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Archive for the ‘Boys Basketball’ Category

Rock the gym, hardcourt warriors

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , , on February 24, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Softball sensation Taylor Brotemarkle works the mic at Friday’s pep rally for Wolf boys’ basketball. (Bailey Thule photos)

On to topple Tonasket!

Coupeville High School held a pep assembly Friday, before sending its boys’ basketball team off to the state tournament.

The Wolves tangle with the Tigers Saturday in Arlington, seeking their first win at the big dance since 1979.

But before Brad Sherman’s pack of ballhawks got on the bus, they (and their support crew) got to entertain their fellow students, as captured in the Bailey Thule-shot pics seen above and below.


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All the rules (they want you to follow)

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , on February 21, 2024| 1 Comment »

Wolf warrior Chase Anderson is bringing his A-game to Arlington. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

The mainland is about to be invaded by Wolf Nation.

Coupeville High School fans travel in packs to almost all off-island sports events, so Saturday’s state tourney game against Tonasket should see a lot of red and black in the stands.

In anticipation of the event, Arlington High School, which is hosting, sent out a collection of pertinent info.

 

Site:

Arlington High School — 18821 Crown Ridge Blvd. in … Arlington.

Your game-day destination.

 

Schedule:

4:00 — Coupeville “hosts” Tonasket

6:00 — Arlington hosts Marysville Getchell

8:00 — Tulalip Heritage “hosts” Columbia Adventist

 

Tickets:

Good for all three games; $13 for adults, $10 for students/senior citizens/military.

Must be purchased online through GoFan (with additional fees) or in person with a credit or debit card. NO CASH SALES.

 

https://gofan.co/event/1414313?schoolId=WIAA

 

Streaming:

They will tell you NFHS (and its cruddy cameras and terrible customer service) is your only option. Au contraire, Mon frere (if you’re a Coupeville fan)!

School board prez (and Wolf Mom) Morgan White livestreams on her Facebook page and offers a better picture and running commentary.

For free, unlike NFHS.

 

Seating:

The “home” teams will be on the East end of the court, while the visiting team will be on the West end.

Student sections will be located across the court from the team bench, while adults will sit behind the team bench.

In our current nanny state, you are “not permitted to make inappropriate comments toward officials and opponents” and can be ejected for doing so.

If you do get the heave-ho, wave at the camera as you go.

That way immature Gen X’ers like myself can pour one out for you while remembering a time when students sections were allowed to be rowdy, and everyone shockingly survived to grow up to become functioning adults.

Functioning adults who live to complain a lot about “the mollycoddlers ruinin’ our beloved game,” but functioning adults nonetheless.

Fresh off winning a Bi-District title, the Wolves want more hardware. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

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Time to break the drought!!

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , , on February 21, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Rockin’ the killer socks, Chris Chan and Co. went to state in 1979. (Photo courtesy Beverly Chan)

16,432 days.

When, not if, the Coupeville High School boys’ basketball team beats Tonasket Saturday in Arlington, it will break a 45-year dry spell for the Wolves.

The last time a CHS male hoops team won a state tourney game came Mar. 1, 1979, when the Whitney boys — Steve and Joe — and their associates smacked Montesano 62-51.

That was the second state victory for the program, with the other coming Mar. 4, 1976, when the Wolves throttled Columbia (Burbank) 80-63.

The first of those wins came in the 2B classification, against a school which holds the #1 seed in this year’s tourney, while the second was at the 1A level.

At any level, it’s been a bit since a Wolf boys’ hoops team came out on top in a state game.

The 45-year drought is the longest active one for a Coupeville program, not counting those which have never won a game at state (football and boys’ soccer) or never played a game at state (girls’ soccer).

In this scenario, track and field, cross country, and tennis don’t count, as none of them play games as a team.

CHS baseball has the most recent win, blanking Toledo 3-0 this past spring, while softball drilled Deer Park 14-2 in 2019.

For girls’ basketball, the last W came in 2005 — a 45-41 thriller over Zillah — while volleyball also beat Zillah, coming out ahead 3-1 in 2004.

For now, though, the spotlight is on the Wolf boys’ hoops stars, who have the chance to make some history of their own.

That 1978-1979 team they’re chasing was one of the best in school history, winning Coupeville’s fifth league title in the decade.

Their spotlight win came against dastardly King’s Garden (now known just as King’s), when Steve Whitney pulled in a pass from Keith Jameson and buried a jumper to net a 55-53 league title-clinching victory.

Those Wolves had three different players ring up 300+ points that season, with Wade Ellsworth (392), Roy Marti (342), and Steve Whitney (337) sharing top honors.

Joe Whitney, who went on to win a state title in later years with Lynden, rang up 213 points, with Jameson banking in 115.

Rounding out the scorers on the last Wolf boys’ team to win at state were future school board director Chris Chan (51), Shawn Ryan (43), Chris Marti (14), and future owner-of-a-magnificent-mustache Evan Tingstad (1).

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Open your (digital) wallet!!

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , , , on February 20, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Want to see Cole “Cash Money” White and Co. play at state? Put away that … cash. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Let the fleecing begin.

With the state basketball tourney upon us, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association and its chums are here to strip your wallet dry.

But only your digital wallet.

Plan on heading to Arlington High School this Saturday to watch the Coupeville boys clash with Tonasket in a loser-out game, with the victor heading off to Spokane for the remainder of the 2B tourney?

You’re going to pay more for the pleasure of sitting on old-school gym bleachers, and you’re not going to use cash.

Why? The better to charge you handling fees, my dear.

The only way to snag a ticket is to use GoFan’s digital service, where you’ll pay $13.00 (plus fees), or a sorta-modest $10.00 if you’re military, a student, or a senior citizen.

