond, Wolfe brings a slick glove, hot bat and fleet feet to the lineup.

During his middle school days, Wolfe also played football, but, for the moment at least, he’s stepping off the gridiron to focus on his other two sports.

While he shines in all his sporting endeavors, the fast-rising young star hails hoops as his favorite pastime.

“It’s a team sport and at times can be individual,” Wolfe explained. “It’s also fast-paced, as well as fun.”

On a CMS team where all five starters felt comfortable firing up balls from behind the three-point arc, Wolfe was the deadliest last season.

Operating like NBA stars such as Steph Curry, or future CHS teammate Mason Grove, Wolfe has already showcased an often uncanny ability to get his shot off quickly, and from any angle.

Shooting on the move, while going either direction, he often proved deadliest when putting up balls in the flow of action.

Give him time to spot up and it was even more likely to result in a taste of splash city.

The commitment factor came into play vividly after one game, when, unhappy with his performance (despite leading Coupeville to a win), he ran laps around the gym.

A slight chuckle came from one of his coaches as Wolfe, not satisfied with his initial self-administered punishment, decided to double his running.

Commitment like that carried over to many of his teammates, and the middle school hoops team was a tightly-knit, successful squad.

Now, as Wolfe and most of his teammates prepare to swap out CMS uniforms for ones which read CHS, that sense of commitment continues to burn brightly.

“I want to hopefully go to state in all sports,” Wolfe said. “And, if possible, which I think it is, win state and so on.”

Away from the court or diamond, he’s fond of playing video games and spends a fair amount of time “watching sports or going to sporting events with my dad or family.”

When he’s in uniform himself, or working to get ready, Wolfe strives to mesh his skills with his teammates, well aware a solid team can go further than just a single athlete.

“It shows that you can work with others well and you get to have fun playing sports competitively,” he said. “I think I’m a good teammate; I mean, I recommend asking some of my teammates first.”

While he always wants to keep the competitive fires raging, Wolfe is also on a mission to find proper balance.

“I would like to work on not getting frustrated at things I shouldn’t get frustrated at,” he said with a small smile.

Whether dropping in treys from long distance, or slaving away over school work, Wolfe has a deep appreciation for his support crew.

“Well, obviously my parents and grandparents and all my coaches have been great on helping me,” he said. “I can’t think of one who hasn’t.

“But when it comes to teammates, I would say Caleb Meyer, just cause me and him are always competitive,” Wolfe added. “He helps me, I help him, and we strive to be great together, whether it’s in the gym or outside.”

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