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Archive for the ‘Girls Basketball’ Category

Lose? I think not!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , , on January 30, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Lauren Rose (John Fisken photos)

Lauren Rose is showing five fingers, one for each victory in Coupeville’s current winning streak. (John Fisken photos)

Skyler Lawrence sparked the Wolves with 11 points and seven boards Friday.

Skyler Lawrence sparked the Wolves with 11 points and seven boards Friday.

ABC. Always be closing.

While it’s very possible none of the eight young women on the Coupeville High School JV girls’ basketball team have every heard of, much less seen, the 1992 salesmen-going-crazy film  “Glengarry Glen Ross,” they lived out its credo Friday night.

Refusing to buckle after visiting Klahowya used a 12-2 fourth quarter run to snatch away the lead, the Wolves pulled off a flawless final minute to net their fifth straight win.

Closing on a 7-1 surge, with two buckets coming off of steals and another off of a ferocious offensive rebound, CHS snagged a frantic 40-35 win that would have left Wolf coach Amy King hoarse, if she wasn’t already losing her voice to a cold.

Now a shiny 11-5 overall, 6-0 in Olympic League play, Coupeville got the win by remaining composed, remaining focused and being stone-cold, bad-ass assassins.

When your nine-point lead slips away and the clock won’t run out fast enough to save you, most teams would crumble.

Not the Wolves.

A 31-22 lead turned into a 34-33 deficit in a mere heartbeat, the game seemingly slipping away.

Then Coupeville slammed the brakes on. Hard.

Kailey Kellner shredded two defenders to snag an offensive rebound, putting it back up and in to reclaim the lead, before steals by Lauren Rose and Tiffany Briscoe broke Klahowya’s back.

Rose fed Kyla Briscoe, who banged home a layup.

With Coupeville pressing the ball-handler, the Eagles panicked, allowing Tiffany Briscoe to go airborne on the next play, pick off a pass Richard Sherman-style, and find Kellner for the punctuation mark.

The final 60 seconds mirrored the way the first half had ended.

After struggling out of the gate — the JV played second Friday and it seemed to throw both teams off a bit in the opening minutes — Coupeville closed the half on a 10-3 run to take a 17-16 lead in at the half.

Lauren Grove banked home a jumper, then cut inside and took a pass from Skyler Lawrence for a quick layup, while Lawrence scored six during the run.

The final bucket was a marvel of passing, as the Wolves whipped the ball around the perimeter before Lawrence banked home a shot over two defenders that left her fingers a mere micro-second before the buzzer sounded.

With Kellner, the team’s leading scorer, slowed a bit by illness, Lawrence stepped up to fill the gap, dropping in a team-high 11 points.

She got plenty of support, as Kyla Briscoe (8), Grove (6), Tiffany Briscoe (5), Kellner (5, all in the game’s final minute), Rose (4) and Allison Wenzel (1) all chipped in.

Brisa Herrera was the lone Wolf to not make the scoring column, but the freshman was a feisty fighter in the rebounding pit.

While she saved her scoring for crunch time, Kellner did snag 10 boards and make off with three steals. Grove and Lawrence each hauled in seven boards.

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Buy the banner!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , , , on January 30, 2015| Leave a Comment »

"Give me the ball, dude! Give me the rock!! I am so on fire I can score with my eyes shut!!" (John Fisken photo)

   Maddie Big Time (with water bottle) is feeling it. “Give me the ball, dude! Give me the rock!! I am so on fire I can score with my eyes shut!!” (John Fisken photos)

celebrate

The Wolf bench (or part of it, at least) celebrates.

David King’s favorite number is 13.

So, how perfect was it that the Coupeville High School girls’ basketball coach was up on his feet near the end of the game Friday night, still shouting words of wisdom while trying to stay composed and not grin in an unseemly manner as his team snapped a school’s 13-year dry spell.

Crushing visiting Klahowya 51-32 in a game they controlled from opening tip to final buzzer, the Wolves won for the sixth time in their last seven games and officially clinched the inaugural 1A Olympic League title.

Now 12-5 overall, 6-0 in league play, this Coupeville squad accomplished something no other Wolf hoops squad, girls or boys, has done since 2002.

