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Wrestling mat welcomes back Turner

January 5, 2019 by David Svien

Alex Turner (top) takes control during a match. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Nothing comes easy in wrestling.

Returning from an extended holiday break, Coupeville High School senior Alex Turner was back on the mat Saturday, but minus a fair amount of poundage.

Getting ready for the run up to the postseason, he shaved off 12 pounds, going from the 182-pound class back to the 170-pound level where he was a state meet alternate as a junior.

Turner’s first crack at his new/old level came at the Panther Classic in Snohomish, where he went 1-2 Saturday while facing wrestlers from much-larger schools.

Repping 1A Coupeville, while training and traveling with 3A Oak Harbor, Turner opened Saturday against Kevon Zakula, who grapples for Westview, a 6A school from Portland, OR.

Zakula took the match by fall at the 5:37 mark, but Turner rebounded to blast Charlie Van Horn of 3A Edmonds-Woodway in the next round.

The lone Wolf dropped his foe after just 40 seconds of mat action.

Turner closed out his day with a close loss to Dylan Owen of 4A Glacier Peak, taking a fall at the 3:45 mark.

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“Bad apples” spike everyone in sight

January 5, 2019 by David Svien

Coupeville’s Emma Smith (left) and Ashley Menges celebrate a club volleyball tourney title. (Konni Smith photo)

Whidbey Volleyball Club U18 players call for their teammates to “pour it on.” (Charlotte Young photo)

Maya Toomey-Stout (3), Hannah Davidson (4), Emma Smith (13), Menges (14), Zoe Trujillo (7) and Scout Smith (2) claim Cow Town as home. (Konni Smith photo)

Not even the food police can slow them down.

Despite being assessed a 13-point(!) penalty for a player eating an apple in the Evergreen State College gym Saturday, the Whidbey Volleyball Club U18 squad rolled to three wins in as many matches to claim 1st at a tournament.

The club team, which numbers six Coupeville players on its roster – Ashley Menges, Scout Smith, Hannah Davidson, Maya Toomey-Stout, Emma Smith, and Zoe Trujillo – came out hot and never relented.

Whidbey swept the Siva 18 Whites, overcame the penalty to edge the Northshore Juniors in three sets, then whomped on Ignite 18 to claim first in their bracket at the 60-team spiker shindig in Olympia.

“We had a few dips, but overall, played very well,” said Emma Smith. “We came out and took the first match of the morning, which very rarely happens.”

“They did awesome all around!,” said mom Konni Smith. “Hannah was rocking the net, serves were great; great team work, very impressed with all the girls!”

After making the gold bracket at their last tourney, Whidbey U18 is on a roll in the early going of the club season, which, depending on how it plays, could stretch as far as May.

As the season progresses, players and coaches will have to adapt to sometimes strange rules at the many schools they visit.

While some gyms have a stern no-food policy, none of the Wolf players or parents have witnessed such a harsh penalty be inflicted during the many years they have been involved in the sport.

Especially since we’re talking about a freakin’ piece of fruit on the sidelines, and not a meatball sub being devoured at center court.

For his part, the dad of the apple muncher is laying down the law.

“Well, my daughter is a bad apple; she will be disciplined when she gets home,” he said with a big smile. “I’m going to make her eat apple pie with no ice cream!”

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Rough re-entry for Wolf basketball

January 4, 2019 by David Svien

Gavin Knoblich knocked down six points Friday as Coupeville basketball returned to the floor after a 12-day holiday break. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

The “Showdown in Shoreline” was decidedly one-sided.

None of the Coupeville High School basketball teams have played in 12 days, and their welcome-back present Friday was a road match-up with powerhouse King’s.

It did not go especially well on the scoreboard.

By the time things were done and the bus was headed back to Whidbey, the Wolves had absorbed five losses in as many games.

But, every game is a lesson and tomorrow is another day, as they say.

How things played out:

 

Girls varsity:

The game was a showdown for sole possession of first-place in the North Sound Conference, but one team was a little more oiled-up.

King’s, a tall, athletic team led by all-universe freshman Jada Wynn, was coming off four wins in four games at a holiday tournament in California, and the Knights jumped out to a 15-0 lead Friday en route to a 50-17 win.

With the loss, the Wolves (2-1 in league play, 4-6 overall) slip into a second-place tie with Cedar Park Christian (2-1, 5-5), a game back of King’s (3-0, 8-3).

Coupeville travels to Bothell Tuesday, giving it a prime shot to bounce back and knock CPC down a rung.

While the final score was lopsided, CHS coach David King liked chunks of what he witnessed.

“We came into the game ready to compete,” he said. “Our defensive effort was present all game; in the second quarter we caused a 30-second violation and Lindsey (Roberts) also had a highlight-reel block.

