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Archive for the ‘Girls Basketball’ Category

They made it rain buckets!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , on August 4, 2017| 2 Comments »

   Brianne King (in pink) is joined by (clockwise from top right) Novi Barron, Makana Stone, Megan Smith, Ann Pettit, Ashley Ellsworth-Bagby, Terry Perkins, Lexie Black, Kristan Hurlburt and Tina Lyness.

It’s an exclusive club.

212 women, all united by one thing — they scored in a varsity basketball game while wearing a Coupeville High School uniform.

The list stretches from the second season of modern-day, post Title IX, girls hoops at CHS (1975-1976) until today.

Why does it not include the first season, you ask?

Because the Whidbey News-Times chose to ignore the ’74-’75 team completely and while I did obtain two photos and a roster from a former player, so far no stats have surfaced from that inaugural season.

So, with apologies to the first Wolves, we’re working with what we have.

But, if you are holding any stats from ’74-’75, send them my way and I’ll happily update this story.

Until then, with the caveat that there is no way to be 100% correct short of 43 years of perfectly-inscribed score-books suddenly surfacing (ha!), I give you the history of CHS girls hoops, told one bucket at a time.

Are there some baskets missing here and there? Absolutely.

I know for a fact I’m still missing 2-3 games from three different seasons (2003-2004, 2005-2006 and 2006-2007), though I’m close to tracking those down.

While those stats will tweak a couple of player’s point totals, there aren’t enough points still hidden in the mists of time to change the top 10, though.

Having scoured newspaper archives, tracked down what score-books are available and spent countless hours harassing those who played and coached, I can say, “This is 96.2, maybe 97.4% correct” with some confidence.

So, there’s that.

And, before you ask, we’re using maiden names, because those are the names players had when they torched the nets.

It’s a list which ranges from one-season wonders like Amanda Allmer and Sarah Mouw, who transferred in for their senior seasons, to young women who plugged away as role players year after year, getting a few points here and there.

There are seven active players on the list, with junior-to-be Lindsey Roberts (#77) slightly edging out senior-to-be Mikayla Elfrank (#79) as the top returning player.

The real target for Roberts, though? Mom Sherry, who sits a mere 28 points ahead of her at #64.

Topple the woman who brought her into the world and Lindsey will own family bragging rights, having already outpaced dad Jon Roberts, uncle Jay Roberts and aunt Jennifer (Eelkema) Roberts.

And that’s what lists like this are for — a way to remember the past, offer a target for the future and start (or finish) endless arguments at Thanksgiving.

You’re welcome.

CHS girls varsity basketball scorers (1975-2017) — * indicates active player:

