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Scrappy Wolves fall to hustlin’ Bulldogs

January 26, 2023 by David Svien

Bryley Gilbert slashes to the hoop. (Jackie Saia photo)

Sometimes effort beats skill.

That seems to be the case Thursday, as the Mount Vernon High School C-Team pulled away with a strong third quarter, bouncing Coupeville’s JV 38-23.

The non-conference road loss drops the young Wolves to 6-7, but they get an immediate chance to return to the hardwood with a home game Friday against Northwest 2B/1B League rival Friday Harbor.

While Mount Vernon is a 3A school and CHS a 2B institution, Wolf coach Kassie O’Neil felt her team more than matched up with the Bulldogs.

But the host team just wanted the game more.

“It was a hard game to lose, because we really should have won,” O’Neil said. “We had more talent, but we got outhustled.”

Coupeville stayed close through the first half, trailing just 10-6 at the first break, and 15-12 at halftime.

The third quarter proved to be the difference, however, as the Bulldogs used a 15-5 tear to bust things open.

Madison McMillan paced Coupeville with a team-high 11 points, giving her 101 for the season.

The sophomore swing player, who has also scored at the varsity level for the Wolves, is the first JV player, male or female, to top triple-digits this season.

Bryley Gilbert knocked down six points to back McMillan, with Kierra Thayer, Liza Zustiak, and Carlota Marcos-Cabrillo each chipping in with a bucket to round out the offensive attack.

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Hoops teams honor cancer battle

January 26, 2023 by David Svien

Coupeville High School Athletic Director Willie Smith ponders the many things on his schedule. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Friday night will be an impactful one in the Coupeville High School gym.

Wolf basketball teams, playing at home for the first time in two weeks, host Friday Harbor in bouts which will have a big impact on potential playoff seeding for the varsity squads.

Things kick off with the girls’ varsity playing in the CHS gym, and the JV boys across the hallway in the middle school gym, with 4:00 tipoffs.

The boys’ varsity and girls JV teams inherit the floors at 5:30ish.

But the games are just a part of the events.

Youth cheerleaders perform at halftime of the varsity boys’ game, capping several weeks of preparation.

Throughout the afternoon and evening, the focus will be on the annual Coaches vs. Cancer fundraiser, renamed Coupeville vs. Cancer this year.

Raffle tickets ($1 or donation) will be sold, offering supporters a chance to win goodie baskets made by the CHS cheer team. There will be drawings at halftime of both varsity games.

T-shirts and silicone bracelets commemorating the night will be available for donation. Any extras after players and coaches receive theirs, will be offered for free.

There will also be a poster in the entranceway to the gym that fans can write on to honor those “that are fighting/have fought/have lost” the cancer battle, said CHS Athletic Director Willie Smith.

This year’s event is focusing on all forms of cancer, with pens representing all the cancer awareness ribbons available at the sign-in table.

All money raised will be donated to the V Foundation for Cancer Research, which was founded by legendary college basketball coach Jim Valvano.

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Former Wolf steps away from gridiron

January 25, 2023 by David Svien

Brett Smedley, back in his Coupeville days. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Former Coupeville High School football coach Brett Smedley has resigned from his gridiron position at his alma mater, Columbia River.

The husband of the school’s two-time state champion volleyball coach, Breanne Smedley, held the head job for four seasons after putting in three campaigns as defensive coordinator.

He led the Rapids to playoff berths in 2019 and 2021 but is stepping down now to focus on family.

Brett and Breeanne have two children, ages four and one.

Smedley, who graduated from Columbia River in 2003, plans to remain at the school as a PE teacher and assistant track coach.

During his four years in Coupeville, he coached middle school basketball in addition to working with the high school’s football program, first as an assistant to Tony Maggio, then as a head coach for one season.

Smedley was head coach in 2015, when Wolf quarterback Gabe Eck threw for a school single-game record of 403 yards in a win over Chimacum, a mark which still stands.

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Road warriors slam pedal through the metal

January 25, 2023 by David Svien

Jermiah Copeland looks for an open man. (Chloe Marzocca photo)

They bounced back in a big way.

Coming off a tough road loss at Mount Vernon Christian, the Coupeville High School varsity boys’ basketball team rebounded to drill host Concrete Tuesday.

Capping a four-game road trip, the Wolves won for the eighth time in their last 10 games, demolishing the Lions 75-22.

With 10 different players scoring, including sophomore Hunter Bronec tossing in his first varsity bucket, CHS gets to 3-2 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 10-6 overall.

Up next is a return home, for the first time in two weeks, and a rumble with Friday Harbor Jan. 27.

That Friday-night tilt has major playoff implications, as Coupeville tries to move a step closer to clinching District 1’s top seed for the bi-district tourney.

Two of three 2B schools from the NWL punch playoff tickets, with the games between the trio of teams the deciding factor.

Coupeville is 1-0 in that saucy round-robin dance, La Conner 1-1, and Friday Harbor 0-1 with the Wolves hosting the Braves Feb. 7, then traveling to Friday Harbor Feb. 10 for the regular season finale.

Tuesday’s battle in the town Leonardo Di Caprio and Robert De Niro made infamous in This Boy’s Life was a romp from start to finish, save for one brief spell in the first quarter.