“We did a lot of good things on defense, still have some things to correct,” he added. “But, it’s things we can correct.”

Trailing 15-0 at the first break, the Wolves came back and put together a solid effort in the second quarter, holding King’s to just a 16-10 advantage.

The second frame was a battle of the stars, with Wynn tossing in nine of her game-high 17, while Roberts answered with seven of her team-best nine.

Another bagel job in the third (11-0) hurt, but Coupeville closed strongly, edged just 8-7 in the fourth quarter.

David King praised his team, which fought through any rustiness and showed admirable chippiness.

“The starters led us the whole game with their energy and never-quit attitude,” he said. “Our reserves gave us some great minutes all game long, as well.

“Avalon (Renninger) was aggressive on both ends of the court, while Tia (Wurzrainer) brought us a good spark on the defensive end,” King added.

“Nicole (Laxton) is establishing herself as a very good rebounder; I never like losing, but this game showed me we will compete with the very good teams and can and will get better.”

The nine points for Roberts pushes her career total to 399, leaving her a free-throw shy of becoming the 24th Wolf girl to top 400.

Renninger knocked down four points in support, Ema Smith swished a three-ball and Scout Smith slipped a free-throw through the net to top off the scoring effort.

Hannah Davidson hauled in five boards for CHS, while Chelsea Prescott and Ja’Kenya Hoskins also saw floor time.

 

Boys varsity:

King’s rained down 11 three-balls, with seven different players netting a trey, as it cruised in with a 76-23 win.

The loss drops the Wolves to 0-2 in league play, 1-8 overall.

They currently sit fifth in the six-team conference, a half-game up on Granite Falls (0-3, 2-9), which they host Tuesday night.

Coupeville couldn’t get much to drop in the opening quarter Friday, digging a 16-2 hole it couldn’t recover from.

The Wolves best performance came in the second frame, when they went for almost half of their points on the night, dropping in 11 of 23.

Gavin Knoblich paced CHS with four in the quarter, finishing in a tie with Hawthorne Wolfe for top scoring honors with six for the game.

Wolfe netted both of Coupeville’s three-balls, hitting one in the second and another in the fourth.

Jered Brown (4), Jacobi Pilgrim (2), Mason Grove (2), Sean Toomey-Stout (2) and Ulrik Wells (1) also scored, while Dane Lucero chipped in with rebounding and hustle.

King’s, which sits atop the league at 3-0, a half-game up on South Whidbey (2-0), got points from all 12 of the players on its roster, with Tyler Linhardt leading the way with 19.

 

Girls JV:

Facing a team which shot (and made) a lot of three-balls, Coupeville fell 49-14.

The Wolf young guns fall to 2-1 in league play, 4-5 overall, heading into a JV-only match-up Monday at Oak Harbor.

While her team went scoreless in the first quarter, falling behind 12-0, CHS coach Amy King liked that her squad never fell to pieces.

“Everyone kept working,” she said. “We got a number of shots up that just didn’t fall.

“We worked to slow them down and give no uncontested layups, and we accomplished that,” King added. “It’s about heart, not paying attention to the score, and being a team.

The Wolves finally broke through on the scoreboard when Anya Leavell went coast-to-coast for a bucket after snatching a rebound on the defensive end of the floor.

Leavell added a three-ball to account for a team-high five points, while Izzy Wells knocked down four, Audrianna Shaw drilled a trey and Kiara Contreras popped for two to round out the scoring.

The bucket from Contreras was set up by a “sweet offensive rebound and dish” from teammate Abby Mulholland.

Wells paced the Wolves with nine rebounds and two assists, while Ja’Kenya Hoskins rejected a pair of Knights shots.

Lily Leedy, Morgan Stevens, Kylie Van Velkinburgh, Alana Mihill and Mollie Bailey all saw floor time to round out the active roster.

 

Boys JV:

The first three quarters were brutal, but Coupeville rebounded to win the fourth-quarter battle in a 63-19 loss.

The Wolves slip to 0-2 in league play, 4-5 overall.

Trailing 50-3 after going scoreless in the first and third quarters, CHS closed the game with a 16-13 surge across the final eight minutes.

With six different players scoring in the fourth, the Wolves held off a Knights team which kept its top scorer on the floor in the final quarter, providing a nice finish to a rough night.

Xavier Murdy paced Coupeville with six points, popping for five in the final frame, while Sage Downes (4), Daniel Olson (3), Cody Roberts (3), Tucker Hall (2) and Grady Rickner (1) also scored.

Gibby Marshall led King’s with 23, getting 11 of those in the fourth.

Coupeville’s active roster also included Chris Ruck, Logan Martin, TJ Rickner, and Miles Davidson, who all saw floor time.

