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Archive for the ‘Girls Basketball’ Category

Wolves stay feisty on long road trip

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , on January 3, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Danica Strong played a stellar defensive game Saturday night. (Julie Wheat photo)

Forget about the third quarter and it was a nail-biter.

Having traveled way down the road Saturday, the Coupeville High School varsity girls’ basketball squad squared off with a very-strong Morton-White Pass team and held its own.

Other than in the third quarter.

The host Timberwolves used a 21-7 surge in that frame to capture a 54-38 non-conference win, getting to 8-3 on the season while dropping a scrappy CHS squad to 2-7.

After playing its last four games on the road, Coupeville returns home Tuesday for a Northwest 2B/1B League brawl with Friday Harbor, and Scout Smith’s road warriors will be ready.

Much of what the Wolves did Saturday worked, from strong team-wide rebounding efforts to a balanced offensive attack.

Trailing just 11-10 at the first break with senior Teagan Calkins having rained down eight points fueled by a pair of three-balls, Coupeville was bidding for the upset.

MWP slightly stretched the margin out to 25-20 at the half, then pulled away with a decisive burst in the third.

Even then, the Wolves fought back, closing the game on an 11-8 run sparked by a rampaging Tenley Stuurmans.

The sophomore sensation finished with a team-high 11 points, while Haylee Armstrong, Coupeville’s top scorer this season, added 10 more to her total.

Calkins (9), Arianna Cunningham (6), and Adeline Maynes (2) rounded out the offense for CHS, with Danica Strong, Kennedy O’Neill, and Lexis Drake also seeing floor time.

Strong anchored Coupeville’s defense, ripping down six rebounds and rejecting three shots, while Calkins also snared six boards.

Armstrong, Cunningham, and Maynes each collected five rebounds apiece as the Wolves fought for every carom.

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Lucero torches net to fuel late-game rally

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , on January 3, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Ava Lucero had the hot hand Saturday night. (Julie Wheat photo)

Give her one more minute.

Ava Lucero went bonkers in the fourth quarter Saturday and almost shot the Coupeville High School JV girls’ basketball squad to a stunning come-from-behind win against host Morton-White Pass.

Unfortunately for the Wolves the clock ran out on them, allowing the Timberwolves to narrowly escape with a 33-29 win despite being outscored 17-2 across the game’s final eight minutes.

The non-conference loss, coming in their first game since Dec. 16, drops the CHS young guns to 1-5 on the season.

Lucero and Co. will be back in front of their home fans Tuesday for a rumble with Friday Harbor, where they’ll look to continue their torrid play.

Saturday’s game featured a slow start for the Wolves, as they scraped out just five points in the first half.

Down 6-3 after a defensive-minded first quarter, Coupeville slipped behind 19-5 at the break, before going down 31-12 through three frames.

That was when things really began to click for the road warriors, however, with Lucero splashing in a pair of three-balls as she scored 13 of her team-high 17 points in crunch time.

Zayne Roos and Olivia Hall also chipped in with buckets, while a fired-up Wolf defense limited their hosts to just two free throws in the final quarter.

Coupeville, which was missing several key players, got points from six of the eight players in uniform.

Roos (4), Cami Van Dyke (2), Anna Powers (2), Taylor Marrs (2), and Hall (2) backed up Lucero, with Allie Powers and Emma Cushman also seeing floor time.

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CMS girls hoops on horizon

Posted in Girls Basketball, Middle School, tagged , , , , on January 1, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Finley Helm powers to the hoop. (Julie Wheat photo)

One season rolls into another.

At least it will for a handful of Coupeville Middle School 8th grade girls, who are currently playing basketball with their high school counterparts.

The CHS JV girls wrap their season Feb. 6, with the CMS girls kicking off their own eight-game run just five days later.

It will likely make for a busy winter/early spring for Cami Van Dyke, Anna Powers, Finley Helm, and Zayne Roos, but you can never really play too much basketball, can you?

As the calendar turns into 2026, a look ahead at the schedule for the CMS girls’ hoops squad. As always, write things in pencil.

 

Wed-Feb. 11 — South Whidbey (3:15)
Thur-Feb. 19 — @ Granite Falls (3:15)
Fri-Feb. 20 — @ Sultan (3:15)
Tue-Feb. 24 — @ Northshore Christian Academy (3:15)
Thur-Feb. 26 — King’s (3:15)
Tue-Mar. 3 — Lakewood (3:15)
Mon-Mar. 9 — Sultan (3:15)
Tue-Mar. 10 — @ South Whidbey (3:30)

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Scrappy Wolves bounce big city rival

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , on December 31, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Fab frosh Kennedy O’Neill is a wild child when it comes to cleaning the boards. (Jackie Saia photo)

The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

So, that sound you heard Wednesday morning coming from Bellingham? Not a single tree crashing to the Earth, but an entire forest going down.

Proving grit and talent outweighs size, the Coupeville High School varsity girls’ basketball team clobbered Federal Way 43-39 to close out the three-day, 16-team Trojan Storm Classic hosted by Meridian.

The win puts a cap on 2025 for the Wolves and gets Scout Smith’s squad to 2-6 on the season.

It came in a game which featured a 2B school which is listed with 192.50 students in the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association classifications and a 3A institution with 1,219.38 students on its books.

Wednesday’s tourney finale, which tipped off at the crack o’ dawn (or 8:00 AM…) capped a strong run for the young Wolves.

Coupeville opened the holiday tourney with a very competitive loss to 1A Blaine, then lost a one-point thriller to 1A South Whidbey before thrashing their big city rivals.

Federal Way pushed the intensity of the game, but the Wolves remained calm and composed in the spotlight, something their coach was pleased to witness.

