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Archive for the ‘Basketball’ Category

Stone returns to her hardwood home

Posted in Basketball, tagged , , , , on December 4, 2021| Leave a Comment »

After sitting out with an injury, Makana Stone returned to action Saturday in England. (Photo property Leicester Riders)

Back where she wants to be.

After being sidelined for two games due to an injury, Coupeville’s Makana Stone returned to hardwood action Saturday in England.

The former Wolf and her Leicester Riders teammates took a break from regular-season Women’s British Basketball League action, facing off with the Newcastle Eagles in the semifinals of the WBBL Cup.

And while the final result wasn’t what Stone and Co. might have hoped for, as Newcastle rallied for a 50-45 win, Coupeville’s progeny got a chance to get back in the flow of things with 22 minutes of court time.

That’s a huge improvement after an injury limited her to just four minutes total across her team’s last two games.

The loss, which came in the semifinals of the WBBL Cup, eliminates Leicester from title contention after it opened the tourney with three-straight wins.

The Riders are 8-3 overall, and 5-2 in league play, which they return to Sunday when they face off with the Durham Palatinates.

Saturday’s game was a close one from start to finish, with Newcastle busting out to a 16-9 lead after one quarter of play.

Leicester trimmed its deficit down to 27-23 by the half, before using a 16-7 surge in the third quarter to claim the lead.

The Riders couldn’t hold on, however, as Newcastle closed on a 10-2 run over the final five minutes.

Oceana Hamilton slid a pair of free throws through the net with 2:45 to play, giving Leicester its final lead at 45-44.

Newcastle netted a go-ahead three-ball, before closing the game with three free throws, while the Riders missed their final four shots of the day.

Stone was the lone Leicester player to score off the bench, rattling home four points to go with two assists, a steal, and a rebound.

Hannah Robb paced the Riders with 14 points, but her team combined to shoot just a hair under 28% from the floor, making just 19 of 68 shots.

On the season, Stone has racked up 61 points, 52 rebounds, 13 assists, and seven steals.

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Untouchable? Maybe. Astounding? Absolutely.

Posted in Basketball, tagged , , , , on December 1, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Jeff Stone, torching the nets old-school style.

It’s stood the test of time.

Set in an era long before the three-point shot went from novelty to staple of the game, Coupeville High School’s single-game basketball scoring record has remained untouched for almost 52 years.

Jeff Stone, who also owns the school’s single-season scoring mark (644), and is tied with Mike Bagby for the CHS boys career record (1,137), pumped in 48 points in the biggest game of his life.

The explosion came in the 1970 district championship game against Darrington, a game played in front of a reported 2,200 fans.

By the time Stone exited the game, with a full 90 seconds left to play, he had hit 17 of 28 field goal attempts, while netting 14 of 16 free throws.

More importantly, his performance lifted the Wolves to the district hoops title, the first of its kind won by any of Whidbey Island’s three schools.

That sent Coupeville to state — the first trip in any sport for a CHS sports program — and kicked off the most-successful decade in Wolf boys basketball history.

Stone went on to a brilliant college hoops career, then came back around to teach, coach, and be an administrator at Oak Harbor High School.

The game has changed over the past five decades, and yet not a single Wolf player has toppled the 48-point record yet.

Bagby had a run at the mark, as did Allen Black, who once torched Concrete for 39.

Current gunner Hawthorne Wolfe, who kicks off his senior season tonight at home against Oak Harbor, has had several 30+ point games, but is still chasing the king as well.

Actually, both of Coupeville’s single-game records have remained in place for quite some time, with Judy Marti’s 32 in 1983 having never been topped by another Wolf girl.

But, while 38 years (and counting) is truly impressive, 51 years (and counting) is astounding.

Some day the record may fall.

Until then, the hunt goes on, one basket at a time.

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Watch a game, donate a gift

Posted in Basketball, tagged , , , , on November 30, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville High School hoops players are staging a holiday gift drive. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Time to shoot your shot, with a gift for those in need.

Coupeville High School’s basketball teams will collect donations for Holiday House North between Dec. 1-15, with drop-off boxes in the CHS gym lobby.

The Wolves are looking for unwrapped gifts which can be redistributed to families in Coupeville and Oak Harbor.

