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Archive for the ‘Boys Basketball’ Category

Aram Leyva (Pat Kelley photo)

  Aram Leyva (middle), destroying the competition on the pitch. (Pat Kelley photo)

Leyva (John Fisken photo)

One of the few moments when Leyva isn’t moving. (John Fisken photo)

The records may seem unbreakable, but not so fast.

As he graduated this spring, soccer sensation Abraham Leyva left Coupeville High School with season (20) and career (45) goal-scoring records.

What he achieved in three years on the pitch was far beyond what any other Wolf booter had accomplished.

But wait, because there’s a new gunslinger in town and he wants all the records.

Younger brother Aram Leyva, who will be a freshman at CHS in the fall, has been tearing up fields at every level he’s played, and he plans to make a run for family honor.

“I want to beat my brother’s score in soccer, in less time,” he said with a smile.

Leyva, who will also be playing basketball for the Wolves, is a hard-charging, super-friendly young man who doesn’t know, or at least acknowledge, the meaning of “down time.”

“I love being active,” he said. “I usually hate when I do nothing. I get bored.”

While he’s participated in a number of sports — Leyva was a strong runner for the CMS track squad this spring — the “beautiful game” has always drawn the most interest from him.

“With soccer I grew up learning at a young age and I just loved it,” he said. “I have plenty of endurance, which keeps me going in a game.”

He credits his father for working with him on soccer (“My dad has had a giant impact on me by supporting and telling me how to improve”), and one of his CMS hoops coaches for helping him improve on the hard-court.

“Coach Ryan King, cause this year was my first and he made it a great year for me.”

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Jacobi Pacquette-Pilgrim (John Fisken photos)

   Jacobi Pacquette-Pilgrim lines up a free throw during a game this past winter. (John Fisken photos)

"All your rebounds are mine!!"

“All your rebounds are mine!!”

Screw the basket supports in tight, just in case.

As he prepares to make the leap up to high school ball, Jacobi Pacquette-Pilgrim has set his sights on (eventually) playing above the rim.

The long, lanky hoop star, who will be a freshman at CHS in the fall, wants to one day go where few Wolves have gone, at least on a consistent basis.

“My goal as a freshman is to dunk a volleyball, and, by my senior year, dunk consistently,” Pacquette-Pilgrim said.

While playing for CMS, he was the team’s primary weapon in the paint, and, while he plans to play football as well, it’s hoops which earns his highest praise.

“Basketball, because I just have a passion for it that you can’t explain,” Pacquette-Pilgrim said. “I enjoy putting in the work and seeing the results.”

While he has raw talent for days, he’s also aware he won’t be able to just get by on that all the time, especially as the competition increases.

So, he listens to his coaches, and lets them guide him along the path.

“I think my strength as an athlete is that I have stuff that you can’t teach, but I could work on the fundamentals,” Pacquette-Pilgrim said. “Coach (Ryan) King has been the biggest impact on me.

“With both football and basketball he has showed me how to put in the work and he has pushed me to my goals.”

When he’s not working in the arena, Pacquette-Pilgrim enjoys collecting shoes and making music. A big fan of “Good Burger,” he has little problem picking a favorite class … sort of.

“My favorite class is lunch,” he said with a laugh. “If that doesn’t count, than it would be PE.”

Ask him for a favorite song, and he goes old school.

“It would always be “Smooth Criminal” by MJ!”

Cue the music, toss Pacquette-Pilgrim a basketball and let him go to work. The future is going to be a high-flying one.

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Gavin

  Gavin Knoblich, well-dressed man about town. (Photos courtesy Mariah Knoblich)

"Hey, mom! Mom! MOM! Mom mommy mom mom mom!"

“Hey, mom! Mom! MOM! Mom mommy mom mom mom!”

Aaron Wright no longer anchors the line for the Coupeville High School football squad, but his impact lingers long after he hung up the uniform.

As Gavin Knoblich prepares for his freshman year at CHS, one which will kick off with him taking his own place on the gridiron, Wright’s words and actions spur him on.

“Aaron, he set an example for me to push myself to be like,” Knoblich said. “He taught me how to do more than go through the motions.”

A strong player at the middle school level, Knoblich intends to be a three-sport athlete for the Wolves, playing football, basketball and baseball.

While he enjoys all three, spring will herald the return of his favorite pastime.

“Baseball (is my favorite), because it’s the first sport I took seriously,” Knoblich said. “And I found I had some athletic ability.”

He wants to make an impact right out of the gate (“I want to have a chance to be starting JV in any of my sports”), but knows there’s always room for growth.

“I enjoy the accomplishment of learning,” he said. “I like the time I spend with my friends working on something fun together.”

Knoblich loves to be in the thick of things, and fire up his teammates.

