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The couple that coaches together, thrives together!!

February 22, 2016 by David Svien

Coupeville High School basketball coaches Amy and David King. (John Fisken photo)

   Coupeville High School basketball coaches Amy and David King hang out in their home away from home. (John Fisken photo)

30 years ago today.

30 years ago today.

If you know David and Amy King, then you know seeing them spend their 30th wedding anniversary in a high school gym is perfect.

The Coupeville High School girls’ basketball coaches, who hit the milestone Monday, are deep into prepping their team for Saturday’s trip to Wenatchee, where the Wolves will clash with Cashmere.

It’s the first time the Wolf girls have made it to state since 2006, and it continues the rise of the program under the duo.

Now in their fourth season at the helm, the Kings (David is varsity coach and Amy JV coach/assistant varsity coach/photographer/publicist/team mom) inherited a program that had won 5 games total over the two seasons before they took the reigns.

After winning six games in 2012, they jumped to 10 victories the next year, then have won back-to-back 1A Olympic League titles in 2014-2015 and 2015-2016.

This year’s squad has topped last year, currently holding a 16-15 edge in wins, and, after a huge win over Seattle Christian in the district playoffs, is one of the final 16 teams to have a shot at a 1A state title.

As they celebrate their 30th anniversary the way they were meant to, in a gym, working in tandem to dispense hoops wisdom and tough love, all of their fans send their congratulations.

But first, David King has a few words about his bride:

One of the most caring and nicest people in the world.

Amy would and will put others before herself without looking for recognition or fanfare.

Her caring nature is second to none and she sees the best in people along with wanting them to be successful. Others that have come in contact with her are better people for it.

What a great role model.

I was lucky enough to marry Amy 30 years ago!

Daily I think of how lucky and blessed I am. Married to my best friend and I also get to have her with me while coaching.

Oh, and we have also worked together for 30 years.

And trust me when I say this, she has had to be around me almost 24 hours a day for 30 years, there should be a statue of her with having to do that.

Or there should be some award named after her.

Since I know she doesn’t like the spotlight, I’ll just finish with this. She is the greatest and I’m looking forward to the next 30 years with her.

Happy anniversary, Kings!

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The lil’ sis is a star, too!!

February 22, 2016 by David Svien

Ashleigh Battaglia (John Fisken photo)

   Ashleigh Battaglia, who finished with six points on opening night last Thursday, looks for an opening in the defense. (John Fisken photos)

Battaglia

Battaglia flies after a runaway volleyball.

We’re going to do a first today.

We’re swinging down to the middle school level to pay tribute to one of the best and brightest at CMS as she celebrates a birthday.

Ashleigh Battaglia, lil’ sis of CHS football star Chris, beats her brother by a few days (his cake day is coming up in a week or so), so she gets the spotlight first.

Much like her brother, she plays a lot of sports and plays them all well.

At CMS Ashleigh has suited up in every season, whether playing volleyball, basketball (where she kicked off a new season with a strong opening game against Chimacum) or track and field.

Last year she was the sort of indispensable jack of all trades a track coach loves, competing in seven different events during her season.

Want someone to run the sprints, throw the shot put or discus, launch herself in the long jump or take a leg on a relay?

Ashleigh answered the call every time, always with a beaming smile.

From what I’ve seen over the past year and a half, Battaglia seems like a genuine bright spot for Wolf athletics.

A hard worker, a good teammate and a warrior who is not afraid to get in the thick of things and battle.

I look forward to seeing what she accomplishes in the years ahead, and I already know Coupeville is lucky to have Ashleigh and her family, who have always struck me as a genuinely nice bunch.

Happy birthday, Miss Battaglia! I hope you have a great cake day.

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Put Heni over the top!!

February 22, 2016 by David Svien

Heni Barnes

Heni Barnes

Heni Barnes was one of the smartest people to ever come through Coupeville, and it’s not even close.

During her time as a Wolf, she was a top track and field thrower, going to districts in the discus and shot put, but her greatest accomplishments came off the field.

Jazz Band. ASB class president. National Honor Society officer. Science Olympiad. Produce picker and baby wrangler for local farmer/teacher Wilbur Purdie and wife Julieanna.

Oh, and there’s that whole “won a gold medal and $5,000 and got her documentary shown on the History Channel after winning the national History Day contest” thing, as well.

These days, the 2014 CHS grad is in even greater demand.

She’s been accepted to present at the International Conference of Permafrost in Potsdam, Germany in June, which will help her continued take-over of the world of geology.

Barnes needs $2,000 to make her dream come true and has already raised almost 90% of the funds on her GoFundMe page.

Now would be a perfect time for us to put her over the edge and help her make it to her goal.

Consider helping one of our most accomplished (and nicest, may I add) alumni, and maybe she’ll remember you when she completely takes over the world.

To find out more, pop over to:

https://www.gofundme.com/n7p4zpbw

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This moment? Yours for all time, Wolves!!