 

Boys C-Team:

Coupeville came out extremely-cold and lost 60-3 to a very-efficient Knights squad.

The defeat drops the young Wolves to 0-1 in league play, 0-4 overall, the score-book was lost to the sands of time, and that’s pretty much all we’re going to say about that.

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Morons rip up Little League fields

January 3, 2019 by David Svien

After busting through a chain to gain access to Rhododendron Park, someone tore up Central Whidbey Little League ball-fields.  (Christi Messner photos)

Tire marks dot the infield.

The deeper the tread marks, the fewer brain cells the driver owns.

A broken chain gave the driver(s) access to the fields.

Mark of the morons.

Morons being morons.

Someone, or several someones, recently broke through a chain to gain access to the Central Whidbey Little League ball-fields at Rhododendron Park.

The mouth breathers then spent some time ripping up the area, taking advantage of soft grass to leave a variety of peel-outs.

Why? Because they’re morons, and when their little pea-sized brains jiggle around in their otherwise empty heads, they momentarily forget how much of a loser they are in every part of their life.

And, if you’re the ones who did this, and you’re offended at being called morons, idiots, simpletons, or the kind of people who give lead paint lickers a run for their money, there’s an easy way to deal with it.

Step forward and accept responsibility. Claim credit.

Course, if you do, I kind of hope a bunch of little leaguers line up and repeatedly knee you in the crotch.

But that’s just me.

Posted in Ranting and Raving | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments »

Aparicio born to be a star

January 2, 2019 by David Svien

Payton Aparicio, coming to a Hall o’ Fame near you. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Maybe it was fate.

Payton Aparicio springs from a family rich in sports success, from her parents and grandparents to aunts and uncles and cousins galore.

From the Stuurmans trunk in the middle, to the Bepler and Aparicio branches folding around the base, the ol’ family tree is one of the strongest you will find in Coupeville athletics.

But, as talented as her relatives are, I’m going to go out on my own limb here and say Payton is the best the family has produced.

A soaring star in both volleyball and tennis, who could have been a basketball sensation as well if she hadn’t given up the sport after middle school, Ms. Aparicio is an extremely easy pick for induction into the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame.

So, where that’s where we’re placing her today, as we swing open the doors and welcome her into our lil’ digital institution.

After this, you’ll find her at the top of the blog under the Legends tab, sharing space with dad Mitch.

Payton was somewhat deceptive as an athlete.

I know she worked hard, in practices and games, but she has a rare quality of making every action look effortless.

She was the very definition of smooth, regardless of the sport, almost catching you by surprise when you realized how much of an impact she was having.

And that impact was major.

When Aparicio was named Coupeville High School’s Female Athlete of the Year shortly before graduation last spring, it was a lifetime achievement prize in many ways.

Her senior athletic year had been beyond-solid, but when coaches voted, I am confident they were also looking back at the previous three years.

Remembering her precision, her power, and, this is huge, the manner in which she always carried herself.

Aparicio displayed a quiet confidence, rarely (if ever) appearing shaken by the magnitude of the moment.

Who knows if her brain was yelling madly and bouncing off the walls when she went to serve for a match. If so, she never let us see anything other than a serene, locked-in, spirit.

On the volleyball court, Aparicio could soar to the roof and smash with the best of them, while also being nimble enough to scrape dig after dig off the floor.

Her serving was impeccable, deadly and consistent, and she graduated with the school record for most aces in a single match.

From a freshman who blasted a ball into the rafters at South Whidbey, and got the ball to rest on a beam and never come back down (it may still be up there), to a senior who was team MVP on the first Coupeville squad to go to state in more than a decade, Aparicio was a quiet killer.

Her laser focus, mad skills, and assassin-like demeanor translated beautifully to the tennis court, as well.

From the moment they first stepped on the CHS court as freshmen, she and Sage Renninger were the #1 Wolf doubles duo, and they never, ever let anyone come close to taking their title.

Peppering foe after foe, they mixed precision shot-making with raw power, like when Aparicio pegged a rival with a match-winning shot, inflicting physical and emotional pain with one superbly-placed smash.

The duo ended their tennis, and high school careers, with a 4th place finish at the state tourney, winning three of four matches in the Eastern Washington heat.

Their only loss was a tough three-set affair against a private school duo who went on to win a second-straight title, and no one in the tourney came closer to upending the champs than Aparicio and Renninger.

The 4th place finish was the second-best in CHS tennis history, behind just Mindy Horr and Taniel Lamb’s 2nd place showing in 2005, and it’s fitting all four of those standout netters now share space in the Hall o’ Fame.

When I look back on Payton’s prep sports career, I see talent, I see commitment, I see accomplishment, I see a young woman who always put team first.

What do I see? I see one of the best to ever wear a Wolf uniform, that’s what I see.

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