Courtney Boyd (left) is joined by (top to bottom) Kassie (Lawson) O’Neil (in purple), super fans Lisa and Eddie and Allen Black.
The three Wolf greats entering the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame today — two honored for their careers, one for creating one of the most memorable moments in school athletic history — all were very good in the arena.
But Courtney Boyd, Allen Black and Kassie (Lawson) O’Neil continue to make an impact every day, and, with six kids between them, are already starting to fill out future rosters (one hopes) for CHS teams to come.
As those children grow, their moms and dad can point to the top of this blog, where they’ll be in residence under the Legends tab, and say, “Hey, you have to listen to me, people think I’m a big deal around here!!”
Might work…
But before we get to the terrific trio, our other two inductees today are the biggest fans Coupeville sports have had in recent years.
Lisa and Eddie are at every Wolf volleyball, football and basketball game — Eddie is a master of the halftime half-court shot contest at CHS hoops games — and they truly live and die for their players.
And they are THEIR players, as the duo know them all and take a personal pride in their accomplishments.
Woe be to the ref who makes a call against Coupeville, because Lisa will take them out to the woodshed, verbally, and spank the offending official all night long.
It’s always nice to see when Wolf athletes choose to interact with the pair, and return a bit of the love the couple send out to all Coupeville kids.
It’s things like that which truly set small town sports apart from all other things.
Joining them in the hall is the smack-talking (at least back in the day) hoops hotshot himself, Allen Black, who schooled numerous teams in the early 2000’s.
A First-Team All-Northwest League pick during his senior season in ’04, an honor he shared with fellow Hall o’ Famer Mike Bagby, Allen was the real deal on the court.
He remains so even now, as he haunts the gym he once ruled, content to play with his adorable little girl (mom is the very talented former softball diamond queen Mandi Murdy).
Sometimes I wonder, when I see former greats sitting inches away from the current players, do these young ones have any idea of the kind of ball that “old” guy could play?
I kinda think Mr. Black could take the court today and drop 20+ on these guys, but is content not to.
He seems very happy in his relative anonymity, and, having seen him come of age hanging out endlessly at Videoville, it’s nice to see him doing so well these days.
Sorry, not sorry, to blow your cover, superstar.
Our next inductee, Courtney Boyd, literally grew up in Videoville, hanging out behind the counter, running my computer, “liberating” my pastries and telling everyone I was her dad and “when are you going to pay mom her child support?!?!?”
On the field, she was an All-Conference midfielder in soccer and a three-year letter winner in basketball, where she was a feisty force of nature.
After graduation, she’s gone on to produce two of the cutest children to ever walk the Earth and can really do no wrong in my eyes.
Yes, she’s that amazing — though still quite capable of harassing me in front of strangers.
O’Neil, completing the trend started above, has three super-cute kids and is that rarity, a busy mom who can, and does, keep a million plates flying in the air at once.
Today we’re honoring her for a moment, one which still stands tall almost eight years later.
The night was Jan. 18, 2008, the opponent was that most dastardly of foes — King’s — and the Coupeville girls’ basketball squad looked doomed on its own home court.
After fighting from behind all game, the Wolves trailed by two with seven seconds to play in overtime, and had the ball in Hayley Ebersole’s hands.
The senior guard drove the ball up-court, where she threaded the ball to Kassie on the left side of the circle as the clock continued to run down to nothing as quickly as possible.
Every fan, every defender expected the same thing — a drive up the lane in an effort to net a foul call and a chance to tie.
Instead, Kassie threw convention out the window, went straight up and banked a three-ball off the glass a whisper before the buzzer, winning the game 33-32 and setting off a riot of celebration.
The win clinched a #1 playoff seed for the Wolves, caused most of the King’s players to break into tears (one would like to think, at least) and sealed the deal on the then-Miss Lawson being a legend.
Kassie would go on to play college ball before she started to build her own all-star team of young lads, but that one moment, when she showed guts and went for the glory, failure be damned, will remain her defining on-court moment.
