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Last time a rout, this time a rumble

January 25, 2019 by David Svien

TJ Rickner banged in four points Friday as Coupeville’s JV went toe-to-toe with Cedar Park Christian. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

A big leap forward.

The Coupeville High School JV boys basketball squad may have lost twice this season to Cedar Park Christian, but the Wolves drastically improved their performance the second time around.

Ten days ago, CHS went to Bothell and was blown out 61-24.

Jump forward to Friday night, and the final margin was single digits, even with Coupeville’s leading scorer sitting out an entire quarter.

With freshman Xavier Murdy’s playing time being protected in case he played in the varsity contest as well, the Wolves chipped away before eventually falling 60-51.

The loss drops the Coupeville young guns to 2-6 in North Sound Conference play, 6-9 overall, with two games left on the schedule.

The JV, which finishes with road games at South Whidbey and Granite Falls next week, closed out its home schedule with a game in which eight of nine players scored.

The big two in the opening quarter were Murdy, who tossed in seven, and fellow frosh Logan Martin, who banked in six.

Trailing 22-15 at the first break, CHS coach Chris Smith stashed Murdy on the bench in the second frame, while Daniel Olson stepped up to key the Wolf offense.

Going off for all seven of his points on the night, the sophomore swing player did his best to keep Coupeville close, and the Wolves went into the break down 39-27.

The second half, with Murdy back in action, and getting help from everyone on the floor, was a fairly even affair, as CHS attacked the deficit, only to run out of time.

Murdy topped the score-book with a team-high 16 points, while Martin added nine and Olson rattled the rim for seven.

Mitchell Hall (6), TJ Rickner (4), Grady Rickner (4), Cody Roberts (3) and Sage Downes (2) also scored, while Chris Ruck gave the team a burst of energy off the bench.

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“Really proud of these kids”

January 25, 2019 by David Svien

Freshman Andrew Aparicio rebounded “like a beast” Friday, as Coupeville’s C-Team wrapped its season. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

The seeds have been planted.

When Scott Fox stepped on the court this season, his first as coach of the Coupeville High School boys C-Team basketball squad, he found a batch of very raw players.

What a difference two months make.

“That first practice, it took us a half hour to run a three-man weave drill,” he said with a chuckle. “And now here we are competing with a solid team like Cedar Park Christian and putting together our best game to date.

“I’m really proud of these kids.”

Friday night’s home game against CPC was the season finale for the C-Team, and they went out scrapping all the way.

Down by just a single point at the half, the Wolves lost leading scorer Jaylen Nitta to a recurring injury and eventually fell 45-29, but Fox walked out of the gym wearing a proud grin.

“We rebounded toe to toe with them,” he said. “Andrew (Aparicio) was like a beast out there tonight, and Chris (Cernick) and Miles (Davidson) were right there with him.”

Before he went down with his injury, Nitta tossed in a team-high 12 points, while Aparicio added a season-best five of his own.

Brayden Coatney (4), Jonathan Partida (4), Ben Smith (2), and Tony Garcia (2) rounded out the Wolf attack.

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Stone fills up the stat sheet

January 25, 2019 by David Svien

Makana Stone, here celebrating with mom Eileen, filled up the stat sheet Friday as Whitman College cruised to a big win. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Double-doubles are nice, but triple-doubles are even sweeter.

Though she didn’t quite make it all the way to Russell Westbrook territory Friday, Coupeville grad Makana Stone came dangerously close.

Tossing in 10 points, hauling down a game-high 14 rebounds and dealing out a collegiate career-best seven assists, the former Wolf sparked Whitman College women’s basketball back to its winning ways.

Bouncing back from a rare loss six days ago, the Blues shellacked host Willamette University (my mom’s alma mater) 82-59 in Salem, OR.

The blowout win lifts Whitman to 8-1 in Northwest Conference play, 14-4 overall.

It also keeps them tied with George Fox (8-1, 15-3) atop the nine-team league, with seven games left on the regular season schedule.