“The girls did an excellent job keeping their cool and playing tough against a very physical and aggressive opponent,” Smith said.

“I am very proud of the way that we kept our head against an opponent that did their best to rile us up.”

The Wolves clamp down on defense. (Jackie Saia photo)

Wolf gunners Haylee Armstrong and Tenley Stuurmans combined to deliver nine points to the rim in the first quarter, as CHS built an 11-7 lead heading into the initial break.

The second quarter was a 9-9 stalemate, with Wolf senior Teagan Calkins popping for seven, before Coupeville ever so slightly stretched the lead out to 30-25 through three frames.

The fourth was a wild one, with the teams combining for 27 points, but the Wolves had an answer for everything Federal Way threw its way.

Armstrong went off for 11 of her game-high 18 points over the final eight minutes, including splashing home a trio of three-balls under pressure.

Also, Danica Strong tickled the twines, hitting both of her late-game free throws, while Federal Way rimmed out five of its six opportunities at the stripe in the final frame.

For the game, the Wolves were 7-16 on charity shots, while their foes stumbled to a 3-14 performance.

Coupeville also won the three-ball contest 6-4, with Armstrong netting four while Calkins and Strong each rippled the net once from long range.

Add in a strong defensive performance, and you have a happy coach.

“We carried on from the positives yesterday,” Smith said. “We rebounded well and played aggressive defense.

“I love the way that we moved the ball and managed the clock well at the end of the game.”

Lexis Drake looks for an opening in the defense. (Julie Wheat photo)

The Wolves get two days off for New Year’s, before kicking off the 2026 portion of the schedule with a road trip Saturday to Morton-White Pass for a non-conference fracas.

After that, CHS will plunge back into the heart of Northwest 2B/1B League play.

As she headed home Wednesday, Smith did so with a skip to her step.

“Overall, a very beneficial tournament for us and our development,” she said. “Lots of positives to take away and use going into the second half of the season.”

Eight Wolves saw the floor in the tourney finale, with six scoring.

Armstrong’s 18 led the way, shooting her up to #70 on the CHS girls’ career scoring chart, while Calkins (9), Strong (7), Stuurmans (4), Adeline Maynes (4), and Lexis Drake (1) also tallied points.

Kennedy O’Neill and Ari Cunningham provided lights-out defense to aid the cause.

Two Wolves hit personal milestones in the win, as well.

Calkins pushed her career varsity scoring total to 302 points, becoming the 38th Wolf girl to crack that club since 1974.

Meanwhile the sweet-shooting Strong (104) is the 116th CHS female player, and second in her family after mom Danette Beckley, to reach triple-digits.

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Falcons nip Wolves in tourney thriller

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , on December 30, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Haylee Armstrong leads the CHS girls in scoring this season. (Julie Wheat photo)

The rematch was a nailbiter.

Squaring off with next-door neighbor South Whidbey Tuesday, in a game played in Bellingham, the Coupeville High School varsity girls’ basketball squad pushed their rivals to the final shot before falling 44-43.

The loss, coming on day two of the three-day, 16-team Trojan Storm Classic hosted by Meridian, drops the Wolves to 1-6 on the season.

But, for Scout Smith’s squad, who close 2025 with a final tourney game Wednesday before opening 2026 on the road Saturday against Morton-White Pass, the razor-thin defeat was a huge improvement on the first time the two Whidbey schools clashed.

Back in the season opener, Coupeville hosted South Whidbey and suffered through a brutal shooting performance en route to a 45-28 loss.

This time around, the early going was an eerie bit of déjà vu for the Wolves, but then they found their groove.

“We had a hard time with shots not falling in the first half,” Smith said. “But we showed a lot of grit and determination to come back in the second half.”

South Whidbey jumped out to a 16-4 advantage by the first break, with four different Falcons splashing a three-ball, but then CHS clamped down.

“We played a really good game and showed a lot of good improvements from the last time,” Smith said. “Loved the defensive tenacity we had, and we turned it into a lot of transition buckets.”

Coupeville held their rivals in check from long distance after the first quarter and rattled the rims for a trio of their own treys after halftime.

Down 27-13 at the half, the Wolves cut the lead back to 36-28 through three and outscored the Falcons 30-17 across the game’s final 16 minutes.

CHS also had a huge advantage in getting to the free throw line but missed too many charity shots along the way.

While South Whidbey was just 2-6 at the free throw stripe, Coupeville was 14-30, ultimately having too many freebies rim out to claim the victory.

Still, Smith came away pleased with her team’s defensive stand and praised the glass-cleaning ability of junior Ari Cunningham.

“Shoutout to Ari for getting after it rebounding,” Smith said. “We gave her a goal of 10 rebounds and she met that.

“Super excited to continue to watch her develop.”

South Whidbey’s Ali Young led all scorers with 14 points, while Haylee Armstrong (11) and Tenley Stuurmans (10) paced the Wolves.

All seven Coupeville players to see game time scored, with Teagan Calkins banking in nine, while Cunningham (5), Adeline Maynes (4), Danica Strong (2), and Kennedy O’Neill (2) all joined the offensive effort.

The game marked personal milestones for several Wolves, as well.

Calkins, a senior who now has 293 career points, moved from #41 to #39 on the all-time CHS girls’ scoring chart Tuesday, passing Bessie Walstad (288) and the aforementioned CHS coach, one Scout Smith (290).

Meanwhile, Stuurmans, a sophomore, cracked the top 100, jumping up to #95 where she sits with 128 points.

There are three active Wolves in the top 100, with Armstrong, a junior, in a tie with Sherry Bonacci and Marie Hesselgrave at #78 with 165 points.

And something to keep on eye on in the near future — Strong is just a three-ball shy of becoming the 116th Wolf girl to join the 100-point club for a program launched in 1974.

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