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Archive for the ‘Boys Basketball’ Category

Wolves rumble with the big boys!!

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , , on January 31, 2018| Leave a Comment »

   Coupeville players like Jake Pease put up strong effort Tuesday but couldn’t topple Sequim in a pair of games. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

It’s hard to beat a team that doesn’t beat itself.

In a virtual recreation of a game the two schools played early in the season, 2A Sequim played precision basketball Tuesday, dumping visiting Coupeville 65-41.

The non-conference loss drops the Wolf boys to 5-13 with two games to play.

CHS hosts Klahowya Thursday on Senior Night, then heads to Chimacum to face a win-less Cowboys squad in the season finale for both teams.

Sparring a Sequim squad which was virtually flawless Tuesday in all aspects of the game, with a special emphasis on note-perfect ball movement and crisp passes, the Wolves held their own for a solid two, maybe three, minutes.

A pair of free throws from Hunter Smith, coming on the heels of an electric three-ball from Cameron Toomey-Stout, knotted the game at 5-5 and anything was possible.

And then it wasn’t.

Using a 16-0 run which carried into the early moments of the second quarter, Sequim put the game out of reach and hit cruise control from there.

Joey Lippo, who took two hard falls in the game after taking shots to the ankle and face, stopped the assault with a bank shot off a nice dish from Hunter Downes, but it did little to slow Sequim.

After Smith followed Lippo’s bucket with a steal and breakaway layup, Coupeville couldn’t put together back-to-back buckets again until the final moments of the game.

With just a basket here, a basket there, always followed immediately by a Sequim score or two, the Wolves were unable to carve the lead down, instead watching it get stretched out to 27 at its peak.

Down 60-33, CHS reached down deep and made a gritty stand over the final 90 seconds, with Downes and Toomey-Stout each rattling home three-balls, packaged around another steal and breakaway bucket from Smith.

The game finished with the same margin of victory as when the teams met in early Dec. — 24 points. Back then, Sequim rolled to a 59-35 win on Whidbey.

Smith paced Coupeville with 19 points, running his career total to 795.

With two games to go, he needs 17 to pass Corey Cross (811) and claim 12th place on the Wolf boys career scoring chart.

Toomey-Stout, known for his intensity on defense, non-stop hustle and award-winning hair, dropped in a season-best 11 points, capped by a trio of treys from behind the arc.

Lippo, who was limping but unbowed, tossed in four, a figure matched by Ethan Spark, while Downes capped the scoring with his three-ball.

While he didn’t score, Wolf big man Kyle Rockwell gave a feisty pack of road fans a thrill when he twice lowered the boom on Sequim players, making sure they would properly remember being fouled.

JV toppled:

A close game became something else after halftime.

Trailing by nine at the break, Coupeville’s shooting touch failed after the break, allowing Sequim to use a scorching 40-9 surge to run away with a 65-23 win.

The non-conference loss drops the Wolf young guns to 4-13.

CHS put up six in the first quarter, including a three-ball from Sage Downes, then added eight in the second, but the second half was a whole ‘nother game.

Sequim toasted the net during a 29-9 third quarter, then closed the game with an 11-0 shutout in the fourth.

Mason Grove paced Coupeville with 11, including three bombs from behind the arc, while Ulrik Wells pounded down low for four points.

Sage Downes (3), James Vidoni (2), Koa Davison (2) and David Prescott (1) also scored.

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Bloody but not bowed!!

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , , on January 26, 2018| Leave a Comment »

   Hunter Smith poured in 15 Friday, moving into 13th place on the Coupeville boys basketball career scoring chart. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Now, they play for pride.

Unable to recover from a large early deficit Friday after its #2 scorer was literally knocked out of the game, the Coupeville High School boys basketball squad was eliminated from playoff contention.

Falling 64-41 at Port Townsend, the Wolves drop to 3-4 in Olympic League play, 5-12 overall.

With only two boys teams advancing to the postseason this year, Klahowya (6-1) and Port Townsend (5-2) have clinched those berths.