And they did it with fire and passion, ten girls working as one nearly flawless unit.

Seven Wolves scored and every player made an impact on a night they will remember for a very long time.

There was a crackle in the air 45 minutes before tip-off, as senior Madeline Strasburg stormed from one end of the court to the other, slamming the ball against the hardwood, spinning around her teammates like a tornado unleashed.

Then the game tipped off and the tornado opened a can of whup-ass.

Throwing down 10 points in the opening quarter, including two three-point bombs and a line drive pull-up jumper that went down so hot it melted the net, Maddie Big Time presented a new wrinkle to Klahowya.

Injured and operating as an unpaid assistant coach the first time these teams met — a Coupeville win on the road in Dec. — Strasburg has the hop back in her step and the fire re-lit in her gut, and the frazzled Eagles were not prepared for her.

Toss in the fact nearly every shot was dropping for the Wolves in the opening eight minutes, and the game was all but decided at 20-3 by the time the first break came around.

Hailey Hammer banked home six points in support of Strasburg, while Julia Myers and Kacie Kiel each popped long jumpers from the side, as Coupeville dominated without getting a single point from its leading scorer.

That changed, in a hurry, when Makana Stone seized control of the middle chunk of the game.

Throwing down buckets left and right, the quicksilver junior poured in 23 points over the middle two quarters, scoring all but two of Coupeville’s points during that stretch.

Between Kacie Kiel snagging a ball out of the air and banking it home early in the second quarter and Strasburg hitting a free throw to open the fourth, Stone scored 22 consecutive Wolf points.

Her best play — and there were plenty to choose from — came when she snagged a rebound, turned and airmailed it the length of the court to a teammate out in front of the break.

But wait. There’s more.

The teammate, trying to veer around a scrambling defender, rolled the potential layup off the rim.

At which point Stone came flying through the paint untouched, having taken off at a dead sprint after throwing the outlet pass and covered the entire floor while the play unfolded, yanked the ball free and put the rebound home.

Jaws are still on the ground and may not be reattached for several days.

While the slam dunk choice for Olympic League MVP had her usual high-quality night, adding 13 rebounds, four assists and three steals to her two-quarter scoring explosion spectacular, every one of her teammates had their moments in the spotlight.

Monica Vidoni fought like a wild woman in the paint, hauling down six boards and forcing the Eagles to take most of their shots from the outside.

Wynter Thorne and McKenzie Bailey were aggressive ball-hawks, swing player Kailey Kellner dropped in a dead-eye three-pointer and freshman Mia Littlejohn swished a gorgeous little tear drop runner while elevating through the paint.

Hammer’s court presence and smarts, Kiel’s scrappiness and sheer joy at running the court, Myers’ defensive enforcement and the two-headed scoring juggernaut of Stone and Strasburg just put the cherry on top of the cake.

And, not to be forgotten, the wonder team of CHS coaches David and Amy King, who in less than three full seasons, have turned the Wolf girls into THE premier hoops program on Whidbey Island.

Together, ten young women playing as one, and the two coaches who have gotten them to buy into that idea, reached up to hoops heaven Friday night.

There are more games to come — three regular season games and pursuit of a perfect league mark — then entrance into the playoffs as a #1 seed.

Friday night was only a step on the journey, not the ultimate destination.

But what a sweet, sweet step it was for a team, a school, a town that hasn’t made that step in a very, very long time.

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One team, one destiny!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , , on January 29, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Your Coupeville Wolves girls' basketball team, a moment away from being the 2014-2015 Olympic League champs. (John Fisken photos)

   Your Coupeville Wolves girls’ varsity basketball team, a moment away from being the 2014-2015 Olympic League champs. (John Fisken photos)

The moment is now.

It has been 13 years since a Coupeville High School basketball team won a league title.

That is a very long time, especially in teenage lives.

This year’s seniors were kindergarteners when a Wolf girls’ hoops squad that included Ashley Ellsworth-Bagby, Brianne King, the Lamb sisters and a young, shot-blocking whippersnapper named Lexie Black captured a 2001-2002 Northwest League banner.

