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Archive for the ‘Happy birthday’ Category

Lexie (left) and Brittany Black.

Lexie (left) and Brittany Black.

Stylin'.

Stylin’.

The early days.

The early days.

She is the best.

As she turns 26 today, Lexie Black (born with an E, so it stays there, lil’ missy!) the former Coupeville High School basketball star (she still holds a record for the most blocks in a 1A state playoff game), college hoops stud, superb barista, even-better journalist, international supermodel in the making and Milla Jovovich doppleganger, is still off-the-charts awesome.

From her days as a youthful scalawag behind the counter at Videoville to that moment when she embraced all six feet, two inches and stopped slouching and finally stood straight and proud, she was, and is, a shining example of what Coupeville can produce.

She will tell you she doesn’t know what you’re talking about, but you can’t go through life and not realize at some point why everyone around you thinks you’re awesome. Now she just has to accept it.

Once upon a time I thought about calling this blog Lexie Black’s Block Party, which would have been the coolest blog name ever, even if no one understood it.

For young Wolf basketball players now, especially ones who have height and size and long arms like Lexie, I wish that they would commit to playing the game the way she did.

As half of the immortal Black ‘n Blue Sisters, with sidekick lil’ sis Brittany running on the wing, Lexie owned the paint. As sweet and likeable a person as you will ever meet off the court, she thrashed folks on the hardwood.

She believed every shot was hers to reject and every rebound was hers to haul in. She would not back down. Ever.

It is quite simple why the most sustained run of excellence any sports program has had at CHS in the past 20 years came from girls’ basketball.

With the Black sisters, Ashley Ellsworth-Bagby, Tina Lyness and others, the Wolves believed they were going to state, never doubted it, and followed through, year after year.

The current generation could do the same, if they played like Lexie.

You can look like a super model, be a goofball off the court and freak people out once you step on the hardwood.

It’s called bein’ awesome. It’s called bein’ Lexie Black.

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"I played a little ball. Why? You feelin' lucky, punk? Well, do you?"

“I played a little ball. Why? You feelin’ lucky, punk? Well, do you?”

The greatest basketball player in Coupeville High School history turns 29 today.

She wasn’t the tallest, or the biggest, didn’t have the greatest hops and wasn’t the best pure shooter this school has seen. But she didn’t need any of that.

She was a killer, cold-blooded, slice you off at the knees and leave you crying while she smiled the smallest of smiles. Off the court, she was among the nicest people to ever walk the face of the Earth, but on the hardwood she never stopped coming.

People looked at her, with her baggy shorts, slight build and (occasional) pigtails poking up skywards and thought she was a ballgirl, or, at best, a freshman they could easily steamroll.

Then the ball got tipped and she went after them like a wild dog let loose. She was relentless and that attitude carried to her teammates throughout her hoops career.

The greatest run of any sport in Wolf history was put together by girls’ basketball starting in the late ’90s, from Tina Lyness and Brianne King to the Black ‘n Blue sisters (Lexie and Brittany), which put up just about all of the banners that are in the CHS gym.

And at the heart of that run was lil’ Ashley Bagby-Ellsworth, tending counter at Videoville and charming customers by day and ripping out and feasting (metaphorically) on the hearts of her b-ball opponents by night.

She was something to see.

There were talented players before her (Marlene Grasser, Emily Vracin, Misty Sellgren) and there have been talented players in the red and black since she graduated.

There is even one coming (Coupeville Middle School 7th grader Mia Littlejohn, who attacks like she just stepped off a playground in Jersey) who so closely resembles Bagby-Ellsworth, it’s scary and enthralling, all at the same time.

But, no matter what they did in the past, or what Littlejohn and others will do in the future, the words Magic Johnson spoke to Larry Bird on his retirement night still linger, just with a name change.

Ashley, you only told me one lie. You said there will be another Ashley Ellsworth-Bagby. Ashley, there will never, ever be another Ashley Ellsworth-Bagby.”

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hunter3hunter1hunter4hunter2hunter6They come and they go.

Every season brings its breakout stars, its camera-lovers, its quote-droppers, its aspirants to the throne. But there is only one true Page Hit King.

It has been ever so, and will ever be.

Twenty years ago today Hunter Hammer popped into the world, possibly wearing a fake mustache and giving the thumbs up to anyone who had a camera in the delivery room, and it was over. The gold standard was set.

There are some serious players in the game. Caleb Valko is The Man this year. McKayla Bailey and Madeline Strasburg are gunnin’ for the title in years to come.

But face it. It will always be Hammer Time. Always.

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"Me? Photo-bomb someone? Why, I never..."

“Me? Photo-bomb someone? Why, I never…”

"Ha! One for me!!"

“Ha! One for me!!”

"Two for me!!"

“Two for me!!”

"Three for me!!!"

“Three for me!!!”

"And one to grow on!"

“And one to grow on!”

Taya Boonstra is gold.

A superb athlete (volleyball, basketball, softball, cheer) and better person, the Coupeville High School graduate and current University of Washington student, was like catnip to photographers.

The female version of Hunter Hammer, she (seemingly) always knew where the camera was and was willing to play to it.

She set the standard for future Wolf photo bombers, a mantle that current Wolf sophomore McKayla Bailey has picked up and run with.

In honor of her birthday, which is today, I have decided to refer to any future photo bombs by their proper name.

From now on, the slogan to be used is “You got Boonstra‘d!!”

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Shelli Trumbull (right) hobnobbing with fellow local celebrity Jill Johnson.

Shelli Trumbull (right) hobnobbing with fellow local celebrity Jill Johnson.

Baseball captured through her lens, as Ben Etzell. (Shelli Trumbull photos)

          Baseball captured through her lens, as Ben Etzell guards the line. (Shelli Trumbull photos)

All for one and one for all.

All for one and one for all.

Husband Brad and daughter Alexis during the latter's high school graduation.

Husband Brad and daughter Alexis during the latter’s high school graduation.

This site would be nothing without Shelli Trumbull.

Over the course of 755 articles, I have used thousands of photos to supplement my prose, and Mrs. Trumbull is the number one supplier of said photos.

Through sports indoor and outdoor, through big wins and tough losses, she is always there, clicking away, giving her time and her expertise to documenting the world of Central Whidbey athletics.

A Coupeville High School grad married to a fellow CHS grad, with one child graduated as a Wolf and the other about half way through the process, Trumbull IS Coupeville.

It’s also her birthday today (I don’t know which one, and, hopefully, I’m smart enough not to ask…), which is why I think everyone should go by Cascade Insurance Agency today (it’s next door to Prairie Center) and honk for Shelli.

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