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Archive for the ‘Middle School’ Category

Rattle the rim, bounce the net

Posted in Girls Basketball, Middle School, tagged , , , , on February 22, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Claire Lachnit looks for an opening in the defense. (Julie Wheat photo)

They’re spreading out the offensive love.

Two games into an eight-game basketball season, 18 different Coupeville Middle School girls have recorded points, with a tie for the lead.

Laurel Crowder and Emma Green currently sit on top of the stat sheet, but don’t count out 6th grader Halle Black, who is starting to heat up like dad Allen did back in his high school days.

There’s still plenty of games left to play — a full 75% of the season, as it were — but here’s an early look at where things stand in the point-scoring biz:

 

Laurel Crowder – 12
Emma Green – 12
Halle Black – 8
Finley Helm – 6
Daisy Leedy-Bonifas – 6
Claire Lachnit – 5
Kaleigha Millison – 5
Cami Van Dyke – 5
Sophia Burley – 4
Juniper Dotson – 4
Anna Powers – 4
Annabelle Cundiff – 2
Nikolette Dunham – 2
Aubrey Flowers – 2
Reagan Green – 2
Autumn Hunt – 2
Millie Somes – 2
Bella Sandlin – 1

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Young Wolves tangle with Turks

Posted in Girls Basketball, Middle School, tagged , , , , on February 20, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Daisy Leedy-Bonifas slices to the hoop. (Julie Wheat photos)

This time they got to make the bus tires go round and round.

After having a scheduled trip to Granite Falls denied by bad off-Island weather Wednesday, the Coupeville Middle School girls’ basketball teams made it all the way to the wilds of Sultan Thursday afternoon.

Squaring off with the always-feisty Turks, the Wolf hardwood heroes brought their A-games across three titanic tilts, before returning home, ready to do it all again next week.

How the day played out:

 

Level 1:

Coupeville jumped out to an early lead but couldn’t hold off a high-powered Sultan squad which roared back to claim a 36-20 win.

The loss drops the Wolves top squad to 0-2 on the still-young season.

With three different players tallying a bucket in the first frame, CMS staked itself to a 6-2 lead at the first break, but then the Turks found a new groove.

Dropping in double-digit scoring in each of the remaining quarters, the hosts pulled ahead 15-8 at the half, before carrying a 25-12 advantage into the fourth quarter.

Coupeville put together its best offensive run in the fourth, with Emma Green knocking down six of her team-high eight points, but time eventually ran out on the scrappy Wolves.

Anna Powers and Laurel Crowder each banked in four points to back Green, with Kaleigha Millison and Finley Helm adding a bucket apiece to round out the attack.

Aubrey Flowers, Cami Van Dyke, Bella Sandlin, and Ava Alford also saw floor time for the Wolves.

 

Level 2:

Sultan roared out to a 20-6 lead through one quarter of action and never slowed down, claiming a 49-8 triumph to drop CMS to 0-2 on the season.

The Wolves scored all of their points in the first half, failing to net a point across the third and fourth quarters.

Annabelle Cundiff, Reagan Green, Autumn Hunt, and Claire Lachnit finished with two points apiece for Coupeville, with Amira Anunciado, Sabrina Judnich, and Sandlin rounding out the rotation.

 

Level 3:

Coupeville’s first win of the season at any level came thanks to a consistent offense and a plucky defense.

The Wolves third unit, which didn’t get a chance to play together in the season opener against South Whidbey, held on for an 18-12 victory with 6th grader Halle Black accounting for eight of her team’s points.

Sophia Burley (4), Daisy Leedy-Bonifas (4), and Juniper Dotson (2) also kept the scorebook keeper busy, with Danielle Halsing, Ruby Folkestad, and Millie Somes bringing heat on the defensive end of the floor.

 

What’s next:

Coupeville travels to Everett Feb. 24 to play Northshore Christian Academy, then gets three straight rumbles at home, beginning with a Feb. 26 clash against Cascade League powerhouse King’s.

The Granite Falls games have been rescheduled for the end of the season and will go down (weather permitting) Mar. 12.

CMS coach Brooke Crowder surveys the action.

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CMS girls hit the hardwood

Posted in Girls Basketball, Middle School, tagged , , , , on February 11, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Laurel Crowder led all Wolf scorers on opening day. (Photo courtesy Brooke Crowder)

“We did a lot of things really well.”

Coming off their season opener Wednesday against visiting South Whidbey, the Coupeville Middle School girls’ basketball teams have players with a lot of potential and a willingness to put in the work.

That always gets a stamp of approval from the coaches.

While the Wolves “took lots of shots that unfortunately didn’t fall,” they did “open (up) the floor with good spacing and drove to the hoop,” said CMS coach Brooke Crowder.

Even with the day’s third game cancelled at the last moment, Crowder and fellow Wolf hardwood guru Kassie O’Neil got floor time for 27 Wolves on opening day, with 12 of the young guns recording their first points of the new campaign.

How things played out:

 

Level 1:

Coupeville hung tough with a high-powered South Whidbey squad but couldn’t overcome the wham-bam combo of 8th graders Jayda Coleman and Ellie Linaberry, who sparked the Cougars to a 42-29 win.

