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Archive for the ‘Girls Basketball’ Category

Second-half Sultan surge staggers Wolves

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , on December 10, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville’s varsity girls play three times next week. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

One thing was nothing like the other.

Saturday’s royal rumble between the Coupeville High School varsity girls’ basketball squad and visiting Sultan had halves which played out very differently.

The first 16 minutes was a tense, defense-orientated slugfest, with the Wolves trailing by just a bucket at the break.

The second half, however, featured Sultan discovering a new weapon in the three-point bomb, and the two teams combining for more points in just the fourth quarter than in the entire first half.

By the time things came to an end, Coupeville found itself on the unhappy side of a 60-43 loss, left to wonder a bit just how things fell apart against their non-conference foe.

Now 1-2 on the season, the Wolves get right back at it with three games next week.

The varsity girls host Crescent Wednesday, travel to Sedro-Woolley Thursday, then wander off the end of the map with a trek to Forks Saturday afternoon.

After that comes a two-game Christmas tournament in Eastern Washington, with league games starting up in early 2023.

One thing the Wolves will need to consider working on between contests is their collective aim at the free-throw line.

Crashing hard and often to the hoop against a hack-happy rival, Coupeville had plenty of charity shots Saturday, but couldn’t drill them often enough.

The Wolves left a lot of points hanging out in the air, netting just 17 of 33 from the free-throw line, good for 52% as a team.

Sultan was 15-20 at the stripe, including rippling the twine for 10-12 in the fourth quarter.

But it wasn’t just free throws which hurt Coupeville, as Sultan netted five three-balls — all in the second half — and cleaned up on the offensive boards.

Even with the refs frantically calling fouls on almost every other play, the Wolves held up well in the first half.

Alita Blouin splashed home a shot from behind the arc for Coupeville’s first points, before Lyla Stuurmans banked in a beauty of a runner to cut the early deficit to 6-5.

Powered by a seven-point run from Blouin, the Wolves snatched the lead away early in the second quarter and looked like they might be ready to bust things open.

But the Turks refused to fade, running off an 8-3 mini tear of their own right before the close of the half.

Maddie Georges made the net jump on a three-ball to knot things at 19-19, but Sultan knocked down the final bucket before the buzzer, then turned things up several notches after that.

The Wolves went without a field goal for most of the third quarter, and by the time Stuurmans swished a runner over her defender’s outstretched arms to end the skid, CHS was trailing by double-digits.

The final frame was an offensive showcase, with the schools combining for 41 points, but while Coupeville sliced the deficit to nine, it could get no closer than that.

Sultan nailed three long-distance bombs, each one exploding at just the right moment to stop a brief Wolf rally, before the Turks closed the game on a 10-3 tear.

Blouin and Georges paced CHS with 14 and 13 points, respectively, while defensive dynamo Stuurmans chipped in with a season-best seven.

Gwen Gustafson, Katie Marti, and Ryanne Knoblich rounded out Coupeville’s offense, adding three points apiece, with Carolyn Lhamon and Mia Farris working hard on the boards.

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Wolf young guns stay scrappy

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , on December 10, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Cousins Jada Heaton (left) and Liza Zustiak form a dangerous duo for Coupeville’s JV hoops squad. (Photos courtesy Jennifer Heaton)

Future hoops stars, working hard to bring that Halloween candy home.

The odds were better than the evens.

Facing off with visiting Sultan Saturday, the Coupeville High School JV girls’ basketball squad put together its best effort in the first and third quarters.

Unfortunately, the Turks stung the Wolves in frames two and four, sending Kassie O’Neil’s team to a 42-23 loss.

The non-conference defeat drops the CHS young guns to 1-2 heading into their final week of games before the Christmas break.

While Coupeville’s varsity girls have five games left to play in the tail end of 2022, that includes a varsity-only contest with Crescent and two games at an Eastern Washington tournament.

The JV girls travel to Sedro-Woolley Dec. 15 and Forks Dec. 17, and don’t play at home again until Jan. 4, when they kick off three straight games in their own gym.

Playing in front of their home fans Saturday, the Wolves hung tough in the early going, trailing just 7-3 at the first break.

Sultan used a 13-4 run in the second frame to pad its halftime lead to 20-7, but Coupeville responded with its best offensive performance of the night.

With Madison McMillan and Jada Heaton each rumbling for six points in the third quarter, the Wolves outscored the Turks 14-12 to stay combative until the end.

McMillan paced CHS with a game-high 12 points, while Heaton banked in seven and the duo of Kayla Arnold and Reese Wilkinson added a bucket apiece.

