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Archive for the ‘Girls Basketball’ Category

To the final point, to the final buzzer!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , on December 3, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Kylie Chernikoff had a team-high seven rebounds and three steals Monday, as the Coupeville JV went toe-to-toe with 2A Sequim. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

It’s all about the lessons.

Do you take them in? Do you build on them? Do they foster growth?

The Coupeville High School JV girls basketball squad is young (11 of 14 players are freshmen) and still finding its way.

So, while losses like the 35-20 defeat the Wolves absorbed Monday in Sequim hurt in the moment, they can be the start of something bigger as athletes adjust to the difference between high school ball and what came before.

“Attitude and effort are the only things in life you can control,” said Coupeville coach Amy King, and it’s a stark truth.

While the non-conference loss to a 2A school drops the Wolves to 0-2 on the season, they can look to how they responded in the second half as a positive to build on.

Coupeville could not get a shot to drop for much of the first half Monday, with buckets from Kylie Chernikoff and Anya Leavell the only small solace in a 19-4 deficit.

The Wolves struggled to break Sequim’s half-court man press, which made it hard to even get shots launched.

“We had turnover after turnover,” King said. “Passing the ball into the waiting hands of Sequim, who used that to fast break.”

Things took a turn for the positive after Coupeville coaches delivered a halftime pep talk/come to God moment.

“We challenged the team to get out of their own heads and start playing basketball,” King said. “The energy needed to elevate from everybody, talk on defense and get scrappy.”

And scrappy they got, as Leavell and Kiara Contreras led a defensive stand, going after the ball with ramped-up intensity instead of sitting back and letting the play come to them.

With Chernikoff, Ja’Kenya Hoskins and Abby Mulholland cleaning the boards with authority, CHS pushed the flow of the game, playing Sequim even in the second half (16-16), while winning the battle in the fourth quarter 10-4.

“We were stirring up some energy, started moving the ball better and getting open shots,” King said. “We moved the ball like we knew how, and we changed our press break enough to get a few longer passes down the court, which made their defense scramble a little bit.

“If we had played that way in the first half, the game may have turned out a little different.”

Izzy Wells paced the Wolves with eight points, all coming in the second half, while snagging six rebounds.

Leavell netted six, with Chernikoff, Mollie Bailey and Hoskins adding two points apiece to round out the Wolf scoring.

Coupeville’s leader on the glass was the always hard-charging Chernikoff, who ripped down seven rebounds to go with her team-high three steals.

Hoskins added six boards, with Contreras and Kylie Van Velkinburgh each doling out two assists.

All 11 CHS girls in uniform Monday played, with Alana Mihill, Lily Leedy and Morgan Stevens also seeing floor time.

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“We have fight, despite the score!!”

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , on December 3, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Ema Smith tallied seven points Monday at Sequim, achieving a personal scoring milestone. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Some nights it’s better to look at the small moments instead of gazing too long at the big picture.

There was likely a fair amount of frustration Monday, as the Coupeville High School varsity girls basketball team got pounded on the boards, went scoreless for an entire quarter and fell by a considerable margin to host Sequim.

After absorbing a 50-24 defeat at the hands of their 2A foes, keyed by a 21-0 third quarter, the Wolves sit at 0-3 on the still-young season.

But, there were positives buried in the aftermath.

For one, Coupeville rallied in the fourth quarter, winning pride points by closing the game on a 9-4 surge.

And secondly, two Wolf seniors exited the gym having achieved at least a small triumph, as both made moves on the school’s all-time scoring list.

Lindsey Roberts, back after a college trip, led Coupeville with 10 points, which gives her 316 for her career.

She sits in 35th place in program history (1975-2018), and is just 16 points from sliding into the top 30 all-time.

Her running mate, Ema Smith, added seven Monday, cracking the 100-point barrier, becoming just the 97th Wolf female to achieve triple digits in 44 seasons of hardwood play.

So, some grace notes.

