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Taygin Jump prepares to launch. (Photo property Plattsburgh State track and field)

Saturdays are for throwing.

Coupeville grad Taygin Jump, now a junior at Plattsburgh State in New York, was back at it this weekend, chucking things as a college track and field athlete.

The former Wolf was competing at the Bomber Invitational, hosted by Ithaca College, where she placed 24th out of 47 competitors in the weight throw.

Jump tossed her implement 40 feet, 00.75 inches, while her college PR is 44-6.75.

With the indoor track season hitting full stride, Plattsburgh State has a busy schedule.

Next up for the Cardinals is the Blue and Orange Invitational in Utica, New York next Saturday, Feb. 7.

When she’s not throwing things into the wild blue yonder Jump is majoring in Environmental Planning and Management.

Aleksia and Khanor’s big sis, a standout volleyball and track and field athlete during her CHS days, has been on the Honor Roll during each of her collegiate seasons.

Chase Anderson drains a jumper. (Jackie Saia photo)

Let’s not get cute about it.

You only win a basketball game one way – by scoring more points than the other team.

Yes, defense, hustle plays, making the right pass, sacrificing your body to take a charge, they all matter greatly.

Because they set up a team to score, which is how wins and losses are made.

Points are also the one and only stat which it has been halfway possible to track across the 109-year history of varsity basketball at Coupeville High School.

So, we celebrate the scorers, and we document as best we can who has put the ball in the bucket, whether it’s Roy Armstrong in 1925, Danette Beckley in 1984, or the girls and boys currently repping the red and black.

And Friday night, we reached a milestone in the long and winding road of Wolves hitting the bottom of the net, as CHS senior Chase Anderson cracked the 900-point club.

He did it against La Conner, as part of a 20-point performance in a 66-36 win over the Braves.

How rare is the accomplishment for a player repping Wolf Nation?

Of the 687 Wolves who I’ve been able to document scoring in a varsity game — 432 boys and 255 girls — Anderson is just the ninth boy, and 14th player overall, to reach the mark.

Broken down further, that means he’s part of the top 2% of scorers among all basketball players who have pulled on a varsity Coupeville uniform.

 

Welcome to the club:

Brianne King – 1,549
Logan Downes – 1,305
Zenovia Barron – 1,270
Makana Stone – 1,158
Mike Bagby – 1,137
Jeff Stone – 1,137
Randy Keefe – 1,088
Megan Smith – 1,042
Mike Criscoula – 1,031
Jeff Rhubottom – 1,012
Bill Riley – 934
Ann Pettit – 932
Pete Petrov – 917
Chase Anderson – 903 (active)

Davin Houston works his way towards a rebound. (Jackie Saia photo)

Balance. All about the balance.

With eight players scoring Friday, and three hitting for double-digits, the Coupeville High School varsity boys’ basketball squad ran visiting La Conner off the floor.

With a 66-36 win on Senior Night, the Wolves get to 4-5 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 7-10 overall.

Next up is the regular season finale Feb. 6, on the road at Friday Harbor, then the start of the double-elimination District 1/2 tourney Feb. 12.

That royal rumble features seven schools fighting for two tickets to state, with the Wolves learning their path when the bracket is released the day after the regular season ends.

Friday night an old rivalry wrote a new chapter, and this tale featured Coupeville (almost) leading from start to finish.

Technically La Conner forged a pair of ties in the first quarter, knotting things up at 3-3 and 7-7, but the Braves never led and never really threatened to do so either.

Coupeville closed the opening quarter with back-to-back buckets from Chase Anderson and Camden Glover to shatter that last tie, before pulling away for good in the second quarter.

CHS senior Aiden O’Neill, a quiet warrior who has bravely fought through multiple injuries across the last four years, banked in a rebound to crack the 100-point career scoring club and set the Wolves off on their game-busting run.

From there, Glover and Anderson traded baskets, with the former shredding the defense in the paint and the latter rampaging from end to end, often after snagging key steals.

Up 33-16 at the half, Coupeville saw its advantage whittled down to 37-26 midway through the third but never blinked.

Davin Houston tickled the twines with a silky three-ball from the left side — Coupeville’s only trey on the night — and Brad Sherman’s squad closed the quarter on a 14-4 surge.

Included in that run was a bucket from Anderson which pushed him up and over the 900-point mark, making him just the ninth Wolf boy to do so across 109 seasons of CHS basketball.

The fourth quarter was an eight-minute highlight reel, as the Wolves continued to pour in buckets, with many of them set up by pinpoint passes.