The duo combined to account for 38 of the visitor’s points, with Coleman rattling the rim for 28 by herself.

The Wolves were down just 15-9 at the first break and stayed within 19-14 at the half, before South Whidbey pulled away with a 14-8 run in the third quarter.

Coupeville’s balanced offensive attack was led by 7th grader Laurel Crowder, who banked in eight points, while Cami Van Dyke (5), Finley Helm (4), Emma Green (4), Kaleigha Millison (3), Claire Lachnit (3), and Aubrey Flowers (2) also scored.

Green, Millison, and Lachnit all hit paydirt from long distance, splashing home a three-ball apiece.

Zayne Roos, Anna Powers, Addison Jacobson, Ava Alford, and Annabelle Cundiff rounded out the rotation for the Wolves.

 

Halle Black made her CMS hardwood debut Wednesday, joining a long line of family members who have played hoops in Coupeville. (Photo courtesy Mandi Black)

 

Level 2:

Both teams brought the defensive heat with South Whidbey ultimately escaping with a 20-9 victory.

The Cougars led from start to finish, but the game was a close one, with the visitors up 8-3 through one quarter, 10-5 at the half, and 14-7 heading into the final frame.

Juniper Dotson, Nikolette Dunham, Millie Somes, and Daisy Leedy-Bonifas all knocked down a bucket for CMS, while Bella Sandlin netted a free throw to round out the scoring.

Also seeing action for the Wolves were Halle Black, Ellie Callahan, Danielle Halsing, Arianna Vinson, Leah Hernandez, Sophia Burley, Amira Anunciado, Ruby Folkestad, Reagan Green, and Sabrina Judnich.

 

What’s up next:

Coupeville hits the road for three straight, traveling to Granite Falls (Feb. 18), Sultan (Feb. 19), and Northshore Christian Academy (Nov. 24).

The Wolves finally return to the CMS gym Feb. 26, when they’ll square off with King’s.

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CMS girls boast deep roster

Posted in Girls Basketball, Middle School, tagged , , , , on February 6, 2026| Leave a Comment »

CMS 8th grader Zayne Roos (12), seen here in a high school game, will get a second hoops season this winter at the middle school level. (Jackie Saia photo)

Five days until tipoff.

Coupeville Middle School kicks off a new eight-game season of girls’ basketball this coming Wednesday, Feb. 11, when the Wolves host South Whidbey.

CMS coaches Brooke Crowder and Kassie O’Neil currently have a 29-player roster to draw from, including four eighth graders who also stepped up and played for the high school JV team earlier this winter.

That quartet is comprised of Anna Powers, Finley Helm, Cami Van Dyke, and Zayne Roos.

 

The opening day roster:

 

6th grade:

Halle Black
Ellie Callahan
Juniper Dotson
Nikolette Dunham
Danielle Halsing
Leah Hernandez
Daisy Leedy-Bonifas

 

7th grade:

Sophia Burley
Laurel Crowder
Ruby Folkestad
Reagan Green
Abby Hunt
Bella Sandlin
Milly Somes

 

8th grade:

Ava Alford
Amira Anunciado
Annabelle Cundiff
Aubrey Flowers
Emma Green
Finley Helm
Addison Jacobson
Sabrina Judnich
Claire Lachnit
Kaleigha Millison
Anna Powers
Emily Rains
Zayne Roos
Cami Van Dyke
Arianna Vinson

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“Killer Kassie” back in black

Posted in Girls Basketball, Middle School, tagged , , , , on January 27, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Kassie O’Neil is back. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

You can’t keep a killer out of the gym.

Former Wolf hoops legend Kassie (Lawson) O’Neil, the hardwood heroine who made private school foes cry copious buckets o’ tears in her playing days, is back on the sideline.

Two years after she stepped down as Coupeville High School JV girls’ basketball coach, she’s returning to her roots with the town’s middle school program.

CHS/CMS Athletic Director Becky Cays confirmed Tuesday that O’Neil has been tabbed to join Brooke Crowder in guiding the CMS girls’ hoops program.

Her hire will become official once approved by the school board at its Thursday meeting.

O’Neil replaces Makana Stone, now in her first season coaching at Walla Walla University.

During her previous three-year run as a Wolf coach, O’Neil worked at both the middle and high school levels, helping guide current varsity players such as Haylee Armstrong, Capri Anter, and Tenley Stuurmans.

A vintage photo captures O’Neil (24) during her playing days.

As a high school player, O’Neil saw varsity action all four of her seasons between 2005-2006 and 2008-2009, scoring 184 career points.

But it was when she tallied those buckets which still looms largest.

O’Neil delivered a prime-time dagger to ruin the evening for the richniks from King’s in 2008, nailing a buzzer-beating three-ball to give Coupeville a 33-32 home win and the #1 playoff seed out of the Cascade Conference.

A year later, as a CHS senior, she poured in 13 of her team-high 19 points in the fourth quarter to fuel a wild comeback against Granite Falls in a game which came down to the final second.

That included splashing home a trey with 18 seconds to play to force a tie.

Now back for another tour of duty in the same gyms she once lit up as a player, O’Neil will join Crowder in leading the CMS girls through an eight-game schedule which kicks off Feb. 11 with a home rumble against South Whidbey.

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