Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Boys Basketball’ Category

Frantic finish, welcome win

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , , on November 28, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Wolf seniors Quinten Simpson-Pilgrim (left) and Cole White are cold-blooded killers on the hardwood. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

They keep this up, they’re going to turn their coach’s beard white.

We’re only one game into a new season, and already the Coupeville High School varsity boys’ basketball squad has a thriller and a chiller in the book.

Good thing is it turned out alright in the end, as the Wolves frittered away a 14-point lead late at Mount Baker Monday but came up with a series of huge gut-check plays in the waning moments to snatch back a 58-52 win.

Now someone go and check on Brad Sherman’s stubble before CHS gets back on the bus Wednesday to go play The Bush School in Seattle.

Monday’s rumble was controlled by Coupeville most of the way, before things got frantic late.

Down by 14 early in the second half, and still trailing by 10 in the fourth quarter, Mount Baker went on an 11-0 run to claim the lead at 50-49 with a fraction over three minutes to play.

That gave the Mountaineers their first advantage since way back at 10-9 and could have fractured the Wolves.

Except a team which features nine seniors, several of whom won a league title and went to state as sophomores, seems to be pretty battle-tested and not prone to flinching.

Instead, Coupeville responded with a three-minute master class in being the kind of closers Alec Baldwin loved in Glengarry Glen Ross.

While that’s probably not a movie reference many of the current Wolves will get, we can keep it simple and say it means this — be a killer.

And Sherman’s hoops assassins were.

Quinten Simpson-Pilgrim came off the bench, literally pushed onto the floor by his coach, and immediately hauled down a key rebound in the middle of a scrum.

Cole White, the wiry guard who has a huge Facebook following thanks to mom Morgan’s live broadcasts, made off with a steal and drew a HUGE foul on his foe, nimbly crashing hard to the floor while absorbing pain to get the call on an offensive charge.

And then there was Nick Guay, who hadn’t scored, drilling the bottom of the net out on a three-ball from the left corner to immediately put Coupeville back in front at 52-50.

Mount Baker slid one more layup through the net to knot things up, before the Wolves iced them the rest of the way.

Logan Downes went coast to coast for a swooping layup to stake his squad to a lead it wouldn’t relinquish, before Downes and White closed out the game at the line.

The Mountaineers had two charity shots of their own in the waning seconds but loudly clanged both of them off the rim to the delight of the Wolf fan section, which was much more vocal than the locals.

White opened the game, and the season, with a pullup jumper off a pass from William Davidson, then Downes and running mate Ryan Blouin traded buckets as Coupeville surged to a 20-12 lead at the first break.

Blouin was calm, composed, and a weapon of mass destruction.

He fired up a trio of three-balls in the first quarter, and netted all three, with the net barely rippling as each dagger sank through with a happy little sigh.

For his part, Downes worked his magic at the free throw line, accounting for five of his nine points while everyone else was standing still.

Once he got going, he was hard to stop, raining down 13 of Coupeville’s 15 points in the second quarter as the Wolves stretched their lead to 35-23.

Downes banged home his own trio of treys in the second frame, with the third one giving him exactly 800 career points, tying him with noted three-ball terror Hawthorne Wolfe.

The lone second quarter bucket not to come off of Downes fingertips came from Hunter Bronec, who banked in a layup off of a lob from Downes.

White was already busy on the defensive end, drawing an offensive charge to blunt a Baker fastbreak, while Zane Oldenstadt picked the pocket of a fellow big man for a crucial steal.

Coupeville looked like it would send the game into blowout territory after Davidson, channeling Hakeem Olajuwon for one play, snared a rebound and flipped the ball back up and in to kick off the second half.

Up 37-23, the Wolves were cruising in the yacht, only to hit some unexpected, choppy waters,

Mount Baker popped a pair of three-balls, turned up the heat a bit and closed back within four points late in the third quarter.

Well, actually within two, only to have the officials wave off a field goal due to offensive goaltending.