To do so, pop over here:

https://gofan.co/event/1414313?schoolId=WIAA

Now, to be fair, your ticket applies to all games played at the site Saturday.

So, along with Coupeville and Tonasket at 4:00 PM, you can catch two other boys’ hoops clashes.

3A Arlington plays at 6:00 on its own court, against the winner of a play-in game between Kelso and Marysville-Getchell.

Then, an 8:00(ish) tip features 1B boys Tulalip Heritage and either Mount Vernon Christian or Columbia Adventist.

And yes, you read that correctly.

Arlington, like Lynden and Grandview and a few others, gets to open the state tourney on its OWN court, as the WIAA scrambles to have enough sites to handle all the games.

What is that you say? Coupeville should apply to host a slate of state regional games?

Thus raising the possibility Brad Sherman and Megan Smith, if they get their teams ranked high enough, could play state games a mile from my house?

Or, at the very least, giving CHS a chance to rake in some sweet, sweet postseason cash — with Andreas Wurzrainer and associates also running a food truck in the parking lot??

You know who would LOVE a trip to Whidbey Island to see Cow Town and get a special off-season visit to Kapaw’s Iskreme?

Portland Trailblazer legend and man of the people Brandon Roy and his Garfield boys’ basketball dynasty, that’s who.

Just sayin’.

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Net men “host” must-win state tourney opener

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , on February 18, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Ryan Blouin delivers a three-ball under the watchful eye of CHS coach Brad Sherman. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Every game matters.

The Coupeville High School boys’ basketball team opens 2B state tourney play next week, but its first rumble will be a loser-out affair, requiring a win if the Wolves want to go on to the glitz of the Spokane Arena.

CHS, seeded #11 in the 16-team field, plays #14 Tonasket Saturday, Feb. 24 at Arlington High School.

Tipoff is 4:00 PM and the Wolves will be the host team.

That’s a “short” 60-mile trip for Coupeville, and a 211-mile slog for Tonasket.

While there are 16 teams in the state tourney field, the penny pinchers at the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association only have 12 advance to Spokane, where tourney action plays out Feb. 28-Mar. 2.

Teams seeded #1-#8 are guaranteed at least two games, while teams #9-#16 have to win their opening bout to advance.

If Coupeville, which sits at 17-5 on the season, beats Tonasket (14-10), it will face either #3 Colfax (25-0) or #6 Toutle Lake (20-5) Feb. 28 in Spokane.

To see the bracket, pop over to:

https://www.wpanetwork.com/wiaa/brackets/tournament.php?act=view&tournament_id=4186&school_year=2023-24&district=0&sport=3&class=0

Coupeville advanced to state by winning the District 1/2 title, beating Auburn Adventist Academy 64-50 and La Conner 60-44.

The Braves (16-7) rebounded to knock off AAA 68-57 to claim their own state ticket and are seeded #15.

La Conner opens state against #10 Adna in a loser-out game of its own, with that contest slated to go down at W.F. West High School in Chehalis.

The Wolves celebrate a Bi-District title with defensive guru Randy Bottorff.

And what of Coupeville’s first round foe?

Tonasket, which sits 240 miles away from Cow Town, plays in the Central Washington B League, which is comprised of 18 schools.

Featuring a mix of 1B and 2B institutions, the league includes traditional powers like Lake Roosevelt (seeded #4 in this year’s boys’ state tourney), Okanogan, and Brewster.

Tonasket finished second in the District 6 tourney, then held off Kettle Falls 63-55 in a District 6/7 crossover game to advance to state.

The Tigers were ranked #20 in the WIAA’s RPI, while Coupeville was #9.

A roster on MaxPreps lists eight players, with three seniors.

Half of Tonasket’s roster is recorded at being 5-foot-8 or shorter, with just two Tigers topping six-foot.

That duo is 6-4 junior Bradon Prock and 6-3 junior Kristian Jones, who both reportedly push the scale to just 160 pounds.

Jones averages 13.6 points and seven rebounds a night, while senior Jade Ramon leads Tonasket with 13.9 points per game.

Sophomore Tanner Tompkins (11.2) and Prock (10.8) give the Tigers four players averaging double figures, though none comes close to Coupeville’s leading marksman, Logan Downes.

Depending on whether we count the Chief Leschi game, where he played just two minutes before leaving with an injury, the Wolf senior is averaging either 24.0 or 22.9 per appearance.

Logan Downes has a scoring quota to fill.

Sophomore Chase Anderson (8.9) and senior Cole White (8.8) sit #2 and #3 for Coupeville this season.

This marks Tonasket’s eleventh trip to the state tourney, but its first since 2017.

The Tigers best finish came in 1981-1982, when they placed 3rd while playing in the 1A classification.

Coupeville is making its seventh appearance, and its second in the past three seasons after playing Kalama and Lake Roosevelt in 2022.

And some quick-hitting non-basketball facts about Tonasket to round out your Sunday?

According to the whiz kids at Wikipedia, the town, located along the eastern bank of the Okanogan River, was officially incorporated Dec. 16, 1927, and is named after Chief Tonasket.

He was a local leader who “assumed the status of grand chief of the American Okanogan after the drawing of the Canada-United States border by the Oregon Treaty of 1846.”

The area is “a hub for agricultural and forestry industries” and “the location of three major fruit storage and processing facilities.”

Plus, Walter H. Brattain, son of a pioneer family, shared the 1956 Nobel Prize for Physics for the invention of the transistor.

Other memorable folks to spring from Tonasket include Wendy J. Fox, author of “The Seven Stages of Anger and Other Stories,” three-time Olympic biathlete Jeremy Teela, and former Nevada state senator Dean Rhoads, hailed as a “consummate rural lawmaker.”

You came for the basketball, you left with obscure trivia.

We call that a win-win in the blogging biz.

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