Brianne King 1549
Zenovia Barron 1270
Makana Stone 1158
Megan Smith 1042
Ann Pettit 932
Ashley Ellsworth-Bagby 892
Terry Perkins 673
Lexie Black 622
Kristan Hurlburt 598
Tina Lyness 594
Marlene Grasser 574
Judy Marti 545
Brittany Black 502
Jen Canfield 497
Erica Lamb 497
Emily Vracin 467
Tina Barker 464
Vanessa Davis 448
Maureen Wetmore 438
Sarah Powell 425
Mika Hosek 424
Cassidi Rosenkrance 423
Ashley Manker 404
Shawna West 388
Katie Smith 374
Whitney Clark 359
Amy Mouw 353
Tracy Taylor 350
Kailey Kellner 339
Amanda Allmer 331
Misty Sellgren 331
Taniel Lamb 330
Marie Grasser 321
Mia Littlejohn 317
Amanda Fabrizi 299
Bessie Walstad 288
Hailey Hammer 282
Madeline Strasburg 261
Carly Guillory 260
Sarah Mouw 259
Julie Wieringa 252
Danette Beckley 249
Marlys West 247
Kendra O’Keefe 244
Breeanna Messner 235
Hilary Kortuem 231
Annette Jameson 223
Beth Mouw 216
Lisa Roehl 216
Linda Cheshier 210
Pam Jampsa 202
Julia Myers 202
Kim Warder 193
Kacie Kiel 188
Stephanie Clapp 185
Kassie Lawson 184
Heather Davis 182
Jaime Rasmussen 181
Trudy Eaton 180
Heidi Bepler 179
Jodi Christensen 174
Aimee Messner 168
Danielle Vracin 167
Sherry Bonacci 165
Marie Hesselgrave 165
Marilyn Brown 164
Hayley Ebersole 163
Yashmeen Knox 163
Traci Perkins 161
Suzette Glover 159
Jai’Lysa Hoskins 151
Jennifer Bailey 150
Emily Young 149
Vanessa Bodley 146
Joli Smith 142
Jennie Cross 140
Lindsey Roberts 137 (*)
Taya Boonstra 132
Mikayla Elfrank 128 (*)
Sarah Burgoyne 126
Christi Messner 125
Kayla Lawson 124
Cheryl Dunn 119
Jill Whitney 116
Laurie Estes 114
Debbie Snyder 113
Tiffany Briscoe 111
Lauren Escalle 109
Sally Biskovich 108
Kara Harvey 108
Kelly Snyder 104
Sue Wyatt 100
Lupine Wutzke 98
Monica Vidoni 97
Christine Barr 95
Lauren Grove 95
Babette Owensby 93
Toni Thiefault 92
Jennifer Pettit 85
Laura Young 83
Marnie Bartelson 81
Cheryl Pangburn 79
Courtney Arnold 78
Tonnalea Rasmussen 78
Sharon Jolly 75
Amanda Manker 73
Beth Cavanaugh 72
Kalia Littlejohn 68 (*)
Wynter Thorne 68
Rachelle Solomon 64
Lindsey Sherwood 61
Ann Kahler 60
Chelsea Rosenkrance 59
Judy Wallace 58
Rose Marti 57
Jean Wyatt 57
Jennifer Eelkema 55
Christine Larson 53
Courtney Boyd 52
Kari Johnson 52
Erin Ryan 52
Nicole Shelly 50
Traci Barker 49
Paige Mueller 49
Stephanie Kipp 48
Lynn Wilson 47
Andilee Murphy 46
Janiece Jenkins 43
Mehgan Metlow 43
Jessy Caselden 41
Karen Jampsa 40
Jennifer Meyer 40
Jill Keeney 39
Suzanne Enders 38
Mandi Murdy 37
Shawn Diem 35
Min Powell 35
Lauren Rose 32 (*)
Tammie Hardie 31
Shannon Rutledge 29
Taylor Sherman 29
Anna Myhr 28
Kirsty Croghan 27
Lori Friswold 27
Sarah Vass 27
Kyla Briscoe 26 (*)
Tina Jansen 26
Kim Stuurmans 26
Kathy Jolly 25
Shelby Kulz 25
Melissa Cox 23
Haley Marx 23
Lori Hart 21
Courtney Williams 21
Aleshia McFadyen 20
Nancy Dyer 18
Dina Lanphere 18
McKenzie Bailey 17
Carol Estes 17
Kristina Clark 16
Allison Wenzel 16 (*)
Sarah Wright 16 (*)
Dawn Clampet 15
Lindsey Tucker 13
Jeannette Fixel 12
Tammy Shubat 12
Nikki Snyder 12
Kelly Ankney 11
Naomi Prater 11
Michelle Riddle 11
Emily Wodjenski 11
Alyssa Kelley 10
Zarah Leaman 10
Toni Hudson 9
Georgie Smith 9
Cindy Bennett 8
Susan Estes 8
Ami Garthwaite 8
Eileen Hanley 8
Keri Iverson 8
Kristine Macnab 8
Michelle Smith 8
Carlie Rosenkrance 7
McKayla Bailey 6
Lexi Boyer 6
Rhiannon Ellsworth 6
Debbie Johnson 6
Grace LaPoint 6
Skyler Lawrence 6
Corrin Skvarla 6
Janie Wilson 6
Katy Bennett 5
Penny Griggs 5
Marissa Slater 5
Denise McGregor 4
Jessica Sherwood 4
Kara Warder 4
Christina Mowery 3
Samantha Roehl 3
Jamie Townsdin 3
Brenda Belcher 2
Rusty Brian 2
Carol Davis 2
Lisa Davis 2
Nicole Fuller 2
Cathy Higgins 2
Daisy Kent 2
Katie Kiel 2
Charlotte Langille 2
Tracy Barber 1
Amy Biskovich 1
Corinne Gaddis 1

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They blazed the trail!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, Hall o' Fame, tagged , , , , on July 30, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Coupeville High School girls hoops tipped off in 1974. (Photos courtesy Martha Folsom)

The ’74-’75 squad, which had to go to Fort Casey to practice.