Coupeville closes with three games next week, traveling to Sequim for a non-conference tilt Tuesday, before welcoming Klahowya to Whidbey Thursday for Senior Night.

The season finale comes next Saturday, Feb. 3, when the Wolves travel to Chimacum to face the win-less (0-7) Cowboys.

After splitting the first two games this season with Port Townsend, CHS went into Friday’s rumble hoping for a strong showing.

And while the Wolves brought consistent effort, the RedHawks were in the zone and never left.

“They came out and shot the lights out to start the game,” said Coupeville coach Brad Sherman. “And then just really took advantage of how big and solid they are inside.

“We actually played a decent game. Kind of fought and fought but just couldn’t make a big enough push to get back to even,” he added. “I think they will be really hard to beat (in the playoffs).”

With Noa Montoya dropping in 10 points in the first eight minutes, Port Townsend jumped out to a 26-10 lead which drew two exclamation points in the score-book from the home stat keeper.

The Wolves played relatively close in the second quarter (an 11-9 deficit) and fourth (a 17-14 advantage), but a cold-shooting third (a 13-5 deficit) doomed them for good.

Along with the loss, Coupeville took a body blow when senior Ethan Spark was brutalized, taking a shot to the face that left him with a gash inside his mouth, a partially-dislodged tooth and a fair amount of his blood on the court.

“He left his mark on Port Townsend, that’s for sure!,” said mom Kali Barrio.

Spark wanted to re-enter the game, but officials declined. Early indications are that he did not suffer a concussion, however.

Fellow senior Hunter Smith paced the Wolves, rattling the rims for 15 points and reaching a couple of new marks along the way.

He finished the night with 776 points, passing ’60s star Barry Brown (769) for 13th place on the CHS boys career scoring chart.

With 311 points this season, and 332 last year, Smith becomes the 13th Wolf male to put up back-to-back 300-point seasons since 1960, and the first since Mike Bagby did so in 2004-2005 and 2005-2006.

Joey Lippo backed Smith up with seven points, while Mason Grove (6), Spark (4), Hunter Downes (4), Jered Brown (3) and Kyle Rockwell (2) also scored.

JV falls short:

One bad quarter doomed the Wolf young guns in a 47-30 loss.

Coupeville’s second squad falls to 3-4 in league play, 4-12 overall.

Trailing just 10-8 at the first break, CHS was outscored 17-7 in the second quarter and never fully recovered.

After torching the RedHawks for 30+ points, and multiple three-balls, in both of the team’s previous games, Grove settled for seven free throws in limited time.

While he only played two quarters, allowing him equal time in the varsity game, the CHS sophomore topped a milestone, pushing his JV scoring to 301 points on the season.

Sage Downes led the Wolves with nine, while Ulrik Wells and Jean Lund-Olsen both dropped in four.

Jake Pease, Daniel Olson and Gavin Knoblich rounded out the scoring with a bucket apiece.

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Rainy day, sunny portraits!!

Posted in Boys Basketball, Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , on January 25, 2018| Leave a Comment »

   Genna Wright kicks off a smorgasbord of CHS basketball portraits. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Jonathan Partida

Kylie Chernikoff

Dane Lucero

Avalon Renninger

Tucker Hall

Mollie Bailey

Ryan Labrador

Everyone gets their portrait taken, but there’s no promise in what order they’ll run.

At the start of every sports season, photo whiz kid John Fisken clicks away merrily, recording each Wolf who shows up on Photo Day, then he’s nice enough to shoot them my way for use during the season.

As the games play out, a lot of the photos are used, though some get bumped as game action shots start to roll in.

I like to make sure all the portraits hit the internet at some point, though.

So, as we wade through a fairly quiet week (high school finals are keeping CHS players out of competition from Sunday to Thursday), here’s eight, which, for whatever reason, haven’t seen the light of day yet.

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Two decades, two gunners, two shooting stars!!

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , , on January 24, 2018| Leave a Comment »

   Wolf sophomore Mason Grove has torched the nets at both the JV and varsity levels this season. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

   Allen Black, basketball gunner extraordinaire turned daddy, and the legend Grove is chasing.