While the Mountaineers weren’t happy to lose the bucket, they barely complained, knowing and accepting that the botched play was so obvious even a pack of high school refs could see it.

White and Downes closed the third with a pair of free throws apiece, packaged around a steal from Simpson-Pilgrim, to push the lead out to 47-39.

A turnaround jumper from White to open the fourth put the lead back into double-digits, and you know where it goes from there.

Downes finished with a game-high 31 points, eventually passing Wolfe to move into 14th on the CHS boys’ basketball career scoring list.

With 809 and counting, he heads to Seattle just a bucket away from tying ’70s star Corey Cross (811) for 13th, with Hunter Smith (847) and Bill Jarrell (855) next up on the list after that.

White rippled the nets for 11 Monday, with Blouin (9), Guay (3), Davidson (2), and Bronec (2) rounding out the offensive attack.

Oldenstadt, Simpson-Pilgrim, and Hurlee Bronec also saw floor time, with Mikey Robinett, Timothy Nitta and Chase Anderson providing vocal support from the bench.

Read Full Post »

JV boys rally late, fall just short

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , on November 27, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Camden Glover was unstoppable in the fourth quarter Monday night. (Jackie Saia photo)

Two more minutes, and it’s a different result.

Riding a torrid fourth quarter performance from sophomore sensation Camden Glover, the Coupeville High School JV boys’ basketball squad almost pulled out a road win against a tough foe in Monday’s season opener.

But the clock was merciless, and host Mount Baker held on to escape with a 45-41 non-conference victory.

The Wolves started strong, and finished even stronger, but were tripped up by a third quarter which saw them outscored 19-8.

That turned an 18-16 halftime advantage into a 35-26 deficit heading into the final frame, and it ultimately proved to be just a little too much for CHS to overcome.

Not that Glover didn’t try, pouring in 13 of his team-high 14 points over the game’s final eight minutes, including singing the nets on a pair of three-balls.

Coupeville spread its offense out in the first quarter, getting scoring from six different players to take a 14-13 lead into the first break.

Aiden O’Neill paced the Wolves with four points in the early going, but everyone was clicking.

After combining to score 27 points in the first frame, the two teams went into a defensive struggle in the second quarter, with CHS eking out a 4-3 advantage.

For the game, six of the seven Wolves to see the floor scratched their names in the scoring column, led by Glover’s 14.

Landon Roberts peppered the nets for eight, with O’Neill and Jack Porter both knocking down six points apiece.

Johnny Porter added four, while Riley Lawless banked in three, and Davin Houston came off the bench to provide an energy boost for the Wolves.

Coupeville’s JV returns to action Wednesday, when it travels to Seattle to face The Bush School.

Read Full Post »

Wolf boys boast scoring pop, defensive grit, unity

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , , on November 27, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Wolf big man Zane Oldenstadt is back to bang inside. (Charlotte Young photo)

“We don’t overlook anyone.”

Coupeville High School boys’ basketball coach Brad Sherman tips off his seventh season at the helm of the program Monday, and he learned his lessons well from the men he played for back in the day.

Guys like Randy King and Randy Bottorff — the latter a member of Sherman’s current staff — taught him to take every game seriously.

“As I answer every year — because I’m not very original — we don’t overlook anyone,” Sherman said. “To do so would be a mistake.

“On any given night, any team can stand in the way of our goals, and that has to be our mindset from day one.

“Our focus is really on just taking ownership of our preparation and bringing it every single night no matter who the opponent is.”

Two years ago, Coupeville went 16-0 during the regular season, won the Northwest 2B/1B League title, and rumbled with Kalama and Lake Roosevelt at the state tourney.

Last season, the Wolves were on the edge of returning to the promised land, only to suffer unexpected losses to La Conner and Auburn Adventist Academy at a district tourney they hosted, finishing 14-9.

With a veteran crew heavy in seniors, Sherman and Co. are back to make a return run at advancing to state.

But there’s more to it than just that.