Since that time, nada for Wolf hoops.

There have been good teams, even very good teams (the Wolf boys were 16-5 in 2009-2010), but no league titles, boys or girls.

Friday night (4:45 varsity tip-off) that can, and will, change.

When (not if) the Wolves step on their home floor and put their collective feet down in one emphatic stamp, beating Klahowya and sending a message that this is their time, history will be made.

A victory and Coupeville would be 6-0 in Olympic League play, holding a three-game lead over Klahowya with three to play, and owners of the tiebreaker over the Eagles.

That’s not the end, of course.

This team has more stories to write. More mountains to conquer.

They would be 12-5, which would tie them for the program’s most wins in the last nine seasons. They would sit three games away from a perfect 9-0 debut in their new league.

The playoffs beckon, as well. And a chance to make more history.

Four of this year’s basketball players (Madeline Strasburg, Monica Vidoni, Hailey Hammer and Kailey Kellner, who was a manager) went to state last spring as softball players.

It was Coupeville’s first trip in 12 years, since, yep, the glory girls of 2002.

It hasn’t been as long a gap for basketball, but it has been a gap.

The last Wolf hoops squad to punch its ticket to the big dance was the 2005-2006 team, which lost both its games. That capped a run where CHS girls’ hoops made it to state six times in nine years, bringing home three top-eight banners.

They want to go back. They need to go back.

From the start, though, it has been small steps building into big steps. Reaching a goal, celebrating it, but not looking ahead until there is the next target in place.

Right now, right here, that target is Klahowya in a little over 31 hours.

It is a moment a long time coming. A moment that should be honored.

Skip out early on work. Whatever you are doing, put if off for later.

Be there.

Fill the stands, with every man, woman, child and farm animal that hails from Cow Town.

Be loud ‘n proud. Be there for the pride of your town, for your young women, as they rise up and achieve something a long time coming.

And to you, Makana, Hailey, Mia, Monica, Kacie, Wynter, McKenzie, Julia, Madeline and Kailey, this is your moment. Your time. Your memories waiting to be made.

You have this. It is yours. If you want it badly enough.

Make every pass count. Every shot matter. Every defensive assignment not just a job, but an obsession.

Rise up and make this night your night. Make YOUR gym rattle.

We are all witnesses to what you are going to accomplish.

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Welcome to blowout city!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , on January 28, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Tiffany Briscoe had her "best offensive game of the season

Tiffany Briscoe outscored Chimacum by herself Tuesday. (John Fisken photo)

Some nights, everything goes right.

Every shot you throw up goes in. Every defensive wrinkle you throw at a team works. The water even tastes better.

Tuesday night was that kind of nirvana for the Coupeville High School JV girls’ basketball team, which massacred host Chimacum 44-4 in a game that could have been much, much worse.

The Wolves pulled back midway through the third, however, trying to run clock, work on plays and not embarrass the Cowboys any more than necessary.

The team’s fourth straight win, it lifted the young guns to 10-5 on the season, 5-0 in Olympic League play.

And it was over fairly quickly, as Coupeville stormed out to a 12-0 lead after the opening quarter.

Even though things didn’t quite work out the way Wolf coach Amy King had it planned.

“Our goal was to jump up quickly on the board, then have a chance to make our first attempt at a press. I told the girls we would press after our first score,” she said. “Of course, it was several times up and down the court before we would score and then just about everyone just ran down the floor, forgetting all about the press.

“We finally got it though, and once we started, the press just flowed beautifully.”

With Kyla Briscoe, Lauren Grove and Lauren Rose harassing Chimacum at every turn, the Wolves spent most of the night scoring off of steals and quick transitions.

When it did have to work the ball around on offense, Coupeville benefited greatly from a more-assertive Tiffany Briscoe.

Normally a terror on defense, she accepted the call to duty on the offensive end in this game, as well.

“Tiffany loves defense … but not so much love for offense,” King said. “We have been working her over pretty good telling her she needs to play a full game – both ends of the court.

“Tonight she was driving, fighting for rebound put backs and just taking the opportunity to score. It was so nice!”

