Wynter Thorne (left) works on her game during an open gym. (John Fisken photos)
Julia Myers (far left), Monica Vidoni (42) and Madeline Strasburg return for their senior season, while Amanda Fabrizi (far right) has left for college.
“As a team, our goals are set high.”
With much of the core of last year’s squad — the winningest of Whidbey’s six high school hoops squads — back for another go-round, this time bolstered by what could be an impressive freshman class, Coupeville High School girls’ basketball coach David King is optimistic.
“We can do some good things this season; it starts with every player dedicating each day to get better as a team and to improve their individual game,” King said. “Our goals, from my perspective, are to compete every game and play hard from the start of each game until the final horn at the end of a game.
“I believe we can finish in one of the top two spots in our league. Getting a home court play-off game is something we are striving for,” he added. “And we coach and play to get to state.”
A year ago, the Wolves won 10 games, including a thrilling home playoff victory over Meridian.
Now, they are primed to kick off their first season in the new 1A Olympic League.
King’s and ATM are gone from the schedule, and Coupeville will play three games against each of its new rivals — Port Townsend, Klahowya and Chimacum.
How that will play out is one of the great unknowns.
“There’s always a learning curve for a team that moves into a new league,” King said. “If we put the effort and work in up front and run our defense and offense like we should, then we will fit right in with this new league.
“We are excited to see how we do against more 1A teams, even though I will miss playing against the bigger schools in the Cascade Conference.”
On paper Klahowya is probably the team to beat, since it’s the biggest school by far and is coming off an especially strong fall season. Of course, the games are played on the court and not on paper.
“I always believe in our team and what we can accomplish,” King said. “Klahowya seems to have done well in both soccer and volleyball, so they may be the team to beat. Port Townsend and Chimacum had good athletes on soccer and volleyball as well.
“I think after we get through a game with each team, then we will have a better idea on who the team to beat would be.”
For now, he and assistant coach Amy King will focus on their own team, one that lost only two players (Breeanna Messner and Amanda Fabrizi) to graduation.
However, those two were battle-tested captains who had started playing for the Kings before high school. Who will step up and take the mantle of leadership is a prime question.
“Both Breeanna and Amanda are going to be hard to replace. They understood what I wanted out of them as players and what we as a team needed to do to get to where we wanted to be as a team,” King said. “Replacing the five years of experience we had together on the basketball court is tough.
“However, we have some very capable players to step in and fill the roles,” he added. “Kacie (Kiel) has been a huge driving force with the off-season open gyms and with the fall team. I expect her to continue to take on a leadership role.
“Makana (Stone) gained experience playing on a club team that traveled to Chicago, Tennessee and California to play against some very good competition. She will be able to draw on these experiences and help guide our program through the learning and playing against tougher competition. Maddie (Strasburg) has been a vocal leader since she stepped onto the court as a freshman; I don’t see this changing with her.
“I have seen a maturity in the other seniors and some underclassmen,” he added. “I can see others emerging as leaders as the season progresses.”
Coupeville returns seven players with varsity experience, led by Stone, a First-Team All-Cascade Conference player as a sophomore.
The lightning-quick junior, a two-way terror who “will see time at all five positions,” will be joined by seniors Kiel (point guard/wing), Strasburg (point guard), Julia Myers (post), Hailey Hammer (post), Monica Vidoni (post) and Wynter Thorne (post/wing).
Along with Messner and Fabrizi, two other varsity players from 2013-2014 have vanished from the roster (McKayla Bailey is injured and Carlie Rosenkrance moved), opening spots up for what could be an intense battle.
“Every player has an opportunity to prove why they should be on the varsity team,” King said. “They have to show this not just during the first week during tryouts, but each and every day throughout the season.
“This is based on the following: attitude, team first, give 100% effort every day, be defensive minded, willingness to learn, make the necessary adjustments to improve your game and, of course, skill.”
Junior McKenzie Bailey and sophomores Lauren Grove and Kailey Kellner are expected to be among the leading contenders for other varsity slots, but, as with the start of any new season, there is always an air of excitement hanging over who might emerge from the heat of battle.
And one of the most intriguing story-lines could emerge from the freshman class and how quickly those players develop.
“There are six incoming freshman that show potential and are athletic,” King said. “Each has something to bring and help improve our program. It will be good to see how they improve over the season against high school competition.”
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