Kassidy Upchurch, Brynn Parker, Liza Zustiak, Desi Ramirez-Vasquez, and Skylar Parker also saw floor time for the Wolves.

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Huge heart, classy killer

Posted in Football, Girls Basketball, Girls Soccer, Hall o' Fame, tagged , , , , on December 7, 2022| 1 Comment »

Nezi Keiper, Superstar. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

The first time I saw Yetlanezi Keiper play a sport, she was busy making a boy seriously rethink his life choices.

Clad in a Coupeville Middle School football uniform, she had unloaded on a dude who thought he was going to block her, sending her rival sprawling to the grass.

Standing over him, long hair flowing from beneath her helmet, Nezi’s face was a study in calmness.

She wasn’t outwardly mad, but she also wasn’t going to smile at the fellow player she cut in half and left to (metaphorically) bleed out on a muddy patch of grass.

It was one of the most striking moments I have witnessed in three decades of on and off writing about prep sports.

Not because Nezi was a girl, dominating in a sport where girls are rarely made to feel welcome.

But because, in that moment, it was obvious she was a truly special athlete.

She showed no fear.

She asked for no quarter.

She was going to kick your butt on every play.

End of story.

Young Nezi, dominating the gridiron. (Sarah Saunders photo)

Now, over the last six years, as Nezi moved through middle school, then left football behind and played soccer and basketball during her high school days, I’ve seen a different side of her.

In her dealings with others, close friends or casual acquaintances, she remains one of the kindest people you will meet.

And one of the strongest.

Plus, and this is huge, she always answers my messages, sending me tidbits of info after games while bumping along the backroads of America in a school bus.

Whether her team wins big or gets roughed up on the scoreboard, Nezi is solid gold as a sideline reporter.

For someone such as myself, who can be a bit obsessive about wanting to get stories printed the same day a game is played, she has been invaluable.

Being hailed on Senior Night. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

On the field or court, she has never wavered, never made me rethink that first appraisal of her inner fire.

She is relentless as a soccer defender, taking on the best goal scorers in the region time and again, always making sure they will remember the time they unwisely chose to tangle with her.

Nezi is not a dirty player, by any means.

In fact, she goes out of her way not to hurt others and often shows concern for the physical well-being of those she clashes with.

But she is not going to back down. Like ever.

Capable of clearing the back line with a booming kick, Nezi believes every 50/50 ball belongs to her, and legs churning, she will not surrender her patch of turf, no matter how quick or large the foe may be.

If a collision is required, she never shies from contact.

But, at the same time, she’s just as likely, if not more so, to strip the ball and send it flying far away from her net before the shooter realizes they’ve lost control of the play.

“Get outta here!” (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

When she’s on the hardwood, Nezi brings the same style of play to basketball as she does to soccer.

A ferocious rebounder, when she plants herself under the hoop, good luck on moving her from her appointed position.

One of my favorite photos from Coupeville Sports is one of Nezi going toe-to-toe with a much-taller South Whidbey hoops player during her 8th grade season.

She will not be moved. You can try, but it ain’t happening, skippy.

The Wolves went undefeated that year, and Nezi was a major contributor on both ends of the floor.

Other players may have been set up to be scorers, but she showed a deft touch with the ball in her hands and could sting rival defenses.

But, as on the soccer pitch, Nezi was an absolute rock on defense and that was where she rightfully earned her fame.

Locked in from the line. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

So, here we are in early December, and she doesn’t graduate until June, and yet I’m skipping ahead of the normal schedule a bit. As you’ll see in a few moments.

Nezi chose not to play basketball this season, focusing on school, work, and life, and while her absence saddens me, it’s not about me.

If she’s happy and fulfilled, good on her. That’s what matters.

There are rumors in the air Nezi might pick up a tennis racket this spring and cap her high school days on the court or migrate to track for one go-round.

I hope it’s true, either way.

But if it’s not, Nezi deserves the peace of being allowed to make her own decision, so I’ll go be quiet in the corner after this.

As I do, however, I want to take a moment to put an official stamp on things.

Whether she still has high school sports highlights to craft or not, Nezi long ago punched her ticket to the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame.

She is a special athlete, and an even better human being, and putting her in our digital shrine makes the joint a lot classier.

So, let’s do this now, and not wait until summer.

After this, when you slide past the Legends tab at the top of the blog, that’s where you’ll find Nezi hanging out.

Was there ever a doubt?

No, no there was not.