“First goal is really to make sure we are bringing joy to the court in our attitude every single day,” Sherman said.

“If there is no joy in basketball, we are doing something wrong.”

Hand in hand with that joy is improvement.

“On the court I think our goals are the same as they’ve always been – we want to keep growing week to week and compete for a chance to be playing when the regular season is over,” Sherman said.

“It goes without saying that we are always working hard toward that league title, district title, and an opportunity to play in a state tournament.

“We really believe in this team and what they can accomplish together – ultimately I think the target is just high level, high energy, fundamental basketball every time we touch the court.”

Senior guard Logan Downes, who is coming off the second-best single season scoring performance in school history, enters his final campaign ranked #15 all-time among Wolf boys.

His 778 career points, with 554 coming as a junior, puts him less than 100 points from the top 10 (and his coach, #8 all-time with 874 points), and within range of Jeff Stone and Mike Bagby, tied for #1 at 1,137.

Downes will have plenty of help, with fellow seniors Cole White (guard), Ryan Blouin (guard), Nick Guay (guard/forward), William Davidson (post), Zane Oldenstadt (post), and Quentin Simpson-Pilgrim (post) also returning.

William Davidson wants another run at state. (Charlotte Young photo)

Sophomore Chase Anderson was a big contributor as a freshman, bringing disruptive defense and opportunistic offense, and should also see plenty of playing time.

Juniors Hunter Bronec (forward) and Hurlee Bronec (post) make the jump to being varsity regulars, with seniors Mikey Robinett (post) and Tim Nitta (guard) rounding out the roster.

While the core of this year’s varsity squad are seniors — nine of 12 — there are a host of younger guys ready to join the cause.

“We also have some really strong JV guys that at any point could swing up and provide some quality minutes for us if needed, which is really nice depth to have in our pocket,” Sherman said.

These include juniors Landon Roberts and Jack Porter, as well as sophomores Aiden O’Neill and Camden Glover.

Having so many veterans is huge, and something Sherman appreciates.

“Experience means we can do some different things this year,” he said. “I think we’ve got a group that is pretty intelligent in how they play.

“Toughness is going to be something I think you see right out of the gate.  It’s a hard-working group of boys who are going to give it everything they have every single night.”

Also, while every coach wants to make it through the 20-game regular season healthy, having quality players ready to be the next man up, or contribute now and again, is a blessing.

“I think we have some depth that is going to help us down the stretch, with an ability to get out and run and put pressure on teams,” Sherman said.

“I like the way I’ve seen us moving the ball offensively these first couple of weeks, and the attitude they bring every day.”

While boasting a big-game scorer at the top of the roster is sweet, and knowing you have battle-tested defensive aces on call helps a coach sleep at night, it’s the closeness of his players which most intrigues Sherman.

“Biggest strength is probably in the unity I see on and off the court,” he said.

“Every year we let the boys take ownership of a mantra that they think defines them as a group – something they carry with them through the season,” Sherman added.

“This year they chose “Brotherhood.”  If we commit to that mindset of together no matter what, that’s going to be our biggest strength.”

Wolf varsity players take a break in their practice to watch middle school hoops action. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Coupeville tips off Monday on the road against Mount Baker, then travels to Bush Wednesday, and hosts Toledo Saturday, making for a busy first week of non-conference tilts.

That will give Sherman and his assistants — Greg White, Jon Roberts, Craig Anderson, and Bottorff — a chance to see what is working and what needs to be tweaked.

“As we get into our season we are constantly evaluating where we need to be better, where we need to dial in,” Sherman said.

“What I think you are going to see consistently is a team that loves the game – who play with a lot of toughness and tenacity.

“We are constantly hammering the message that it’s rebounds that win championships.

“We cannot compete at a high level and not win the rebounding battle night in and night out. At this moment in time, that’s a big focal point for us.”

Read Full Post »

Wolves and Tigers and Three-Balls, Oh My!