Other than that, it was a fairly rough night, as Coupeville struggled at the free-throw line, hitting just 5-20, was out-muscled on the glass and couldn’t slow their foe down.

Sequim built a 13-5 lead after one quarter, stretched the margin out to 15 points midway through the second, and settled for a 25-15 advantage at the half.

Then, disaster.

“Coming out for the third, we didn’t get it done defensively and they had three quick and easy open looks at the basket for scores,” said Coupeville coach David King. “From then on, it was an all-out blitz for Sequim.

“Defensively, we are struggling and just not playing well on that end.”

The Wolves dug deep in the fourth, something their coach wants to build on.

“Some pride took over; it shows we have fight despite the score,” King said. “We have to keep pushing forward and continue to fight like we did tonight.

“It’s going to be baby steps and it starts tomorrow at practice.”

Roberts snagged a team-high nine rebounds and made off with five steals to go with her 10 points, while Ema Smith had seven points and six boards.

Avalon Renninger (4), Tia Wurzrainer (2) and Chelsea Prescott (1) rounded out the scoring, while Hannah Davidson yanked down seven rebounds, Ja’Kenya Hoskins collected five and Scout Smith hauled in four.

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A lesson in every loss!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , on December 1, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Avalon Renninger scored four points, grabbed two boards and was her usual scrappy, ball-hawking self Saturday as Coupeville squared off with The Bush School. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Abby Parrish could not, and would not, miss.

The private school sharpshooter blitzed Coupeville Saturday, tossing in five three-balls en route to an 18-point performance, as The Bush School derailed the young Wolf girls basketball squad 51-27.

The home non-conference loss, which came in a game where CHS played without its leader, senior Lindsey Roberts, drops the Wolves to 0-2.

Without its fleet-footed, long-limbed defensive dynamo, who was earning scholarship money with a visit to Washington State University, Coupeville had trouble slowing down the bigger Bush bangers.

“Their two post players, they hurt us all game,” said CHS coach David King. “Inside on the low block and then beyond the three-point line.”

Toss in an apathetic start, perhaps due to the early weekend start, and a Wolf team which played three freshmen and two sophomores had trouble matching up with a veteran-led rival.

The two teams went three-and-a-half minutes before scoring the game’s first point, but then Parrish drilled back-to-back treys.

Coupeville’s only points in the first seven-minutes-plus came courtesy two free throws from Chelsea Prescott, as shot after shot slid off.

“We had some open looks throughout and many fell short of their mark,” King said. “Just not getting our legs under us.”

The seal on the rim finally broke for the Wolves when Avalon Renninger, hanging in air, got a jumper to pop straight upwards off the back of the rim, then sweetly plop through the waiting net.

While that pulled the Wolves back to within 11-4, they were immediately stung, however, as a Bush player slipped through the crowd to yank down a rebound and put it back up and in right at the first quarter buzzer.

The second quarter was where Bush stuck the dagger in, using a 9-0 run to stretch its lead out to 20.

The biggest bright spot in the frame was freshmen Anya Leavell swishing a long jumper from the right side, netting her first varsity points.

With Roberts gone, and no JV game since Bush only had one team, Leavell and fellow frosh Ja’Kenya Hoskins and Izzy Wells swung up and saw considerable floor time.

Two of the three scored, with Wells banking home a fourth-quarter shot, while Hoskins led Coupeville with seven rebounds.

Things turned for the better after a timeout right before halftime, as the Wolves closed the quarter on a surge of energy, then carried it over to a much-more competitive second half.

“That’s when we started to see a spark,” King said. “Coming out of halftime, we wanted to continue with the energy, and it was there.”

Sophomore sensation Prescott knocked down seven of her team-high nine after the break, netting a three-ball and another shot which missed being a three-ball by a fraction of an inch.

She was also wheeling and dealing with the ball, dishing to Renninger, who dropped a pull-up jumper in the paint during Coupeville’s best run.

