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Archive for the ‘Boys Basketball’ Category

Second-half surge seals the deal!!

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , on February 4, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Hunter Smith

Hunter Smith went for 13 in Coupeville’s win Tuesday. (John Fisken photo)

Once they got their sea legs back, they were fine.

After a bit of a rough start in the first half Tuesday (maybe the aftereffects of riding the ferry to Port Townsend), the Coupeville High School JV boys’ basketball squad dominated, throwing down 34 second-half points en route to a 48-39 victory.

The win gave the Wolves a three-game season sweep of the Redhawks, while snapping a two-game losing skid.

The CHS young guns are 7-9 overall, 4-3 in Olympic League play with two to go.

When they did lock on to the basket, the Wolves got scoring from up and down their bench, with nine different players putting their name in the scoring column.

Hunter Smith led the way, dropping 13, while Dante Mitchell (10), Gabe Wynn (9) and DeAndre Mitchell (8) all got hot as well.

Brian Shank (2), Joey Lippo (2), Ethan Spark (2), Hunter Downes (1) and Desmond Bell (1) rounded out the offensive attack.

The mighty, mighty Mitchell brothers combined to haul down 18 rebounds and block four shots, while Dante pilfered seven steals to go with his 10 boards.

Shank (six boards, two blocks), Wynn (three boards, two steals), Bell (three boards), Downes (three boards) and Smith (two steals) were also busy.

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Still alive!!

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , on February 4, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Don't ever doubt Wiley Hesselgrave's heart. (John Fisken photo)

Don’t ever doubt Wiley Hesselgrave’s heart. (John Fisken photo)

One torrid 33-point fourth quarter rally later, the dream of advancing to the playoffs still lives for the Coupeville High School boys’ basketball squad.

Trailing by 15 with eight minutes to play at Port Townsend Tuesday, when a loss would have eliminated them from postseason contention, the Wolves rode the hot shooting touch of Wiley Hesselgrave all the way back to capture a shocking 60-57 win.

The CHS junior poured in 14 of his 26 points down the stretch to spark Coupeville to its second straight win over the Redhawks.

Now 6-11 overall, 2-5 in Olympic League play, the Wolves are in a tie for third place with Port Townsend with two to play, but own the tiebreaker.

While they can’t catch Chimacum (6-1) or Klahowya (4-3 and owner of a tiebreaker over CHS), they are in prime position to earn the league’s final playoff berth.

To get into that position, the Wolves had to dig down deep.

Saddled with numerous injured players, including two who gutted it out and played through foot pain in Aaron Trumbull and Joel Walstad, Coupeville trailed by seven at the half.

The third quarter wasn’t much better, as Port Townsend stretched its lead out to 15.

But then, a miracle.

A Wolf team which had scored just 27 points in the first 24 minutes suddenly couldn’t miss in the fourth, raining down buckets from all directions and getting the Redhawks frazzled as their lead slipped away.

“When we’re on our game, we allow other teams to get frustrated,” Coupeville coach Anthony Smith said with a chuckle. “We just believed and grinded and grinded and grinded and sank our free throws and got our rebounds.”

While Hesselgrave was near unstoppable — including hitting key free throws off of a Port Townsend technical late in the game — having Walstad on the floor, even at less than 100%, was a huge factor.

“Joel played tough. He didn’t start, but he finished,” Smith said. “With him out there, we are a much better team.”

Hesselgrave snatched three boards and made off with three steals to go with his offensive output, while Trumbull and Ryan Griggs paced a strong team rebounding effort with seven boards apiece.

Curtin popped for 10 points, while Walstad (7), Griggs (5), Trumbull (5), Risen Johnson (3), Matt Shank (2) and CJ Smith (2) rounded out the scorers.

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Best of the best!!

Posted in Boys Basketball, Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , on February 2, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Seniors

Wolf seniors, back row (l to r) Madeline Strasburg, Monica Vidoni, Julia Myers, Matt Shank, Wynter Thorne, Joel Walstad, Hailey Hammer. Front: Isaac Vargas, Aaron Trumbull, Kacie Kiel, Aaron Curtin. (Vail photo, courtesy Madeline Strasburg)

2015, going out like a boss.

With both of the Coupeville High School basketball teams enjoying their most successful season in years, a big part of the credit goes to the school’s senior class.

Six girls and five boys have two home games left in this hoops season. After that, it’s on the road for the playoffs for the girls and (hopefully) the boys.

The girls’ squad will honor their seniors before a home game against Chimacum Feb. 6, with the boys taking their final bow against Klahowya Feb. 9.

Until then, bask in the glow of a one-time look at the entire bunch together on the court they have owned for the past four years.

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Courage under fire!!