There will actually be two boxes, as the CHS girls and boys hoops programs are competing against each other to see who can bring in the most gifts.

“Please place your gift(s) in the appropriate team box, as I’m sure the coaches and teams have quite a lot riding on which team collects the most gifts,” said Coupeville Athletic Director Willie Smith.

“We are excited to help out our community families, and encourage all spectators to join us in providing some joy and happiness as we enter into the holiday season.”

 

Gift ideas:

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Hoops opener on the horizon

Posted in Basketball, tagged , , , , on November 22, 2021| Leave a Comment »

William Davidson and other Wolf basketball players are hard at work. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Three schools, four games, one wild opening night.

High school basketball starts Wednesday, Dec. 1 in Coupeville with a home doubleheader.

The Wolf boys welcome Oak Harbor to town, while the CHS girls square off with Granite Falls.

The girls varsity plays at 5:15 PM in the high school gym, with JV tipping off at 7 PM across the hallway in the middle school gym.

Meanwhile, the Wolf boys operate in reverse, with JV at 5:15, and varsity at 7 PM.

With an ongoing pandemic, all fans are required to wear masks at games this season.

Savana Allen

Jonathan Valenzuela

Jada Heaton (left) and Mia Farris

Skylar Parker

Logan Martin

Katie Marti

And then, a moment of rest…

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Happy Basketball Eve!

Posted in Basketball, tagged , , , , on November 14, 2021| Leave a Comment »

“Basketball is back!!” (Jackie Saia photo)

We’re hours away.

The sport which matters the most, to me at least, begins anew Monday afternoon.

We’re not supposed to play favorites, but, face it, basketball should always be the king (and queen) when it comes to high school athletics.

No disrespect to all the spikers, and booters, and harriers, and duffers, and athletes who patrol gridirons and diamonds.

You work hard, you play hard, and you often produce thrilling games, magnificent moments, and lasting memories.

But, you’re just not basketball.

And you’re talking to a guy who spent a chunk of his childhood dunking on my bedroom net while listening to radio broadcasts as the Portland Trailblazers meandered through the Billy Ray Bates and Peter Verhoeven years.

Radio? It was a thing. Go look it up on Wikipedia, you punks!

Anyways.

Basketball is dunks (maybe not all that often at Wolf games, but still…), behind the back passes, and three-balls tumblin’ through the nets after being fired up from the parking lot.

It’s Makana Stone grabbing a rebound with one hand, firing a full-court outlet pass, then sprinting to the other end to snatch an offensive rebound and slap home the bucket — all on the same play.

It’s Kacie Kiel burying a trey from the corner on the final play to make Sequim (yes, the whole town) cry salty tears.

It’s Maddie Strasburg banking home consecutive half-court shots at the third-quarter buzzer from the same exact spot on the floor, with the games played 17 days apart.

It’s Ethan Spark pursuing a loose ball and blowing up his bench with a gleeful grin, teammates and water containers bouncing off the walls.

It’s Wiley Hesselgrave staring a hole through his rival’s souls.

It’s Julia Myers unleashing her Elbows o’ Death, daring private school whiners to wander through her paint at their own peril.

And it’s Julia Felici scoring her only high school bucket … on an absolutely-flawless hook shot which would have made Kareem smile in approval.

Monday afternoon, a whole new season begins.

Covid restrictions still linger, but, unlike last year, the schedules are full, and playoff action is once again a possibility.

Hawthorne Wolfe, my own next gen, small town version of Pete Maravich, is gunning for the big boys on the CHS scoring chart, while Brad Sherman’s squad has realistic dreams of competing for a league title.

On the girls side of things, Megan Smith, whose nickname could have been “Buckets” during her own days in a Wolf uniform, moves into the head coaching position with a team which features a solid collection of talented young stars on the rise.

The presents are under the trees, ready to be unwrapped.

A three-ball to win a game and make Wolf fans storm the floor?

History, of the personal or team variety?

Or merely the beauty of a pick set perfectly by a hustling role player, a small moment of sublime excellence in the grand flow of life on the hardwood?

We shall see.

Because no matter how it plays out, we’re headed into the best time of the year.

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