   The high scoring ’86-’87 Wolves, the first CHS girls hoops team to make the playoffs. (Photo courtesy Sherry Roberts)

They were the pioneers.

Today, 43 seasons into its existence, the Coupeville High School girls basketball program is flying high.

The current Wolves have won three straight Olympic League titles (while going 27-0 against conference rivals), and the program has produced numerous big-time stars and hung several state tourney banners over the years.

But all of that success had to start somewhere, and today we’re here to honor two squads which made everything possible.

As we swing open the doors to the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame, we welcome the 1974-1975 and 1986-1987 Wolf girls hoops teams.

After this, you’ll find them hanging out up at the top of the blog, under the Legends tab.

Why those teams?

Because the ’74-’75 squad was the first modern-day team in school history and the ’86-’87 sharpshooters were the first to ever make the playoffs.

With Title IX having shaken things up (finally) in 1972, CHS began to open up opportunities to female athletes.

The school, which already had a strong basketball tradition on the boys side of the court, launched its girls program in 1974 … and promptly sent the players down the road.

While the boys hoops stars practiced in the same gym in which they played their home games, the Wolf girls trekked to Fort Casey for their workouts.

“No heat and the out-of-bounds lines were the walls!,” remembers Martha Folsom.

It wasn’t until 1977 that the Wolf girls finally got a full share of the home gym for practices, but the early road trips didn’t keep players from showing up, as the first squad boasted a full 12-player varsity roster.

While I’m tracking down the history of CHS girls basketball, the ’74-’75 team is still hidden in the shadows a bit.

The Whidbey News-Times elected to not write a single word about that season, and it was only with year two — and the arrival of a new sports writer — that things changed.

So, stat-wise, I haven’t been able to find much yet. But the hunt goes on.

We do have photos and a roster, though, thanks to a school yearbook kept by Folsom.

By the time the ’86-’87 team took the court, the program was more than a decade old and things were starting to take shape.

No Wolf girl topped 150 points in a season until Kristan Hurlburt went off for 263 in 1981-1982.

Two years later Judy Marti set a new mark, pouring in 312 points during her senior season.

Enter the ’86-’87 squad, which scored like no Wolf girls team before it, with two players, Terry Perkins (314) and Marlene Grasser (307) joining Marti in the 300-point club.

Tina Barker (274) just missed making it a trio, while Sarah Powell (141) and Aimee Messner (88) were also scoring threats for a deep, balanced team.

Led by head coach Phyllis Textor, the Wolves finished 15-8 overall, 11-5 in league play, coming within a single win of making it all the way to state in the program’s playoff debut.

The CHS girls finally cracked that barrier in 1998, advancing to the big dance with Willie Smith coaching, before capturing the program’s first state tourney win in 2000.

After that came three state banners (a sixth-place and two eight-place finishes) during Greg Oldham’s tenure, and the Wolf girls have gone back to state as recently as 2016 under David King.

There can be a solid argument made that girls basketball is the most consistently successful sports program at CHS over the past two decades.

But that all started with the athletes we honor today, the ones who broke the playing barrier and the ones who broke the postseason barrier.

So welcome to our little digital shrine.

Inducted together, as teams.

1974-1975 squad:

Brenda Belcher
Suzanne Enders
Martha Folsom
Eileen Hanley
Tammie Hardie
Ann Kahler
Debbie Snyder
Tracy Snyder
Teresa Taylor
Jill Whitney
Janie Wilson
Jean Wyatt

1986-1987 squad:

Tina Barker
Sally Biskovich
Sherry Bonacci
Trudy Eaton
Carol Estes
Marlene Grasser
Aimee Messner
Cheryl Pangburn
Terry Perkins
Sarah Powell

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Littlejohn off on a new adventure!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, Girls Soccer, tagged , , , , , on July 11, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Mia Littlejohn, who scored a school-record 27 goals last season, is transferring to Garfield for her senior season. (John Fisken photos)

   Littlejohn, a bulldog on the basketball court, was a two-time First-Team All-League pick.

The sisterhood is breaking up.

On the field, that is, not off the field.

Mia Littlejohn, who shattered Coupeville High School’s single-season soccer scoring record last year, is transferring to Garfield for her senior year.

Younger sister Kalia, a high-scoring soccer sensation herself, is remaining a Wolf and will be a junior at CHS this fall.