That mini-surge included a rebound on which Scout Smith knocked the careening ball right onto the fingertips of teammate Nicole Laxton.

Maybe it was an accident, maybe it was on purpose (it looked on purpose, and fits Smith’s cerebral playing style), but the tip was perfectly-placed.

Wheeling on one foot, while sporting socks decorated with rubber duckies, Laxton drained the put-back, flicking the ball off the glass.

Toss out the first half, and the game was a six-point affair with enough positives to inspire King.

“All three freshmen showed some promise,” he said. “(Senior) Ema (Smith) had some precision passes and held her own at the defensive end in her season debut and Hannah (Davidson) played energized basketball in the second half.

“This is a game that we need to learn from and move forward and work on correcting some things,” King added. “One positive we talked about was ball movement. When we move the ball offensively we are getting open looks. We did a much better job of that in the second half.”

Prescott’s nine-point, five-rebound, one-steal, one-block, one-assist night paced the Wolves, while Scout Smith and Renninger added four points apiece.

Davidson, Laxton, Tia Wurzrainer, Wells and Leavell each tallied two, with the last three from that group all scoring for the first time at the varsity level.

After getting (unnecessary) grief from the refs pre-game about her head band, sophomore point guard Mollie Bailey let the looooong hair braids fly free and brought considerable scrappiness to the floor, rounding out the Wolf roster.

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Get the butter, they’re on a roll!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , on December 1, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Carolyn Lhamon had seven points and seven rebounds Saturday as Coupeville’s SWISH hoops squad rolled to a big win. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Right back at it.

Bouncing back strongly from its first loss of the season, the Coupeville 8th grade SWISH girls basketball team got back on the winning side of things Saturday, drilling Orcas Island 34-9.

The win lifts the Wolves to 5-1 heading into the final weekend of regular-season play.

Coupeville plays a doubleheader Dec. 8, facing Victorious Hoops and Arlington, then wades into the fray of the league tourney Dec. 15.

Saturday’s game was all about domination, as the Wolves sprinted out to a 12-0 lead after one quarter of play and never looked back.

By the time it was done, Coupeville had gotten points from seven of its 10 players and outscored Orcas in all four quarters of play.

Carolyn Lhamon paced the Wolves with seven points, while Maddie Georges and Alita Blouin tickled the twine for six apiece.

Brionna Blouin and Savina Wells each added five, with Blouin netting a long three-ball, while Gwen Gustafson knocked down three and Nezi Keiper popped for two.

Coupeville controlled the glass all game, with Wells, a 6th grader playing two grades up, yanking down a game-high 15 rebounds.

Lhamon (7) and Keiper (6) provided support on the boards, while Ryanne Knoblich, Lauren Marrs and Gustafson all pulled down two rebounds apiece.

Hayley Fiedler, a scrapper on defense, rounded out the Wolf squad.

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Speed kills!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , , on November 27, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville sophomore Chelsea Prescott collected seven points, five rebounds and three assists on opening night. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

“They played like it was a track meet, when we wanted it to be more like a tractor pull.”

When Coupeville could slow down the game the way coach David King wanted Tuesday night, the Wolf varsity girls basketball squad held its own with visiting Meridian.

But the Trojans, a tall, quick, highly-efficient squad coming off a 20-win season and a trip to the 1A state tourney, ultimately dictated the pace in both team’s season opener, pulling away for a 60-32 non-conference win.

While the score looks a little lopsided, the Wolves, who were missing a key starter and fielding a roster in transition, hung tough through much of the first half.

Senior captain Ema Smith, who didn’t have enough practices in the books to be eligible on opening night, spent the game keeping stats instead of throwing down on the court.

When she returns to action Saturday, she’ll join a young, fairly raw Wolf team.

Freshman Izzy Wells, sophomore Mollie Bailey and junior Tia Wurzrainer played in a varsity hoops game for the first time Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Chelsea Prescott, Avalon Renninger, Nicole Laxton and Hannah Davidson all moved into much-bigger roles than they had previously played.