February 21, 2016 by David Svien

Lindsey Roberts (John Fisken photos)

   Lindsey Roberts (20) gets Lauren Grove fired up during pregame introductions. (John Fisken photos)

Kailey

  This is the look of a young woman delivering one of the most intense performances I have seen in 25 years of high school games. Kailey Kellner, you were a beast, and it was beautiful.

"Dang, Kellner,

   Ema Smith: “Someone call the medics, cause my baby girl just straight-up killed some folks!!”

"No, ma'am!!"

“No, ma’am!!” Makana Stone does NOT lose opening tips. Ever.

Kyla

Kyla Briscoe gets feisty in the trenches.

bench

   Young guns (l to r) Lauren Rose, Allison Wenzel and Skyler Lawrence are ready for some popcorn, cause this show? It’s entertaining.

Makana

  “I am the destroyer of worlds!!” Stone gets medieval on some fannies in crunch time.

Winner! Winner! Dairy Queen dinner!!

Winner! Winner! Dairy Queen dinner!!

They played their best in the spotlight.

Facing off with Seattle Christian Friday in Sumner, with a trip to the regional round of state on the line, the Wolf girls were at the peak of their powers.

They played as a team, they attacked relentlessly and, when the buzzer sounded on their 49-33 win, they celebrated in style.

Taking a detour from the state wrestling tourney, travelin’ photo man John Fisken popped in and grabbed some great pics as it all unfolded.

The photos above are courtesy him.

To see more, and possibly purchase some, thereby helping fund college scholarships for CHS student/athletes, pop over to:

http://www.nisquallyathletics.com/index.php?act=view_gallery&gallery=10861&league=22&page=1&page_name=photo_store&school=187&sport=0

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Time to ruffle Cashmere!!

February 21, 2016 by David Svien

(Amy King photo)

   CHS hoops stars (l to r) Lauren Rose, Makana Stone, Lauren Grove and Kailey Kellner play for one of 16 teams to still have a shot at a 1A state title. (Amy King photo)

It’s Makana vs. Makenna.

The Coupeville High School girls’ basketball squad will face off with District 6’s #1 team, Cashmere, in the regional round of the state hoops tourney.

The Wolves (16-5), the #3 seed from District 3, will play the Bulldogs (15-7) Saturday, Feb. 27 at Wenatchee High School.

Tip-off is 4 PM.

That means the Wolves get to travel 163.7 miles (one way), double what they did for districts, while Cashmere will head just 11.6 miles up the road for the game.

Tickets (good for all day) will be $11 for adults and $8 for students (ages 5-11 and 12-18 with a middle school/high school ASB) and senior citizens (62 and over).

Children under five get in for free, so someone should think about putting together a preschool rooter bus of pro-Wolf fans to rock the joint.

Win and Coupeville, which is in the middle of its best postseason run since 2006, books a stay at the Yakima SunDome Mar. 3-5 for the eight-team, double-elimination portion of the state tourney.

To get there, the Wolves will have to beat a school which has finished third at state the past two seasons.

Cashmere’s only losses in six games at state over the past two years have come at the hands of the teams that went on to win the state title.

In 2013-2014 it was Lynden Christian, while King’s toppled the Bulldogs in 2014-2015.

Playing in the Caribou Trail League, a four-team conference in Eastern Washington that includes Chelan, Omak and Cascade, Cashmere went 8-1 in league play this season.

They have three players averaging between 12 and 14 points — 6-foot-1 junior post Abbie Johnson, 5-8 sophomore guard Cami Knishka and 5-9 senior guard Makenna Faulkner.

Coupeville counters with 5-11 senior post Makana Stone, who has had a double-double every game while throwing down 19.6 points a night, and a very stingy defense.

The Wolves, who are scoring 43.1 a game, are surrendering just 32.9.

Cashmere averages 54.2 on offense and 38.6 on defense.

When the two squads did lose this season, it came against top-level competition.

None of Coupeville’s losses were by more than eight points (they also lost by 2, 3, 4 and 4), and two of those teams (Bellevue Christian and Charles Wright Academy) also advanced to regionals.

Cashmere absorbed three double-digit losses in its seven defeats, but faced a brutal schedule.

Two losses came against 2A schools (Ephrata and East Valley of Spokane), three against 1A schools (Chelan, Zillah and Granger) and two against 2B schools (undefeated Okanogan and Mabton).

Five of those seven schools made it to regionals, with only Ephrata and Chelan having been eliminated.

This will be the 20th state playoff game in Coupeville girls hoops history (the Wolves are 7-12 all-time) and the 23rd for Cashmere (12-10), but the first time they have faced each other.

The two schools have a connection through Randy King.

Currently the head track coach at CHS (he did a 20-year stint as Wolf boys’ basketball coach from 1991-2011), King was the assistant coach on the Cashmere boys’ hoops squad that won the 1980 state title.

To see the regional draw, pop over to:

http://www.wiaa.com/Brackets/T1213.pdf

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