   CHS basketball announcer Moose Moran bags the first of many interviews with Grove. (Renae Mulholland photo)

Shooters gotta shoot.

It’s hardwired in their DNA, the need to let the ball fly and the ability to make sure said ball hits nothing but net on the way down.

As Mason Grove tears up the court this season, it brings back memories of Allen Black, another Wolf gunner with no conscious and an electric shooting touch.

Black holds the unofficial CHS basketball scoring record for JV players, torching the nets for 347 points during his junior season in 2002-2003.

A year later, he was a varsity star, an All-Conference pick who led Coupeville in scoring with 305 points, including 39 against Concrete.

Grove, who is operating as a swing player during his sophomore season, is hot on Black’s trail, having dropped in 294 points through the first 15 JV games of the season.

With four games left on the schedule, Grove, who is averaging 19.6 a night, needs 54 points to top Black.

“Mason should be able to beat it, he’s pretty good,” said the always low-key Black, who remains open to the idea of the duo joining a who’s-who of past and present Wolf shooters in a three-ball competition.

“Three-point contest like an All-Star game, with a bunch of people, would be cool,” Mr. Easy Rider said with a small grin — the smile of a shark circling his prey.

For his part, Grove is heating up the rims at two levels this season, using brief bursts of varsity playing time to rattle home 42 points at that level.

That puts him in a fourth-place tie with Hunter Downes among varsity players.

Whether he gets enough floor time at the JV level in the final four games to catch Black or not, Grove’s explosive season has caught the eyes of coaches and fans alike.  

First-year Coupeville head coach Brad Sherman has first-hand knowledge of both Grove and Black, helping coach the former and having played with the latter.

“I just remember that Allen was seriously quick and hard to keep up with on the court,” Sherman said. “Mason really continues to impress from behind the arc this season.

“Similar styles of play, both hard workers on the court, and both with the ability to score a bunch in a really short span.”

That is proven by a quick look at their stats.

Black rained down 19 points in a single JV quarter against Concrete, the team he would return to haunt as a varsity star, while Grove has twice thrown down 17 in a quarter this season, shredding Port Townsend and Chimacum.

Grove has scored in every JV game this season, something Black also did in his day.

For the moment, Black has the edge in 20-point games (9-6), and double-digit scoring (17-13), but Grove returns the favor in 30-point games (3-1).

Having seen both of the gunners in their prime, Sherman, no slouch himself from the outside during a career where he finished #8 on the CHS boys career scoring chart, has a solid appreciation for what Black and Grove bring to the floor.

“As shooters — very quick releases are hard to defend, and (both) never afraid to shoot when they get a good look,” Sherman said. “It doesn’t surprise me at all that these are the two at the top of this list.”

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Forever young, forever revered!!

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , on January 22, 2018| Leave a Comment »

   The hoops legends of the ’70s reunited. Left to right, it’s Randy Keefe, Bill Jarrell and Jeff Rhubottom. (Renae Mulholland photos)

   Dale Sherman, a beast on the boards in the ’60s, and daughter Shannon, a star cheerleader in the late ’80s.

   Darrell Dyer, who operated the clock at CHS basketball games for decades, has a smile and firm handshake for all.

   Foster Faris (green jacket), a star on the hardwood in the ’70s, embraces his coach, Bob Barker.

   The current score table crew, l to r, announcer Moose Moran, Martin Mazdra and the greatest score-book operator to ever put pencil to paper – June Mazdra.

   Ryan O’Keefe (left), possibly up to shenanigans with fellow Wolf hoops alumni Rusty Bailey (center) and Keith Jameson.

L to r, returning legends Utz Conard, Denny Clark, Pat Clark and Keefe.

Dorothy Keefe (red jacket) keeps an eye on her “boys.”

There were more points in the CHS gym Friday than there are stars in heaven.

The 101-year anniversary of Wolf boys basketball brought out almost every living major scoring star of the past, outside gunners and inside bangers alike.

As hoops stars from the ’40s through 2018 mingled, Renae Mulholland, who grew up cheering for her brothers (the Keefe boys) and their friends, snapped these pics and was nice enough to share them with us.

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