With Ema Smith out, that left fellow captains Lindsey Roberts and Scout Smith as the only Wolves on the floor with extensive varsity experience.

And while the veteran duo were front and center all night, Coupeville got immediate contributions from everyone on the roster, something that pleased their coach.

“They didn’t show nerves or jitters, which is nice,” King said. “I’m so pleased with our effort; they don’t back down and give our team and their teammates 100% effort.”

Showing no fear, the Wolves charged right at the heart of the Trojan defense, repeatedly pushing the ball inside as they were hacked by 1,001 hands.

“They took the ball hard to the hole and they didn’t shy away from contact,” King said, with a note of pride in his voice.

Coupeville ultimately shot 28 free throws, making 16 of them, and had more points on charity shots than on field goals until a game-closing put-back on an offensive rebound by Roberts evened the Wolves’ scoring totals.

The first quarter belonged to free throws, and to Prescott, “who kept us in the game in the first half.”

Prescott scored Coupeville’s first five points of the season, capping things with a three-point play the hard way to pull the Wolves within 6-5 with two minutes left in the first quarter.

While CHS never led during the game, it stayed within a bucket of Meridian in the first quarter, with two free throws from Scout Smith cutting the margin to 11-9 headed into the first break.

Moments before those shots, Davidson dropped a beauty of a shot, taking a quick pass from Prescott, then hopping to the side and banking home the ball high off the glass.

Meridian began to pull away in the second quarter, using two runs in which it forced Coupeville to play at a faster speed than it wanted.

That led to some bobbled balls, a few errant passes, and a turnover or three which the Trojans converted into quick buckets.

The first time Meridian started to pull away, the Wolves responded, using a 5-0 surge to cut the margin back down to 21-17 midway through the second quarter.

What would turn out to be Coupeville’s final sustained offensive stand consisted of a Prescott free throw, Laxton ripping a rebound loose and smashing home a bucket and Scout Smith getting artful.

The junior point guard snatched up a ball in the back court, led a merry chase the length of the court, then switched hands at the last second before slapping home a running layup with two Meridian players draped over her back.

And yet, that was one of the few times in which the hack-happy Trojans were NOT whistled for a foul.

While the layup from “Scoutosaurus Rex” brought Wolf fans to the edge of their seats and seemed to signal the night would be a knock-down, drag-out brawl, Meridian had other ideas.

Pushing the gas pedal through the floor, the Trojans used their speed advantage to reel off a 10-0 run over the next 90 seconds or so, shoving the lead into double-digit territory for the first time.

A couple more free throws (what else?) from Roberts and Prescott pulled CHS back within 31-20 at the half, but Meridian used 11-0 and 8-0 surges in the second-half to derail the Wolves.

Prescott, who had a stellar all-around game, zipped a dandy pass to Laxton for a third-quarter bucket, while Roberts banged away inside for six of her team-high eight points in the fourth, but Meridian never flinched.

Which is exactly what you expect from a team crammed full of battle-hardened seniors, most of whom have state tourney experience.

Roberts, who added five rebounds, two steals and a block, passed the first of what should be a seasons-worth of milestones.

Her second point of the night, which came when she drained a first-quarter free throw, made her just the 35th Wolf girls hoops star to reach 300 career points.

Now sitting at 306, she passed Amanda Fabrizi (299) on the all-time scoring list Tuesday, and is coming up fast on Mia Littlejohn (317) and Marie Grasser (321).

Prescott tallied seven points, five rebounds, three assists and a block in support of Roberts, while Scout Smith (5), Laxton (4), Davidson (4) and Renninger (4) also scored.

Coupeville fought hard on the boards, with its eternal Energizer Bunny, Renninger, hauling down a team-high six caroms.

Davidson snagged five rebounds, Laxton collared four and Wurzrainer, transporting her hard-nosed defensive style from the soccer pitch to the hardwood, pilfered two steals.

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