The older sister torched the nets for 27 goals as a junior, besting Abraham Leyva’s previous standard of 20, and was honored as Co-MVP by Olympic League coaches.

Led by Mia’s fiery attacks on the goal, Coupeville finished 8-7-1 overall, 6-3 in league play. Runner-ups to Klahowya, the Wolves set a program record for wins.

Littlejohn was a two-sport standout for the Wolves, running the point for the girls basketball squad.

A three-year letter winner and two-time First-Team All-League player as a hoops star, Mia never lost a league game during her time on the high school basketball court.

Coupeville’s girls are 27-0 in their three years in the conference, with Littlejohn’s pinpoint passes and swooping drives to the bucket a big part of their success.

While she won’t be playing for the Wolves anymore, Mia plans to stay in tune with how her lil’ sis and former teammates are doing.

“I’ll come visit for games, for sure,” Littlejohn said.

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Summer hoops: off-court chillin’!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , , on June 26, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   While waiting for the ferry back home after summer hoops camp, Mikayla Elfrank goes for a little stroll. (Amy King photo)

Summer basketball camp is about far more than wins and losses.

Take a look at the previous article and you’ll get a rundown of how the Coupeville High School girls squad did (scores, stats, etc.) on the court at a recent four-day jaunt to Ocean Shores.

For this story, we turn the mic over to CHS assistant coach/team mom Amy King, for her thoughts on what the camp meant to the players and coaches in terms of intangibles.

We had a kind of strange mix of girls but they all did very well together.

The first part of creating team is to divide the girls into rooms with others they may not really know.

It forces a communication that otherwise may never be there.

The girls in each room had to come up with a cool door poster – something fun and creative. Work together in who they are.

Next, David (King) is mentioning a chip – we were at a coaches clinic a few weeks back and this was a great idea that we really wanted to try.

Each side has a theme to it (on one side the name of someone who inspires them, on the other a word which describes the player), so we broke up each side onto different nights.

The girls listened to what we were saying and really put thought into it.

Every one could ask any player or coach what their chip represented to them.

Their explanations for their chip were well thought out, nicely explained and meant a lot to each of us.

The other side was done as well as the first.

Just listening to each girl with their process and answers were very touching and made us so happy to have decided on this particular exercise.

Our beach time — this year it was actually very windy and cold but we had a time slot in between games and took it.

The teams were five girls on each team. Their task? Work together to build a great sand sculpture.

Oh, and we threw in a few surprises this year — one team got a pack of dinosaurs and the other, barn animals. Oh, and two characters to try and fit in.

The girls threw themselves into their work, running around the beach looking for shells or wood to add to their sculptures.

Both unique and impressive in their own way. Each with a story behind it.

This year we established “Story Time with Coach King,” just little stories to give the team something else to think about.

The first story was Mr. King and Mongoose Mentality. It was based on how all these little mongooses come together to defeat the cobra.

The next day was Mrs. King and an original story in poem format, recapturing a playoff game she was a part of — the emotions before, during and after.

Basically talking about holding each other and yourself accountable for your own game.

Aside from all of this, we had spotlighting after each game (each player pointing out one positive from the game to a teammate).

After this we threw a new wrench in — self awareness. Say one thing that you did well.

Talk about difficult. We found it was not easy for the girls to tell themselves they did something well.

That was a whole other discussion, but after the first few times, they did get better.

The coaches and our one crazy fan (Sherry Roberts) participated in all.

From this, to the games, the camp was definitely a success.

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Summer hoops: on-court thrillin’!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , on June 26, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Ten Wolves made the trek to Ocean Shores for a four-day summer hoops camp. (Amy King photo)

Survive and thrive.

Coupeville High School girls basketball coach David King did just that last week, joining with wife Amy and #1 fan Sherry Roberts to guide 10 players through 10 games over four action-packed days at a summer hoops camp in Ocean Shores.

The annual trip offers non-stop court action (the Wolves played as early as 9 AM and tipped one game at 10:45 PM), plus a chance to work on behind the scenes bonding and learning.

It’s a trip the round-ball guru sees as invaluable for those who take advantage.

“We play to win, however we believe camp is so much more than that,” King said. “We have team bonding (beach time, in between and late night talks), new players to get up to speed, players playing in new positions, trying out new offensive and defensive sets.

