Coupeville Sports

              Sitting, l to r, Tiffany Briscoe, Jae LeVine, coach Brett Smedley. Standing, Valen Trujillo, Lauren Grove, Carlie Rosenkrance, Mattea Miller, Skyler Lawrence. (Mindy Grove photo).

I had a flashback recently.

There was a moment in a Coupeville Middle School girls’ basketball game recently, when Wolf 8th grader Valen Trujillo went for a loose ball and it was like I was back in the early ’90s again, and it was glorious.

In the moment Trujillo ripped the ball out of her opponent’s hands with such violent force that she lifted the other girl off the ground and deposited her several feet from where she had involuntarily left the court, I saw Jodi Christensen again.

Christensen, now a mild-mannered mom operating under the married name of Crimmins, was an incredibly nice young woman off the court and a wild beast between the lines. She didn’t play dirty, but she freaked people out — including some of her own teammates — with her intensity.

Somewhere Marlys (West) Holmes is still flinching.

Jodi came after you like a rabid dog, and there was nowhere to hide. The ball belonged to her and nothing was going to stop her from obtaining it.

She was a walking, talking collection of bruises, eliciting screams as she barreled into benches, bounced off walls and laid herself on the line every second she played. Then, as other players counted their fingers and toes to make sure they were all there, she would stroll away with a happy smile on her beaming face.

Which is EXACTLY what Trujillo does. Every single glorious time.

I say glorious because next year is going to be Hell on Earth for Coupeville High School opponents.

Some teams may come to town with more talent, but if the players from this year’s 8th grade squad mesh with the back alley brawlers who were on the high school JV team, those other teams will also leave town shaky and nervous, like the King’s 8th grader who ran crying from the gym this season.

You take McKayla “Turtle Shell” Bailey and her scrappers (Kacie Kiel, Wynter Thorne, Emily “I Will Rip Your Head Off” Coulter, etc.) and pit them against Trujillo, Skyler Lawrence, Tiffany Briscoe and Co., and you may have some wild practices.

Lawrence is like a vacuum cleaner on the boards, refuses to let anyone strip the ball and hustles her rear off. When your post player is out at the front of the break on almost every play, that is commitment.

Lauren Grove and Mattea Miller come almost as hard as Trujillo does, Carlie Rosenkrance brings the offense and while Jae LeVine may be the smallest girl on the court, she buzzes all over the place and NEVER backs down on defense. Plus her three-point dance is the best.

With the team leaders being Breeanna Messner and Amanda Fabrizi (they may be cheerleaders, but Fabrizi kicked a girl in the HEAD this year — sort of by accident — and Messner’s pink shoes can’t disguise a cold-blooded killer on the court), the Wolves will be, if nothing else, seriously scrappy next season.

They will be like a pack of Jodi Christensen’s, varsity and JV.

Just they way they should be.

Read Full Post »

Katrina McGranahan skies for the opening tip in the day’s best game. (Justine McGranahan photos)

         Mia Littlejohn shoots a free-throw as Sage Renninger (14) watches.

Even in foul trouble, McGranahan is all smiles.

OK, technically it was a split.

Playing their final games of the season Wednesday in the spotlight of the big gym, the Coupeville Middle School girls’ basketball teams won two and lost two to visiting arch-rival Langley.

But what everyone will take away from Wednesday is Wolf fans storming the floor after Mia Littlejohn slayed the highly-favored beast from the South, driving the length of the court to cap the 7th grade varsity game with a game-clinching layup under considerable pressure.

The final two of her game-high 17 points, the bucket lifted Coupeville to a 29-28 win, its third straight triumph.

Add in an 8-3 win for the 7th grade JV and narrow losses for both 8th grade squads (25-15 for the varsity and 10-4 for the JV), and the finale was a barn-burner for everyone in the stands.

Which did not include me, as I had to work…

“You missed a GREAT game!,” said an excited 7th grade coach Sarah Stuurmans. “Could have ended terrible, but, for once, we came out on TOP!!!!!!!!