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JV girls hone shooting skills

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , , on December 5, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Kassidy Upchurch (left) and Kierra Thayer wait for their moment in the spotlight. (Brittany Kolbet photo)

Celebrate the positives.

While the Coupeville High School JV girls’ basketball team wasn’t able to upend large school rival Lakewood Saturday, the Wolves proved to be sharpshooters at the free-throw line.

CHS, a 2B school, fell 52-22 to the Cougars, who rep a 2A institution, but won the battle at the charity stripe.

Led by sophomore Madison McMillan, who banked in eight free throws, Coupeville claimed the advantage at the line, converting 12 bonus shots.

Bryley Gilbert, Kierra Thayer, and Desi Ramirez-Vasquez also netted free throws for the Wolves, with Gilbert a pristine 2-2.

Coupeville’s downfall in its home opener came because Lakewood was hitting a lot of shots from everywhere else.

The Cougars bolted out to a 10-0 lead by the first break, stretched it to 16-4 at the half, then coasted home with a solid second-half performance.

The Wolves popped for 11 points in the third quarter, however, making their best show of the game and keeping things interesting.

McMillan paced CHS with 10 points, while Reese Wilkinson powered her way to a season-high six in support.

Gilbert (2), Teagan Calkins (2), Ramirez-Vasquez (1), and Thayer (1) rounded out the scorers, with Liza Zustiak, Kayla Arnold, Brynn Parker, Kassidy Upchurch, Jada Heaton, and Skylar Parker also seeing floor time.

The Wolves, who sit at 1-1 in non-conference play, return to the court this Saturday, Dec. 10, when they host Sultan.

Tipoff for the JV girls is 4:45 PM.

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Rough loss, but plenty of fight

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , on December 3, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Alita Blouin leads Coupeville’s varsity girls in scoring through the first two games. (Morgan White photo)

One bad stretch.

A span of five minutes and change — that’s what killed the Coupeville High School varsity girls’ basketball squad Saturday night.

Take away that segment, when visiting Lakewood went on a 28-3 run to end the first quarter, and it was a much different, far closer contest.

But they count every point, so the 2B Wolves ultimately absorbed a 70-37 loss to the 2A Cougars.

The non-conference defeat evens Coupeville’s early-season record at 1-1, with a week to work on things before Sultan visits Whidbey Island Dec. 10.

CHS coach Megan Richter and her players will be able to look at the game film from Saturday’s tilt and pick out a lot of positives.

Though they may want to fast forward through the second half of the opening quarter.

Things were looking pretty good, with the score knotted at 5-5 after Alita Blouin plucked a steal and beat a pack of defenders down court for a layup.

Gwen Gustafson opened the night’s scoring with a pullup jumper, before Carolyn Lhamon added a free throw, and the Wolves were aggressive on both ends of the floor.

But then the roof fell in.

Lakewood ramped up its defense and stifled Coupeville, holding it without a field goal for the remainder of the first quarter, while scoring quickly and efficiently from multiple angles.

The Cougars splashed home a trio of three-balls during the 28-3 run, but it was a string of steals and breakaway lay-ins which really stung.

Then things went back to almost normal.

The scoring across the final three quarters of the night still came out in favor of Lakewood, but only to a 37-29 tally.

The Wolves, who were being hacked and pummeled all game, hit the majority of their free throws, while also breaking out some well-run plays to crack Lakewood’s press.

A 7-0 surge midway through the second quarter, with Lhamon slapping runners off the glass on feeds from Gustafson and Maddie Georges, was quality work.

As was Katie Marti’s debut as a WWE wrestler, on a play when the rough ‘n rowdy defensive dynamo flipped not one, but two Lakewood players end-over-end while battling for, and winning, control of a loose ball.

Lhamon and Mia Farris both pounded home multiple buckets in the paint in the second half, while Georges flipped the net on a long, low three-ball, but the deficit ultimately proved too much to overcome.

Still, Coupeville fought until the end, with its players still crashing the boards and pestering Lakewood ballhandlers even as the final buzzer loomed.

Blouin paced the Wolves in scoring for the second-straight game, rattling home 10 points, while Lhamon backed her up with a season-high nine.

Georges (6), Farris (4), Ryanne Knoblich (3), Marti (2), Gustafson (2), and Lyla Stuurmans (1) also etched their names in the scorebook, as all eight Wolves to see floor time scored.

With her six points, Georges moves into 40th place all-time on the CHS girls’ hoops career scoring chart, which dates back to 1974.

The senior guard sits with 265 points, passing program legends Madeline Strasburg (261) and Carly Guillory (260) Saturday night.

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