One of those bouts arrives Saturday, when the Blues head to Forest Grove, OR to wrap up a two-game road trip with a game against Pacific University (1-8, 7-11).

After that, they return to Walla Walla for four straight home games, including a royal rumble Feb. 8 with George Fox.

Friday night’s contest was Stone’s 75th college game, and she dominated as she has done in almost every game during her junior season.

Her double-double was her fifth in the last six games, and ninth on the season.

Stone’s 14 rebounds were double what any other player, on either team, snagged, and helped Whitman control the boards to a 42-29 tune.

Sparked by second-chance buckets galore, the Blues jumped out to a 23-15 lead after one quarter, before stretching the margin out to 47-25 by the halftime break.

After that, Whitman cruised in for the win, with four different players scoring in double figures.

Maegan Martin popped for a game-high 19, while Mady Burdett banked in 14 and Taylor Chambers ruffled the nets for 12.

On the season, Stone is sitting with 280 points, 165 rebounds, 34 assists, 22 steals, and 17 blocks.

She’s shooting 117-229 from the field and 45-57 at the free-throw line.

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You like them, you like both of them

January 25, 2019 by David Svien

Twin brothers DeAndre (left) and Dante Mitchell finished in a tie atop the poll to decide the Coupeville Sports “Winter Coach of the Season.”

Back in their younger days.

Well, there’s a first time for everything.

I’ve run 21 polls in the history of Coupeville Sports, and never had this happen.

But here we are, 48 hours and 25 minutes later (yes, I overslept…) and 2,248 votes down the road, and we have a TIE for the “Winter Sports Coach of the Season.”

Which is kind of appropriate, because the winners are twin brothers.

Just as mom Avis can’t pick a favorite (at least in public), the voters decided to honor both of her sons, Coupeville Middle School 8th grade basketball coaches Dante and DeAndre Mitchell.

The former Wolf players each picked up exactly 634 votes, putting them comfortably ahead of third-place finisher Scott Fox, who strolled in with 422 votes to claim third.

The Coupeville High School boys C-Team coach was followed by CMS coach Mikayla Elfrank (145) and CHS JV guru Chris Smith (113) in a field of 14 basketball coaches.

And they were all basketball coaches in this poll, as I accidentally left out CHS cheer coach BreAnna Boon and her husband Tyson, who is providing coaching for Coupeville’s lone wrestler, Alex Turner.

Thankfully, that duo have already won state and national titles back in their own high school days, so, missing out on a chance to vie for my totally made up, but totally amazing, non-trophy, probably won’t destroy their lives.

We hope.

For the rest of the coaches, and their various fan clubs, thanks for playing along and congrats to the Mitchell brothers.

If they want to break the tie, may I suggest a brisk game of HORSE down at the CHS gym?

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Time to drop some body blows

January 23, 2019 by David Svien

Fourteen basketball gurus enter the gym, but only one will emerge as the Coupeville Sports “Winter Coach of the Season.”

Ready to go to war, I mean the polls, again?

Back in October, the battle for the completely made-up and totally fake Coupeville Sports “Fall Sports Coach of the Season” brought the internet servers to their knees.

So now that we’re knee deep into basketball season, let’s do it all again.

How does this all go down, you ask? It’s simple.

We have 14 coaches, covering girls and boys high school and middle school basketball. Head coaches, assistant coaches, paid and volunteer, they’re all here.

With one small caveat.

Since girls middle school hoops kicked off practice yesterday, I’ve only included the head coaches. If any assistants pop up on the sidelines once games begin, sorry, you missed the cutoff.

For a totally fake award.

That is still totally prestigious and will still look totally amazing on your mantle, even if some spoilsports try and tell you said award is invisible.

Anyways, polls for the “Winter Sports Coach of the Season” open today, Wednesday, Jan. 23, and close 48 hours later, at 9 AM Friday, Jan. 25.

You can vote as many times as you like, with no restrictions coming from me.

Once in awhile, WordPress has tried to slow some people down for unknown reasons, but if that happens, bounce to a different device and things should be all hunky-dory.

And away we go.

Posted in Basketball, Polls | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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