Every one of the eight Wolves brought a smile to their coach’s face on this night.

“These girls really are just playing so well right now,” King said. “Very happy with them all.

“Allison (Wenzel) was everywhere on defense and fought for everything,” she added. “Brisa (Herrera) has really stepped up her game too; she has been grabbing rebounds and following Skyler (Lawrence’s) lead with grabbing onto the ball, trying for steals or causing jump balls.”

Kailey Kellner paced the offense with 11 points before swinging up to join the varsity, with Tiffany Briscoe (10), Grove (9), Rose (5), Herrera (4), Lawrence (3) and Wenzel (2) rounding out the scorers.

Kyla Briscoe snatched eight rebounds and made off with four steals to help spark the super-charged Wolf defense, with big sis Tiffany (six rebounds), Kellner (5) and Lawrence (5) also hitting the boards hard.

Lawrence had a team-high six steals.

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One win from a title!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , , on January 27, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Makana Stone (John Fisken photo)

Makana Stone threw down an 18-point, 7-rebound, 7-steal performance Tuesday. (John Fisken photo)

The team of destiny is seizing its moment.

Sparked by a game-high 18 points from Makana Stone, the Coupeville High School girls’ basketball team drilled host Chimacum 46-22 Tuesday night, moving within sight of its first league title since 2002.

The victory, the team’s seventh in its last nine games, lifted the Wolves to 11-5 overall, 5-0 in Olympic League play.

Combined with Klahowya’s 44-43 loss to previously winless Port Townsend, it gives Coupeville a two-game lead with four to play.

Win Friday at home against Klahowya (3-2) and the Wolves clinch the title.

They would have a three-game lead with three to play and having already beaten the Eagles once, would own the tiebreaker.

Chimacum and Port Townsend are 1-4 and both have already lost twice to Coupeville.

The aggressive Wolves jumped all over their hosts Tuesday, rattling the Cowboys with pressure on their ball-handlers. Speeding up the game, Coupeville bolted out to a 15-2 lead after one quarter.

“Took control from the beginning,” Wolf coach David King said. “Solid defense and getting some easy buckets put us out front.”

Stone roared with a quick seven points in the first eight minutes, while three other teammates chipped in on the offensive explosion.

Madeline Strasburg arced in a dagger of a three-point bomb, while Julia Myers banged home another three points and Monica Vidoni dropped in a bucket of her own.

While Coupeville was hitting its shots, it was the defense that broke Chimacum’s spirit in the early going.

The Cowboys went the entire first half without a field goal, managing just a pair of free throws, as the Wolves rolled into the locker room up 25-2.

Stone dropped in another four points in the second quarter, while freshman point guard Mia Littlejohn broke off the best play in her team’s second run.

“Mia had a steal midway through the period, took the ball up the middle and scored on a runner in the key,” King said. “Mia had a productive game. She had other opportunities to score, but didn’t get the ball to drop.

“She had a good defensive game, finished with three steals and a very nice block on a jump shot.”

With a large lead, the Wolves started to coast a bit in the second half, a trait which King would like to see them lose.

“Coming out of halftime, we seemed to be going through the motions and struggled,” he said. “We just didn’t play solid on both ends. Turnovers, and not making the basic play hurt us. We also stopped moving the ball on the offensive end.”

Coupeville picked it back up in the fourth, led by Hailey Hammer, who went for all eight of her points in the quarter.

While he was happy with the win, King would like to see his squad maintain its focus for 32 minutes.

“We need to tighten things up on both ends of the court,” he said. “We can’t continue to have these lapses during the game when we aren’t playing good defense, or our offense becomes predictable.

“I was pleased with our effort in the first half, but would have liked to see us bring that same energy in the second half.”

Coupeville controlled the boards to a 30-15 tune, with Stone snatching seven and Hammer hauling in six.

Myers (eight points), Strasburg (five points, four rebounds, two steals), Littlejohn (three points, three steals), Kacie Kiel (two points, two steals) and Wynter Thorne (four rebounds) all filled up the stat sheet, while Stone tossed in seven steals and two blocks to go with her team highs in points and rebounds.

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