“Can you tell I was excited?!?! It could not have ended better,” she added. “We ended the season with three straight wins and hopefully that motivates the girls to keep going and get some extra time in the gym.”

With Littlejohn juking the Langley players out of their high-tops, pouring in eight points in the early going, Coupeville jumped out to an 11-6 lead.

A tough foe refused to go away, however, turning the contest into a back-and-forth affair. Down by four with two minutes to play, Langley surged and took the lead back at 28-27 after a series of free throws.

Enter the unflappable Littlejohn, who took the ball, bull-rushed the backpedaling defense and threw in the eventual game-winner with six ticks of the clock left.

That actually left Langley with a chance to pull of their own stunner, but a traveling call with 1.1 seconds to go killed their hopes and sent Coupeville fans into a tizzy.

“Geez, you should have been there!” said Stuurmans. “TOTAL upset and the fans stormed the floor. It really was fantastic.”

Despite battling foul trouble, Katrina McGranahan went for six points to back up Littlejohn, while Kyla Briscoe popped for three, Sage Renninger banked in two and Lauren Rose swished a free-throw to round out the scoring.

The key to the win, however, was the team’s defense, Stuurmans said. Renninger continually thwarted Langley’s best scorer, while Rose pilfered six steals in the second half.

Briscoe, Rose, Mckenzie Meyer and Payton Aparicio rotated through numerous positions due to foul trouble and mismatches on the court due to size and all sparkled. Adding a final dimension was Kameryn St Onge, who came up from the JV and “played AMAZING defense on their post,” shutting her down in the second half.

7th grade JV: Dropping some harsh ‘d’ on the visitors, the Wolves bounced their rivals out of the gym.

“There was a lot of physical play, steals, and turnovers,” Stuurmans said. “But we were playing so hard on defense and truly the ball was in our court most of the 14 minutes.”

St Onge paced Coupeville with four points while Hope Lodell and Ashley Smith each dropped in a bucket.

8th grade JV: Rebounding nicely from the first time these two schools met (a 30-4 Langley win the first time around), the Wolves were paced by Erin Josue, who scored all four of Coupeville’s points.

8th grade varsity: Carlie Rosenkrance’s shot-making and scrappy defense helped keep the Wolves close, but a late run by Langley doomed Coupeville. The visitors used a a 10-3 fourth-quarter run to bust open what had been a close game for three quarters.

Read Full Post »

Katrina McGranahan, big-time scorer. (Justine McGranahan photo)

McGranahan and Sage Renninger control the paint. (Kevin McGranahan photo)

Mia Littlejohn took a shot to the face, but Katrina McGranahan got some revenge for her teammate.

Capping a wild trip to Granite Falls Monday, the Coupeville Middle School 7th grade varsity girls’ basketball squad destroyed their hosts 27-7. With McGranahan pouring in a season-high 14 to double up her foes by herself, the Wolves ran wild.

Well, at least when they weren’t being hit in the face.

Guarding the inbound pass on one play, the always-scrappy Littlejohn had her bell rung by a frustrated passer.

“Mia got a fat lip because a Granite Falls girl hit her in the face with the ball,” said Coupeville coach Sarah Stuurmans. “Literally hit her in the face, holding on to the ball. Not a pass.”

Facing a very physical opponent, the Wolves countered by controlling the boards. With the inside duo of McGranahan and Sage Renninger, who pumped in eight points of her own, patrolling the paint, the host Tigers had little chance to stage a comeback.

“Awesome rebounding and an adjusted zone offense sparked the Katrina show,” Stuurmans said. “We ran some great fast breaks and focused on getting the ball into the post.”

Lauren Rose dropped in three, while Littlejohn settled for two. Two JV girls (Kameryn St Onge and Ashley Smith) moved up and got quality minutes, as well.

“They played great defense and held their own,” Stuurmans said. “It was good playing time for them and they got some time on the court.”

Coupeville wraps the girls’ middle school season Wednesday, March 13 with a home game against Langley. Being the finale, it will be in the high school gym and action starts an hour earlier at 2 PM.