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , on February 1, 2015| Leave a Comment »

(Olivia Kelley photos)

The view from the Wolf bench. (Olivia Kelley photos)

Pat Kelley

Coupeville coach Pat Kelley offers some strategy during a timeout.

It was an honorable loss.

Facing off with a top-level AAU team that was coming off a dominating performance at the MLK Tournament in Bellingham, the Coupeville 6th grade SWISH boys’ basketball squad put up a considerable fight.

And, while the Wolves eventually fell 38-23 to the Hoopstars Saturday, it was much better than other teams have fared.

The Hoopstars entered the game averaging 46 points a game and have been beating foes by 20+ points. In their previous contest, they drilled Sedro-Woolley by 32.

With nothing to lose, the scrappy Wolves came out primed for battle from the opening tip.

Jake Mitten won the opening toss, tipping it to Sage Downes, who went hard to the basket, throwing down the bucket and drawing a foul in one explosive play.

Focusing on forcing the Hoopstars to beat them from long-distance, the Wolves rode a stingy defense to a 7-2 lead after one, resulting in the opposing coach offering a few choice words to her squad during the break.

The Hoopstars eventually broke through, however, hitting five consecutive three-point bombs to open up a lead they would never relinquish.

Still, Coupeville stayed tough inside, limiting the Hoopstars in the paint.

Logan Downes and Michael Laska, the mighty mites of the Wolf squad, led the charge in standing tough on defense and absorbing charges to draw offensive fouls.

On the offensive end of the court, Mitten “was an animal and on fire,” according to Coupeville coach Pat Kelley.

He paced the Wolves with 10 points, six rebounds and two steals, while Matthew Kelley dropped in six points, snatched six boards, rejected three shots and handed out four assists.

Sage Downes went for four points, two rebounds and six steals in support of the big two, with Daniel Olson chipping in with three points, three assists and two rebounds.

While their team absorbed a loss, the Wolf coaching staff was pleased with the grit shown against a premier program.

“Best play of the season by Coupeville,” Pat Kelley said. “Very seldom do you put plans in motion and the game goes as expected.

“It has been slow going in introducing the offense. Due to vacations and illness, the coaches took their time the past four weeks to bring the team on slowly,” he added. “Now that the team has their full offense and defense in place, they will work on perfecting the movement.

“A huge winning streak is anticipated versus some very worthy opponents.”

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Living on the edge!!

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , , on January 31, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Wiley (John Fisken photo)

   Wiley Hesselgrave is Coupeville’s top scorer this season, averaging 12 a game. (John Fisken photo)

The door to the playoffs is still open, but it’s closing fast.

Riddled with injuries, the Coupeville High School boys’ basketball squad is limping to the finish line, in dire need of a win to keep its season alive.

After suffering a 58-39 loss at Klahowya Friday, the Wolves sit at 5-11 overall and 1-5 in Olympic League play.

That puts them in last place in the four-team league, trailing Chimacum (5-1), Klahowya (4-2) and Port Townsend (2-4) and facing a must-win game Tuesday.

The top three teams make the postseason.

If they make the ferry trip across to Port Townsend and beat the Redhawks for a second time this season, things will look a lot better. That would slide them into a third-place tie and give them the tiebreaker.

If they lose, however, they’re done.

Two back with two to play (home games against Chimacum Feb. 6 and Klahowya Feb. 9) and Port Townsend owning the tiebreaker would eliminate Coupeville from postseason contention.

Friday night the Wolves had three decent quarters and one terrible one.

Coming out of the halftime locker room trailing by just six, Coupeville went ice-cold from the field in the third quarter, sealing its fate.

Outscored 16-3 over an eight minute stretch, the Wolves, who were playing without Joel Walstad, Ryan Griggs, Gabe Wynn, Jared Helmstadter and Dalton Martin, were unable to stop the Eagles from putting the game out of range.

The team’s most potent offensive weapon, junior Wiley Hesselgrave, did his best to keep CHS in the game, throwing down 23, but the Wolves only got scoring from three other players.

Aaron Curtin and Risen Johnson each popped for six, while Aaron Trumbull, fighting through his own injury issues, banked home four.

Second quarter blues kill JV:

Injuries also hurt the JV squad, as top scorers DeAndre Mitchell and Hunter Smith were limited to just a quarter of play so they could slide up and replace missing players on the varsity team.

After a close first quarter (9-9), Klahowya surged to a 17-point halftime spread on its way to a 55-33 win.

The loss dropped the young Wolves to 6-9 overall, 3-3 in Olympic League play.

They’ll get a chance to get back on their winning ways when they face Port Townsend, a team they’ve beaten twice this season.

“Three games to go. Trying to go 6 and 3 in conference,” said Wolf coach Dustin Van Velkinburgh. “We look to get Gabe Wynn back Tuesday in Port Townsend. We will see how things go.”

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