Jumping out to a 9-0 lead, Coupeville didn’t let Concrete score until the 4:40 mark of the opening frame, only to see the Lions then slap home seven unanswered points.

If they were fazed, the Wolves didn’t show it, merely going right back to work.

Nick Guay stopped the brief bleeding with a layup off of a lob from Alex Murdy, then the Wolf junior came back around to cap a 13-2 run by firing a full court pass to a sprinting Murdy, who beat the buzzer by a step.

Up 22-9 at the first break, Coupeville continued to push its lead out, combining three-balls from Ryan Blouin and Logan Downes with hard-fought buckets in the paint courtesy Jonathan Valenzuela and Cole White.

The halftime advantage was 41-17, though it could have been bigger.

Guay bounded high, snagged an offensive board and drilled the put-back jumper at the buzzer, only to have hometown refs wave off his highlight reel play, claiming it left his fingers too late.

Not that Coupeville needed the extra bucket, as it broke Concrete’s spirit in the third quarter, rolling up a 27-0 advantage across eight frantic minutes.

Murdy was wheelin’ and dealin’, firing beautiful set-up passes to his teammates, with seven different Wolves tallying points in the frame.

Leading 68-17 headed into the fourth, Coupeville coach Brad Sherman, who had been liberally substituting all night, gave his support players a chance to own the quarter.

Hunter Bronec is in a hurry to get somewhere. (Chloe Marzocca photo)

Jermiah Copeland splashed home his first three-ball as a Wolf, banking the ball off the glass while doing so, while both Bronec brothers, Hunter and Hurlee, got extensive floor time.

With Coupeville’s starters playing limited minutes, the scoring sheet was super-balanced.

Downes led the way with a game-high 20, while Murdy banked in 14, and White snapped the net for 10.

Dominic Coffman (7), Valenzuela (7), Blouin (5), Copeland (5), Guay (3), Hunter Bronec (2), and Zane Oldenstadt (2) also scored, with William Davidson and Quinten Simpson-Pilgrim pounding the boards.

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Blouin buzz-bombs Lions

January 24, 2023 by David Svien

Alita Blouin is here to destroy you. (Delanie Lewis photo)

Alita Blouin is a dangerous woman.

Put a basketball in her hands, and the Coupeville High School senior will gut her rivals and leave them to bleed out on the side of the highway.

Metaphorically…

Leaving behind her real-life persona — where she’s serene and kind to human and animal alike — Blouin once again became Alita the Assassin Tuesday, raining down death from above on host Concrete.

Nailing five three-balls, while hitting from multiple angles, she went off for a season-high 21 points, leading nine Wolves into the scoring column during a 54-15 win.

The victory caps a brutal stretch of road games for the CHS varsity, which gets to 2-3 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 6-8 overall.

Now Blouin and her associates head home to face Friday Harbor this Friday, Jan. 27, in a game with big playoff implications.

Two of the three 2B schools in the NWL earn postseason berths, and the only games which influence Coupeville’s seeding are the ones with La Conner and Friday Harbor.

Currently, La Conner is 2-0 in the round-robin rumble, with both the Wolves and Wolverines sitting at 0-1.

Coupeville gets a home rematch with the Braves Feb. 7, before traveling to Friday Harbor Feb. 10 for the regular-season finale.

While Tuesday’s tilt didn’t have any impact on playoff dreams, it was a nice way to cap a four-game road trip where the first three games were against legit state title contenders.

The word of the night was defense, as Coupeville bolted out to a 29-0 lead, not allowing Concrete to score in the game’s first 13 minutes-plus.

The first quarter featured a pair of Blouin layups and a pair of jumpers from Lyla Stuurmans, before Maddie Georges utterly destroyed a defender on the final play before the break.

Sliding under the Lion, then juking her out to somewhere around Darrington, the Wolf point guard drilled a little runner and it was 11-0 and getting out of control.

Whatever hopes Concrete might have had vanished in the second quarter, with Coupeville raining down a season-best 29 points in eight minutes, stretching its lead to 40-4 at the half.

Blouin rippled the nets for a trio of three-balls, Stuurmans knocked down a series of buckets in the paint, and Gwen Gustafson exploded off the bench for a big quarter.

The Coupeville senior netted the 100th point of her varsity career on a free-throw, allowing Gustafson to join big sis Amanda Fabrizi (299 career points) in the three-digit club.

While the defense might not have seemed as important as before, as a running clock loomed on the horizon, the Wolves remained frisky.

None more so than sophomore Mia Farris, ripping down rebounds and soundly rejecting a Concrete shot to send her team into the locker room on a high.

Skylar Parker connected on a pullup jumper late in the third quarter to stretch the lead out to 40, while making some personal history at the same time.

It was the first varsity points for the CHS junior, as she becomes the 241st girl to score for a Wolf hoops program which launched in 1974.

For stat hounds looking for something besides points, toss Farris another hustle mark, as she drew an offensive charge late in the game.

Stuurmans finished the night with 11 points to back Blouin and her 21, while Gustafson banked in seven.

Georges (6), Katie Marti (2), Carolyn Lhamon (2), Parker (2), Ryanne Knoblich (2), and Farris (1) also scored, with Jada Heaton and Madison McMillan earning floor time.

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