Posted in Boys Basketball, Middle School, tagged , , , , on November 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Wolf roundball gurus (l to r) Jaylen Nitta, Alex Evans, and RayLynn Ratcliff get their moment in the spotlight. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Maybe Coupeville needs a fancy bus.

Granite Falls, and its 10,000 or so players, made the trek to Whidbey Island Tuesday in style, then went on a rebounding rampage en route to sweeping three middle school hoops contests.

While CMS put up a good fight, especially in the final quarter of the middle game, the Wolves weren’t able to corral their visitors, who played with a nice intensity.

A particular shout-out to Tigers 6th grader Jax Ashworth, who warms my ’80s NBA-loving heart by proving his motor has no shut off.

At the close of the day’s third and final game, things got scrappy, with Wolves Lincoln Wagner and Deacon Frost coming up with strong defensive plays.

Wagner crashed to the floor, then held on for dear life during a battle for the ball which went on, and on, and on some more, the refs swallowing their whistles as they watched the preteen warriors settle things mano a mano.

After Frost stuffed a Granite shot at one end of the floor, it was time for Ashworth to bring the heat.

Hurtling from end to end, and not worrying about the score, he launched himself airborne and crushed a Wolf shot attempt.

Ripping his foe’s head off and sending the ball into orbit, Ashworth might have earned a foul, but he did it in the best way possible.

By reviving sweet memories of Dennis Rodman and the Detroit Pistons back when the Bad Boys used to throttle Michael Jordan on every play.

Yes, the moment was a negative one for Coupeville, the school I’m primarily writing about, but dang, give Ashworth some love.

Now, we just need to track his parents down and talk about the whole moving to Whidbey Island before high school thing…

Anyways, back to how the day played out, with no more gushing about the guys in the road uniforms.

Coupeville points to a bright future.

Level 1:

Coupeville was playing without two key guys — Chayse Van Velkinburgh and Liam Lawson — which put the ball in the hands of an inexperienced playmaker.

The Wolves had their moments, and consistently got to the free throw line, but a huge rebounding deficit proved to be too much to overcome in a 53-19 loss.

Nick Laska, who fought like a lion in the paint against the Tigers, knocked down Coupeville’s first bucket off an inbounds pass from Carson Grove.

Unfortunately, it would be the only first quarter field goal for the Wolves, with CMS scraping together the rest of their scoring at the free throw line.

Trailing 16-6 at the first break, Coupeville briefly cut the deficit to 18-10 after Laska and Grove broke the field goal drought to start the second quarter.

Granite reclaimed control of the game, however, ending the half on a 10-1 run in which most of its buckets came via runners in the lane and putbacks on offensive boards.

The visitors continued to stretch the lead out in the second half, with 8-0 and 10-0 surges tough to overcome.

Wolf 8th grader Nathan Niewald nailed a three-ball on the move in the fourth, accounting for his first points of the season and getting a wave of applause from his fellow CMS students in the stands.

Laska led the Wolves with a team-high nine points, while Grove rattled the rim for four, and Niewald and Calvin Kappes each banked in three.

Kamden Ratcliff, Khanor Jump, Trenton Thule, Treyshawn Stewart, and Jackson Sollars all saw floor time for Coupeville as well.

 

Level 2:

The Wolves scored half their points in the fourth quarter, using a 10-4 run to cut the final margin to 33-20 in a game closer than the score might indicate.

Making things better, CMS got points in the final frame from five different players.

Jayden Little scorched the net on a three-ball, while Jump, Xander Beaman, and Thule each added a bucket, and Stewart tickled the twines on a free throw.

Granite jumped out to a 14-4 lead after one, pushed ahead to a 20-8 halftime advantage, then made life difficult for the Wolves with a 9-2 tear in the third frame.

Coupeville’s best basket before the fourth quarter?

It came from Little, who ripped the ball out of the hands of a rival player, then split two other defenders as he crashed to the hoop for a swooping layup.

Little finished with eight points to top the Wolves, with Beaman, Diesel Eck, Jump, Stewart, Jonah Weyl, and Thule all notching two points apiece.

