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“It was rowdy!”

Emma Leavitt (left) and Inara Maund are a great support crew for fellow CMS hoops players. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Three more names in the scoring column.

Making their next-to-last road trip of the season Monday, the Coupeville Middle School girls’ basketball teams went bucket for bucket with host Sultan across 2.5 games.

As they did so, three more Wolves — Selah Rivera, Laken Simpson, and Taylor Marrs — recorded their first points of the campaign.

That gives CMS 29 players with at least a bucket heading into the season finale Tuesday at South Whidbey.

That trip will be a much-shorter affair than Monday’s march to the wilds of Sultan, where “it was rowdy!” according to Wolf coach Brooke Crowder.

How the day played out:

 

Level 1:

An immediate rematch, as these two schools tangled in Coupeville four days prior.

Sultan came out on top again, but it was closer this time, as the Wolves, who fell by 17 Thursday, lost 33-21 on the road.

The defeat drops CMS, which was missing top scorer Tenley Stuurmans for a second-straight game, to 1-6.

Lillian Ketterling, zipping around the court, paced the Wolf attack with a team-high eight points as she continues to blossom into a dangerous scoring threat.

Tamsin Ward backed her up with four points, with Adie Maynes (3), Marrs (2), Simpson (2), Ari Cunningham (1), and Sydney Van Dyke (1) joining the scoring effort.

Coupeville’s top squad also got quality minutes from Olivia Hall, Ava Lucero, and Chelsi Stevens.

 

Level 2:

The hottest team in Wolf Nation netted the season sweep of Sultan, downing the Turks 18-13 thanks to a fourth-quarter comeback.

CMS, now 5-2 on the season, actually went scoreless in the first quarter but turned up the defensive heat and trailed just 2-0 at the break.

Proving the clampdown was no fluke, the Wolves held the Turks scoreless across the second seven-minute segment, pulling ahead 5-2 at the half.

A temporary slowdown on offense cost Coupeville in the third quarter, however, and it went into the final frame trailing 9-7 in a tense, low-scoring affair.

The Wolves needed a spark, and they got one from Kennedy O’Neill and Willow Leedy-Bonifas, who combined to outscore Sultan 11-4 down the stretch.

O’Neill banked in seven of her game-high 10 points in the final quarter, while her running mate tossed in four of her six.

Defensive stalwart Amelia Crowder rounded out the attack with a third-quarter bucket, while Amaiya Curry, Elizabeth Marshall, Sage Stavros, Sophia Batterman, Allison Powers, and Isa Mc Fetridge played key roles in the win.

 

Level 3:

These two didn’t play Thursday, as Sultan didn’t have enough healthy girls to field a third team.

This time around, they made it through two quarters, with the Turks holding on for a 13-8 win that leaves the Wolves at 3-2 on the year.

Zayne Roos came alive for CMS, scoring four points to lead the way, with Rivera and Cameron Van Dyke both tossing in a bucket.

Claire Lachnit, Brooklyn Pope, Cassandra Powers, Emma Cushman, Kaleigha Millison, Annaliese Powers, and Zariyah Allen rounded out the rotation for the Wolves.

“Bow before the magnificence of our collective brain power, puny mortals! Pray we use our skills for good, instead of having our robots conquer the world!!” (Photo courtesy Alison Perera)

It’s not about building robots — it’s about building good people.

That’s the mantra for the Whidbey Island Robotics Club, which brings together students from Oak Harbor and Coupeville.

The group, when not scoring big in competitions, concentrates on helping shape “people who will go on to be leaders in their various professions” and “people who will change the world.”

The mix of Wildcats and Wolves — Natalie PereraOrion Liedtke, and Gabe Smith hail from Coupeville — continue to shine at every event they attend.

This past weekend, the destination was Snohomish, where the 34-team PNW District Glacier Peak Event was held.

Whidbey Island emerged from the first level of competition ranked in the top five and were allied in the playoffs with the Iron Riders from Seattle and Stealth Robotics from Duvall.

Once there, they overcame two broken robots, collected the Gracious Professionalism award, and claimed third place overall.

Now, after two weeks of work, Whidbey’s robot overlords head back off-island Mar. 15-17 for the PNW District Bonney Lake Event.

Put in another stellar performance there, and they’ll join other top teams from Washington and Oregon in punching a ticket to districts.

The big showdown is set for Apr. 4-6 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland, and you can support the brilliant young minds who operate on The Rock by popping over to:

https://team2980.wixsite.com/team2980/donate?fbclid=IwAR0ZTUsylCOMl35bOeGfe16QFQ9z88CLcpFGHoHy0m5IkNpE8jm10eNTQaE

Team Whidbey is ready to rumble. (Photos courtesy Tiffany Wheeler Thompson)

Put a basketball in their hands, and they soar.

Two Whidbey Island hoops teams participated in the Special Olympics state championships in Wenatchee this weekend, with both nabbing top finishes.

South Whidbey Wind claimed silver after enduring a nail-biting triple-overtime affair, while Team Whidbey earned fourth place in their division.

“It was a long day for our athletes, but they made all of us so proud,” said Tiffany Wheeler Thompson.

South Whidbey Wind players sport their medals.

The 2024 Special Olympics State Winter Games ran from Mar. 1-3, with athletes competing in events such as alpine skiing, basketball, cheerleading, figure skating, snowboarding, and speed skating.

There were 495 athletes taking part in the basketball competition.

 

Spring sports kickoff:

While basketball has capped its season, Team Whidbey is moving on to swimming and track.

The events are open to ages eight and up, with no skill required.

To sign up, or for more, info contact Shari Mays at wispecialolympics@gmail.com.

Mitch and Tami Aparicio

Same location, different name.

A little over a month after the Penn Cove Brewing Company shut down, ending an eight-year run, one of the two brothers behind that business has reopened its Coupeville storefront.

Mitch and Tami Aparicio launched the newly named Whidbey Tides & Taps Saturday, just in time for the Penn Cove Mussel Fest, in the building which had housed the Coupeville Taproom.

The business is located at 103 S. Main, across from the elementary school.

Tami and I are super excited about bringing back the taproom we love and continuing to give back to the community that has done so much for us over the years,” Mitch Aparicio said in a statement on Facebook.

“Come by for a beer and say hi.”

His wife later chimed in, thanking all of their supporters.

“With the closing of Penn Cove Brewing Company, Mitch and I had some big decisions to make. We came to the realization that we were not ready to let go of the taproom adventure,” she said.

“We decided to open up a new business called Whidbey Tides & Taps and reopen the taproom to serve this community that we love!

“Thanks everyone for your overwhelming support and help getting ready for this!

“We have the most amazing employees, friends and customers that have all helped pull this together. We are beyond excited to keep serving everyone in this place we call home.”

Coupeville grad Mica Shipley (center) was honored Saturday during Senior Night at Eastern Washington University. (Photo property Bridget Hills)

Another milestone for Mica Shipley.

The Coupeville grad, now an NCAA D-I cheerleader, was honored Saturday during Eastern Washington University’s Senior Night for men’s basketball and cheer.

With Shipley and Co. providing the spirit and passion, the Eagles slipped past visiting Montana State 108-104 in overtime to get to 20-10 on the season.

EWU has one regular season game left against Sacramento State, before kicking off Big Sky tourney play.

During her time in Coupeville, Shipley, the most electrifying woman in sports entertainment, was a cheer captain and helped lead the Wolves back to being a competition squad after a seven-year gap.

They earned third place at the state meet during her junior season, before competing at nationals the next year.

The cheer supernova also modeled for Glitter Starz, a national leader in custom all-star uniforms, warm-ups, and other cheer essentials.