8th grade loses:

The 8th grade varsity was nipped 39-29. Since coach Brett Smedley never sends us any info, that’s all you get…

Read Full Post »

     Katrina McGranahan catches some air during the opening tip. (Justine McGranahan photos)

Kyla Briscoe hauls in a rebound.

McGranahan gets back on defense.

It may not have been pretty, but it was winning basketball.

Playing against rough-and-tumble teams in Sultan (what a surprise…) Wednesday, the Coupeville Middle School girls’ basketball squads eventually limped out of town with a few more bruises and three wins in four games.

The Wolf 8th graders split a pair of games, with the JV storming back to win 5-4, while the varsity lost 28-16.

Down 4-0, Coupeville pulled out the JV win by scoring the final five points on a bucket by Robin Cedillo and three points from Naika Hallam.

It was the 7th grade squads that laid down a whuppin’, however, as the JV blanked Sultan 12-0 and the varsity clamped down defensively on its way to a 15-4 win that should have been much bigger.

Sparked by a run of steals, the JV stormed the hoop and spread the wealth. Emma Blanchette and Brittany Powers each popped for four, while Kameryn St Onge and Allison Wenzel each dropped in a bucket.

The 7th grade varsity ramped up their defensive pressure considerably, employing a full-court press for the first time this season, and it paid immediate dividends.

“Their team could not have had more than eight shots the whole night,” said Coupeville coach Sarah Stuurmans. “We either stole the ball or caused a turnover on about 95% of their possessions.”

However, poor shooting by the Wolves allowed them to run their full-court press longer than anticipated. Middle school teams aren’t allowed to press if they’re up by 10 or more points, something which didn’t come into play thanks to numerous missed shots.

“It really was almost comical, if I wasn’t the coach,” Stuurmans said. “It could not have been a worse shooting night for us.

“We could not get that ball in the hoop,” she added. “It was not for a lack of trying. I sincerely wish I could get an official count on missed shots. It had to be close to 80.”

With offensive rebound after offensive rebound, it ended up not mattering, as enough shots dropped through in the end.

Mia Littlejohn rained down 11 points to pace the Wolves, while Sage Renninger and Katrina McGranahan each chipped in with a bucket.

Poor shooting or not, a win is a win, and this one had many moments Stuurmans could appreciate.

“Either way, the positives are that we played amazing defense, anticipated passes, and did outstanding offensive rebounding. It was rare for us to get less than two shots on each possession,” she said. “We played through some very physical play and not a single girl quit or complained. I was very proud about that.”

Read Full Post »

Mia Littlejohn shooting a free-throw. (Justine McGranahan photos)

Mia Littlejohn is a baller.

Her Coupeville Middle School teammates play ball, certainly, but Littlejohn has the strut in her step, the wiggle in her dribble and a combination of explosiveness and the get-out-of-my-way looks she often delivers to those foolish enough to guard her.

And any referee dumb enough to make a call she disagrees with.

She plays like she stepped off a school yard in Jersey, and I mean that in the best way possible.

Like older brother Zepher Loesch, a star in his days in the red and black, Littlejohn has an edge most Wolf players simply never develop.

There are moments when it can get her into trouble on the court, when she tries to put the entire team on her back and play 1-on-5, but good lord is it nice to see a kid in a Coupeville jersey believe they CAN go 1-on-5.

You can see that belief, that attitude of “We don’t care if your jersey says King’s!” seep over into her teammates.

7th grade running mate Mckenzie Meyer has a good dose of it, and the 8th grade bruisers (Valen Trujillo, Skyler Lawrence, Lauren Grove, etc.) will lay you out regardless of the school you’re from.

It’s possible to be perfectly nice young men and women off the court, and then step on the hardwood and blast people.

Other schools know it. Other schools preach it. Other schools live it.

It’s nice to see Coupeville reclaiming a bit of its heritage, whether it’s Littlejohn bustin’ ankles on the dribble or Trujillo ripping balls out of people’s hands and not always leaving the other player’s arms still attached to their bodies.

You’re Wolves. That’s the way you’re supposed to play.

Read Full Post »