While that’s a huge plus, he also realizes he needs to know when to go loud and proud, and when to dial it back and keep a calm head.

“I’m always trying to think ahead. I’m always trying to be positive for my teammates,” he said. “My weakness is my composure – my inner voice in the back of my head.”

Helping him find his center is mom Mariah, who has a huge impact on his day-to-day life.

“My mom, she is always there to calm me,” Knoblich said. “She gets me where I need to go, and she always smiles for me.”

Whether it’s camping and hunting with his dad Clint or hanging out at the beach and riding dirt bikes with friends, he has a reliable support group.

Along with his mother, his grandparents step up big to help anchor things.

“My Grammy and Poppy. They make things so easy by always helping my mom,” Knoblich said. “Getting me places when my mom can’t, and they always have awesome dinners for us.”

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Mason Grove (right) meets the president of his fan club. (Mindy Grove photo)

Mason Grove (right) meets the president of his fan club. (Mindy Grove photo)

Grove

Grove, shakin’ ‘n bakin’ on the hardwood. (John Fisken photo)

There’s a little Steph Curry in Mason Grove.

During his days on the hardwood playing for Coupeville Middle School, Grove was a long-range sniper, capping his run at CMS with a 25-point explosion in a game at Sequim.

Now, he’ll take his skills to the next level, joining mega-talented older sister Lauren in high school this fall.

When he does, he plans to follow in her footsteps as a three-sport sensation, but with a twist to what sports he plays.

Grove will open with tennis in the fall — his goal will be to “play for the first time and be awesome at it!” — then shoot hoops in the winter.

The plan is to cap his freshman year with either baseball or track in the spring.

If he chooses the latter, he could help Lauren, a state meet veteran, christen the shiny new eight-lane track CHS is currently installing.

Whichever sport he picks in the spring, it’s the hardwood which captivates him the most, however.

“Basketball is my favorite because it is fast-paced and you are constantly moving,” he said. “And I love shooting threes!”

When he’s not dropping treys, Grove can often be found fishing or entertaining friends and family.

“I like to dance and be goofy or do anything at all to make people laugh,” he said.

Grove draws support from his family, both when in uniform and out.

“My mom and dad, they constantly push me to be better and encourage me,” he said. “My sister and little brother are OK, too.”

When he is competing, Grove draws on his natural talent to succeed, but is also aware he needs to put in the work if he wants to keep on improving.

“I think I have good hand/eye coordination and quick reflexes. And I’m good at timing,” he said. “As a freshman I plan on working on strength training and speed.”

Win or lose (and he plans on winning), Grove ultimately enjoys the life of an athlete because it is, in the end, enjoyable.

“You are always doing something and sports are fun!”

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Birthday buddies Matt Hilborn (left) and Risen Johnson put in work. (John Fisken photos)

   Birthday buddies Matt Hilborn (left) and Risen Johnson put in work. (John Fisken photos)

They are big reward athletes.

Risen Johnson and Matt Hilborn, who share a birthday today, are both guys who dance on the line between huge success and huge failure, but, more often than not, pull it off for the win.

Hilborn, who just wrapped his freshman baseball season at Coupeville High School by being tabbed as an All-League selection, compiled some astounding plays at third base for the Wolves.

Quick to charge the ball, quick to believe he could make any throw, even when the throw was going to have be a laser launched while Hilborn’s body twisted in mid-air, he had some slick glove moves.

Like most younger players, he had his ups and his downs, but when he was up he showed you just what rival coaches appreciated so much.

A key part of the first Coupeville baseball squad to win a league title in 25 years, Hilborn, who is also a rising star on the gridiron, has a bright future for the red and black.

Johnson, by contrast, just wrapped his run at CHS, graduating with the Class of 2016 a few weeks back.

Before he went, he gave us two electrifying seasons on the basketball hardwood, pulling off moves that few, if any, Wolves have ever been able to accomplish.

A point-scoring machine (and an underrated defender), Johnson could pull up and nail the jumper over outstretched arms.

But more often than not, he preferred to get his buckets by employing a heapin’ helpin’ of Showtime.

Ripping down court, slicing ‘n dicing backpedaling defenders, gliding through the air and somehow getting the ball to drop off the backboard when he threw it up through a maze of arms at the last second, he was flat-out fun to watch.

A soft-spoken fashion plate off the court, Risen always played with great joy, and the only downside is we didn’t get a full four years from him.

Maybe he’ll grow a beard and sneak back into school disguised as a foreign exchange student…

Except one whirlin’, twirlin’, eyeball-poppin’ display of mad hoops skills and everyone would know the truth. Oh well.

For now, we’ll just thank Risen for making the last two years a regular thrill show and wish him and Matt a happy joint cake day.

May your birthdays be as exciting as your style of play.

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