“We also want the players to push themselves out of their comfort zone and expand their games,” he added. “With those being our goals and purpose for camp, we got better as individuals and as a team! A very successful camp.”

Coupeville split its ten games (nine varsity, one JV), bouncing Wahluke, Onalaska, PS Advent, Concrete and Adna’s JV squad.

In many of the wins, it was strong play after the break which tipped the scales in favor of the Wolves.

“We seemed to be a better second-half team,” King said. “We outscored the other team or played even in some of our losses. And in some of our wins we came back from a deficit to win.”

The most impressive rally came against Wahluke, with the Wolves charging from 12 points down in the game’s final four minutes to win a 28-27 thriller.

“Helped by a halftime speech from Coach Amy, the players dug deep and turned up the defensive pressure,” David King said. “We pressed, played great half-court defense and scored on our fast breaks.”

Even in tough losses to top-level teams, the CHS coaches came away happy with their player’s efforts and attitudes.

“Those games were as impressive for us as our one-point win,” King said. “The players never quit.

“We saw multiple players take huge strides in their confidence and increase their skill set.”

Coupeville ran its offense very efficiently, something King preaches.

“One of the proudest moments I had, on multiple occasions, was in our offense,” he said. “We always talk about making that one extra pass, on the fast break or in our half-court offense. Over the four days we saw this almost every game.

“We saw each player play for the other players. In the past that’s not always been the case,” King added. “Each player did step out of their comfort areas and did things that we knew they could, but they weren’t too sure about.”

Six Wolves scored in double figures during the tourney, led by Lindsey Roberts, who knocked down 45, and Kyla Briscoe, who torched the nets for 39.

Roberts led the squad with 67 rebounds, while Mikayla Elfrank paced CHS in steals (20) and blocks (five).

Some thoughts from the coach on each of the Wolves who made the trip:

Tia Wurzrainer:

Had a very successful camp that she can build off of.

We saw her diving in for rebounds, with one being an offensive rebound put-back. She also put the ball on the floor and drove for a layup attempt.

Her defense in our 1-2-2 zone was something to see!

Mikayla Elfrank:

Was unable to play on Monday (recovering from wisdom teeth being pulled). But the energy and effort she brought the other three days picked up our team.

One area Mikayla and I talk about is playing in control. This camp we saw improvement in her game in this area.

Mollie Bailey:

As each day passed became more comfortable handling the ball and improved on her defense.

Playing in a varsity setting against older girls she held down the PG position when we had her there.

She also looked for her shot; this is something I wanted her to work on.

Avalon Renninger:

Played about every position there is.

She was able to pull up and shoot her jumper off the dribble. She gained confidence in her half-court decision making abilities.

Seeing Avalon make a mistake, then quickly recognizing it on her own and making the necessary adjustments was exciting to witness.

Hannah Davidson:

After not playing since her last game in early Dec., brought energy every time she stepped on the court, along with off the court!

She fit right in, picked up our new plays and quickly had our old plays down. She just needs more court time and her game will take off.

Genna Wright:

Brought hustle and grit. Her confidence increased with each game.

During one game she had the ball on the baseline and confidently backed her defender down into the low block and got a shot off. Not many young players would do that.

Kyla Briscoe:

Helped with steady play from the point guard position. She didn’t stop there, she played in the post and on the wing.

Kyla impressed all camp with looking for her shot and actually taking it. She drove with a purpose and knocked down many outside shots.

Nicole Lester:

Coming to camp was beneficial for her. This was her first team camp and she represented Coupeville well.

Almost daily she would ask what she should work on for the upcoming game. We also talked about her playing at times with finesse on the offensive end.

She wants to be the best she can and camp showed that she is willing to ask for help and then apply the feedback in a game.

Scout Smith:

Came in with the most experience as a point guard.

The main thing I asked of her to work on was to be a leader on the court. Be confident and a coach for the others on the court when she’s out there.

I can say, she did that and did it very well. Offensively she drove the lane with a purpose and had multiple runners that dropped.

Lindsey Roberts:

Stepped up as a leader. She like many others played multiple positions, even PG (last year I would have gotten the Lindsey stare).

As always, her defense is second to none.

Her offense took big strides for the positive. At times she slowed herself down before making a basketball play. When open she shot her jumper, and when appropriate she drove.

The drive is something that will improve her game in the long run.

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