Anderson was wheeling and dealing, while Glover launched a floor-length lob which hit O’Neill in mid-stride for a breakaway bucket.

Putting together the kind of balanced book every coach loves to see, Coupeville got a game-high 22 points from Glover, 20 from Anderson, and 10 from Houston.

O’Neill (6), Easton Green (4), Carson Grove (2), Malachi Somes (1), and Liam Blas (1) rounded out the attack, with Riley Lawless and Nathan Coxsey also seeing floor time for the Wolves.

Arianna Cunningham scored a team-high 10 points Friday night in the regular season home finale. (Jackie Saia photo)

They don’t quit.

That was shown once again Friday night, as the Coupeville High School varsity girls’ basketball team rebounded to play its best ball in the fourth quarter during an otherwise rough game against visiting La Conner.

Facing off with a hot-shooting Braves squad which also dominated on the boards, the Wolves scored nearly half their points in the final frame before falling 57-29.

The loss leaves Coupeville at 1-8 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 4-13 overall, with just a Feb. 6 road trip to Friday Harbor left on the regular season schedule.

After that, the Wolves will take part in the double-elimination District 1/2 tourney, one of six teams chasing three tickets to state.

CHS will learn its opening opponent, and whether that game is on the road or at home, the day after the regular season ends.

Squaring off with La Conner, which is solidly the number #2 squad in the NWL behind powerhouse Mount Vernon Christian, the Wolves started strongly.

At least for the first three minutes.

Coupeville forced a shot clock violation on the game’s opening possession, before Wolf senior Danica Strong later rippled the nets on a three-ball to give her team its only lead of the night at 3-2.

Then things went off the road and down a deep, dark ravine.

Owning the boards and getting big buckets from senior gunner Maeve McCormick, La Conner ripped off a 17-2 run to end the opening quarter, carrying a 19-5 lead into the first break.

Things got bleaker from there, as the Wolves could only manage a single basket in the second quarter, courtesy a rebound put back up and in by Arianna Cunningham.

Down 37-7 at the half, with shots finding every possible way to roll off the rim or pop back out of the net, Coupeville eventually fell behind 51-10 late in the third quarter.

That triggered a running clock, but it also seemed to trigger Scout Smith’s squad, which hunkered down and made a solid stand over the game’s final 10 minutes.

CHS closed the third on a 6-0 spurt, with Cunningham draining three free throws, before finally finding a consistent shooting groove in the final quarter.

Haylee Armstrong and Tenley Stuurmans both knocked down six points in the fourth, while the Wolf defense ramped up in intensity, led by Cunningham, who was a beast on the boards as usual.

While defense has been her primary calling card this season, Cunningham also showcased some solid offensive mojo Friday, pacing CHS with a season-high 10 points.

Stuurmans (6), Armstrong (6), Strong (4), Teagan Calkins (2), and Adeline Maynes (1) also wrote their name in the scorebook, with Kennedy O’Neill, Lexis Drake, Sydney Van Dyke, and Capri Anter rounding out the roster.

Jayden McManus powers to the hoop. (Duke Kutz photo)

The pieces may change, but the result remains the same.

Coupeville High School JV boys’ basketball coaches Craig Anderson and Jon Roberts welcomed three 8th graders to the roster Friday, with the new hoops stars meshing with their veteran teammates to capture another victory.

Pulling away in the second half, the Wolves bounced visiting La Conner 52-38, claiming the program’s sixth win in its last eight games.

Now 7-2 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 8-7 overall, the JV wraps its season next Friday, Feb. 6 with a road trip to Friday Harbor.

Friday’s rumble with La Conner had a different look, as 8th graders Kamden Ratcliff, Diesel Eck, and River Simpson made their high school debuts, called up to counteract a roster which has taken a hit in numbers recently.

All three had an immediate impact, combining for 19 points in the win.

The first half of Friday’s showdown was an even battle, with La Conner carrying a 16-15 lead into the first break, before Coupeville knotted things up at 25-25 heading to the halftime locker room.

CHS began to pull away in the third, with six different players scoring during a 16-10 run, before putting the game on ice in the fourth.

Simpson led the way in the final frame, tossing in six of his 13 points, while fab frosh Liam Lawson paced the Wolves with a team-high 14, including hitting eight free throws.

Jayden McManus (8), Ayden Warren (4), Eck (4), Nathan Coxsey (4), Brian Thompson (3), and Ratcliff (2) also tallied points, with Khanor Jump and Trent Thule seeing floor time.