Lincoln Wagner and Maverick Walling rounded out the roster, providing hustle on defense.

 

Level 3:

Coupeville won the second quarter (10-8) and came out even in the fourth (6-6) but ran into trouble in the first (18-4) and third (14-0) frames.

That made for a 46-20 loss, though one which came in a game where, as mentioned before, both teams brought the heat, old school style.

The Wolves best stand came in the second quarter and was keyed by Johnathan Jacobsen.

One of the few CMS players to hit the boards with a vengeance, the high-energy 8th grader also knocked down a team-high eight points and delivered the day’s most energetic celebration.

Beaman almost matched him, dropping a few dance moves after hitting a jumper, ignoring the score on the board while getting caught up in the excitement of the moment.

Wagner and Beaman both finished with four points in support of Jacobsen, while Walling and Jacob Lujan rounded out the attack with a bucket apiece.

Eck, Mario Martinez, Frost, River Simpson and Aiden Wheat also scrapped for the Wolves while CMS fans (or at least those sitting right next to me) maintained a solid 285 on the decibel meter.

 

What’s next:

With the holiday season upon us, the Wolves don’t play again until next Tuesday, Nov. 28, when they host Northshore Christian. Tipoff is 3:15 PM.

After that comes a home bout with Sultan (Nov. 30), two tangoes with South Whidbey (Dec. 4 in Langley and Dec. 11 in Cow Town), then the finale Dec. 13 at Lakewood.

Read Full Post »

CMS hoops stars survive clash with juggernaut

Posted in Boys Basketball, Middle School, tagged , , , , on November 16, 2023| 1 Comment »

Nick Laska elevates to win the tip. (RayLynn Ratcliff photos)

Sometimes you hit the road, and sometimes it hits back.

Thursday afternoon gave the Coupeville Middle School boys’ basketball teams what will likely be their toughest test of the season.

Making the trek to Shoreline to square off with ritzy private school sports juggernaut King’s Junior High, the young Wolves absorbed three losses.

But they also survived and return home with the battle scars to prove their growth.

Next up is a three-game homestand, with Granite Falls kicking things off with a Nov. 21 trip to Cow Town.

After that, Northshore Christian (Nov. 28) and Sultan (Nov. 30) swing by the CMS gym, with the Wolves not getting on a bus again until December rolls around.

CMS hoops coach Alex Evans sets up a play.

 

How Thursday played out:

 

Level 1:

Coupeville popped a trio of three-balls through the bottom of the net, but could do little to stop a deep, talented King’s squad.

Chayse Van Velkinburgh rippled the nets for two of the three Wolf shots from behind the arc, with Nick Laska also dropping a trey.

Carson Grove rounded out Coupeville’s scoring with an old-fashioned, but very effective, two-point bucket, while Liam Lawson, Kamden Ratcliff, Calvin Kappes, Nathan Niewald, Khanor Jump, and Trenton Thule were also in uniform.

 

Level 2:

Kappes was the high scorer for the day for CMS, rattling the rim for a team-best 10 points, while Diesel Eck provided some fuel with four points of his own.

Buckets from Thule — his first of the season — and Jump filled up the scoring column for the Wolves.

Deacon Frost, Maverick Walling, Aiden Wheat, River Simpson, Xander Beaman, and Lincoln Wagner were also on hand to scrap with the Knights.

 

Level 3:

Jonathan Jacobsen banked in four points to pace the Wolves, with Wagner (2), Walling (2), and Simpson (1) also scoring.

A mysterious bucket, not credited to a specific CMS player, drifted towards the bottom of the scorebook, meaning we’ll never truly know who was responsible for all of Coupeville’s scoring this season.

I, for one, will likely lose some sleep over the matter.

But I can tell you Beaman, Jacob Lujan, Wheat, Frost, Eck, and Mario Martinez were also in uniform for the hardwood clash, so that might be enough to get us through the night.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »