Maddie Georges fights for a loose ball. (Karen Carlson photo)
First, some good news.
The Coupeville High School varsity girls’ basketball team was back at nearly full-strength Friday, with senior Carolyn Lhamon back in the lineup after missing a chunk of games while tending to a foot injury.
The Wolves most-imposing presence in the paint, she could be a big help down the stretch, as CHS chases a playoff berth.
Now, the bad news.
While Lhamon played strongly in limited minutes, there’s not much she, or any of her teammates could do to slow down host Mount Vernon Christian.
Playing on Senior Night and unveiling their state title banner from last season, the Hurricanes buried eight three-balls en route to a 62-17 win over the visiting Wolves.
The loss drops Coupeville to 1-3 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 5-8 overall.
The game caps a brutal stretch of three-straight road games against championship contenders, coming on the heels of contests against MVC’s fellow state powers, Neah Bay and La Conner.
While Coupeville hits the bus one more time to kick off next week, that trip will to be to Concrete Tuesday, to face a 1-12 Lion team.
Not the same thing, you would assume.
Facing off with MVC, the Wolves did stay scrappy in the first quarter, just like the first time these two squads played.
Lyla Stuurmans hit a driving layup, off a feed from Maddie Georges, to knot the game at 2-2, and the Wolves were still within 8-3 in the final moments of the first quarter.
Unfortunately for Megan Richter’s team, that was where the Hurricanes began to assert their dominance, both in the paint and from behind the arc.
MVC closed the opening frame with a three-ball, then broke the game open with a 15-0 surge in the second quarter, a run which featured one layup after another.
Georges popped a three-ball to stop the bleeding for a moment, with Lhamon rolling through the paint shortly after for a layup of her own, but the game slipped away fast.
The Hurricanes closed the half with a 12-2 tear, raining down four three-balls in a row, the final one beating the buzzer by .00001 of a second.
MVC kept its magic alive in the third, again nailing a buzzer-beating trey, this one pushing the lead out to 40 points and setting off a running clock across the final eight minutes.
Coupeville played aggressively on defense to the end, with Stuurmans collecting a block, but was only able to score on back-to-back possessions once in the game.
Ryanne Knoblich paced the Wolves with a team-high six points, with Georges (5), Stuurmans (3), Lhamon (2), and Gwen Gustafson (1) also scoring.
Alita Blouin, Mia Farris, Katie Marti, Jada Heaton, and Skylar Parker also saw floor time for CHS, with Marti bouncing off said floor 9,271 times while doing her best to slow down Mount Vernon’s imposing post players.
Katie Marti eyeballs the defense. (Delanie Lewis photo)
In a side note, Georges, a senior point guard, passed one of Coupeville’s coaches on the all-time scoring chart Friday night.
Now sitting with 321 points, she nudges past Wolf assistant Mia Littlejohn (317), and is tied with Marie Grasser at #34 all-time for a program launched in 1974.
For you youngsters out there, Marie Grasser — the first true CHS girls’ basketball star — is known as Mrs. Bagby these days, the same Mrs. Bagby who you used to see every day in the school office.
Landon Roberts (with ball), Aiden O’Neill, and Coupeville’s JV have won six straight games. (Delanie Lewis photo)
They’re still the hottest team in the land.
Holding off a dangerous Mount Vernon Christian squad Friday, the Coupeville High School JV boys’ basketball team ran away with its sixth-straight win.
Closing the game on a 15-6 tear after surrendering the lead for a hot second midway through the fourth quarter, the Wolves held on for a 58-50 victory to sweep the season series with the Hurricanes.
Hunter Smith’s team of two-way hoops stars are now a crisp 3-0 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 7-3 overall.
The only thing that can stop them right now is a school simply declining to play them, which is the case next week, as Concrete shut down its JV team after iffy grades and lingering injuries gutted its roster.
So, while Coupeville’s varsity will play twice in a four-day span, the JV won’t be back in action until Friday Harbor visits Whidbey Island next Friday, Jan. 27.
Until then, the young guns will keep fine-tuning an offense which can kill you from every angle.
Eight Wolves tallied a bucket or more Friday, and they did it in multiple ways.
Down low in the paint, from behind the arc, and even, once in a while, from the free throw line.
Hunter Bronec got things kicked off, burying a three-ball in the game’s first minute, and the two teams battled to an 11-11 stalemate at the first break.
MVC bolted back in front, for a half second, opening the second frame with a three-ball, but there was no bend, and no break, in the Wolves spirit.
An 8-0 run featuring buckets from Hurlee Bronec, Jack Porter, and Chase Anderson broke things open, while Hunter Bronec came back around to splash home another trey late in the half.
Hurlee Bronec crashes to the hoop. (Chloe Marzocca photo)
The Hurricanes are a scrappy bunch, however, and they never let Coupeville fully pull away.
Up 28-23 at the half, the Wolves saw their lead shrink to 38-36 exiting the third quarter, though still felt good about it, since they ended the frame with Johnny Porter snagging a loose ball and bolting to the bucket for a score.
Exchanging buckets back and forth, the two teams circled each other warily in the fourth quarter, with MVC slipping ahead at 44-43.
That was the moment when the Wolves, to a man, stepped up and drilled their rivals.
Camden Glover knocked down back-to-back buckets — one off of a board, the other on a long outlet pass from Aiden O’Neill — before Jack Porter sank a gorgeous jumper from the side.
The final dagger was a three-ball from the just-mentioned Jack Porter, the ball settling through the net with a happy sigh as the Hurricanes could do nothing but wail.
While Coupeville struggled at the line, hitting just 12 of 32 charity shots (MVC was an equally sickly 9-24), the Wolves hit them when it mattered most.
Landon Roberts netted a pair of free throws, with Hunter Bronec and Glover sinking one apiece as CHS scored the game’s final four points at the line.
Glover led an extremely well-balanced scoring attack with 13 points, while Hunter Bronec and Jack Porter each tossed in nine.
Roberts (8), Johnny Porter (8), O’Neill (7), Anderson (2), and Hurlee Bronec (2) also scored, while Malachi Somes brought defensive heat while on the floor.
Carlota Marcos-Cabrillo brings the ball up court. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
The middle section was a killer.
After dropping some buckets early Friday, the Coupeville High School JV girls’ basketball squad hit a 13-minute scoreless stretch from the start of the second quarter deep into the third frame.
That hurt the young Wolves, allowing host Mount Vernon Christian to pull away, with the Hurricanes eventually claiming a 42-17 win.
The loss drops Coupeville to 2-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 5-6 overall.
Kassie O’Neil’s squad will get a chance to bounce right back, however, with three games on next week’s schedule.
The Wolf JV travels with the varsity to Concrete Tuesday, then makes a solo jaunt back to Mount Vernon Thursday, when they’ll play the town’s 3A public school.
A home game next Friday night against Friday Harbor wraps a busy week of hardwood action.
Facing off with MVC, the Wolves got scoring from four different players in the opening quarter, though their hosts were red-hot and rolling, claiming a 19-7 lead.
Things got much more defense orientated after that, with the Hurricanes putting up the only six points scored in the second quarter.
By the time Coupeville got the rim to accept a gift, it was down 33-7 with a hair under three minutes to play in the third period.
Carlota Marcos-Cabrillo rolled inside hard for a bucket to break the team’s scoring drought, with a set-up pass from Reese Wilkinson, who snagged an offensive rebound.
The Wolves closed strongly, getting buckets from Skylar Parker and Marcos-Cabrillo down the stretch, while Kierra Thayer bounded into the air to pick off a Hurricane pass.
The Wolf bench watches the action in a recent game.
Marcos-Cabrillo paced the Wolves with a team-high eight points, while Wilkinson knocked down four, and Skylar Parker rattled the rims for three.
Teagan Calkins and Jada Heaton each slipped a free throw through the net to round out the scoring, while Bryley Gilbert, Brynn Parker, Kassidy Upchurch, Liza Zustiak, and Desi Ramirez-Vasquez also saw floor time.
Coupeville senior Jonathan Valenzuela overcame an eye injury Wednesday, hitting a buzzer beater to upend La Conner on its home floor. (Morgan White photo)
Did he call glass?
For that matter, how clearly could he even see the glass?
Playing with his right eye partially closed off after an early game injury which twice sent him to the sidelines, Coupeville High School gunner Jonathan Valenzuela hit one of the biggest buckets in program history Wednesday night.
Hauling in a cross-court pass from freshman Chase Anderson, the Wolf senior banked in a buzzer-beating three-ball from WAY behind the arc, lifting the Wolves to a stunning 57-56 win over host La Conner.
The shot capped a wild game which featured two Coupeville starters fouling out, the Braves clanging 16 free throws, and massive mood swings.
The fourth-straight win for the Wolves, and seventh in their last eight games, it lifts CHS to 2-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 9-5 overall.
It also keeps Coupeville’s record perfect against fellow 2B schools at 4-0, and flawless in games played off of Whidbey Island, with Brad Sherman’s squad 6-0 when away from the misty isle.
The victory could also have huge repercussions on playoff seeding, with two of three 2B schools in the NWL making the playoffs, and the top seed from that trio hosting its opening bi-district game.
Wednesday’s win leaves Coupeville at 1-0 in the three-team tango, with a home rematch against La Conner Feb. 7 and two bouts with Friday Harbor still ahead.
The Wolverines, struggling at 1-10 on the season, visit Whidbey Jan. 27, then host Coupeville Feb. 10 in the regular-season finale.
La Conner beat Friday Harbor in their first meeting, so the Braves are 1-1 in the seeding chase, with the Wolverines at 0-1.
Those teams play a second time Feb. 3.
For now, thanks to Anderson and Valenzuela’s magic, and a lot of small hustle plays which loomed large in a titanic rumble, Coupeville controls its own destiny.
To get to that point, the Wolves had to overcome the loss of sparkplug Dominic Coffman and leading scorer Logan Downes, who both picked up a fifth foul in a game where CHS was whistled for 23 fouls to just 15 for the home team.
Having overcome a 10-point deficit thanks to a torrid run late in the third quarter, Coupeville was clinging to a 47-44 lead when Downes was sent to the bench with six minutes to play.
With the Wolf junior averaging 25 points a game, the Wolves had to find their offense someplace else in the stretch run, and they did.
Cole White snapped the net on a short jumper, before Alex Murdy buried a three-ball from the top of the arc, and CHS looked golden, up 52-44.
The good times didn’t last, however, as La Conner closed the game on a 12-2 surge across almost all of the final five minutes.
Murdy knocked down Coupeville’s lone bucket in that stretch, converting a highlight-reel run through a pack of Braves, and the final two of his team-high 17 points proved to be huge.
But La Conner was trying to write its own miracle finish, and almost pulled it off, capping an 8-0 run when Braden Thomas sank a short jumper to stake the Braves to a 56-54 lead.
That left four ticks on the clock, the home fans were losing their minds, and everything, and I mean everything, had to go right for Coupeville to pen a Hoosiers-style finale.
So, that’s exactly what happened.
Wolf big man William Davidson alertly called a timeout on the inbounds play, moving the ball from the backcourt to halfcourt.
That put the ball in the hands of Anderson, a stone-cold killer who rarely betrays his youth in the heat of the moment.
The fab frosh had ended the third quarter with a fairly sensational buzzer beater of his own, banking in a runner from the left side to cap a 10-0 Wolf spurt.
That earned high praise from his fellow players and Coupeville fans, who chanted “He’s a freshman!” over and over during the ensuing break in action.
Chase Anderson, seen here in an earlier game, came up huge against the Braves. (Chloe Marzocca photo)
A quarter later, Anderson found himself handed the ball on the sideline, and, as his teammates broke, “The Magic Man” made the absolute perfect entry pass.
Murdy went flying by, sucking defenders with him, which allowed Valenzuela to pop open on the other side of the court.
Anderson, showing off the powerful throwing arm which marks him as Coupeville’s likely starting quarterback once Downes departs the gridiron, launched the ball and dropped it on a dime.
Valenzuela, his right eye bandaged, puffy, and still marked by blood after being roughed up by the Braves during an early-game scrum, never hesitated.
Ball on his fingers, ball flies far away, ball banks home, Wolf faithful lose their collective minds and storm the floor.
Jimmy Chitwood would be proud.
Valenzuela’s bomb capped a rough-and-tumble affair which La Conner controlled for much of the first half.
The Braves, behind a rampaging Isaiah Price, who scored 22 of his game-high 29 in the opening 16 minutes, led 17-13 at the first break, then pushed the lead to double digits twice in the second quarter.
The final time came at 36-26, but Coupeville didn’t break.
Instead, just as they did in their previous game against Neah Bay — another one-point win, just without the buzzer beater — the Wolves clawed back, cutting the lead right before halftime.
Valenzuela and Coffman each hit a free throw, off of the same foul, as Valenzuela, blood dripping down his face, was sent to the sideline after converting the first of what was supposed to be two charity shots.
Anderson closed the half by burying a three-ball, with Murdy snagging an offensive rebound and kicking it out to the young gunner.
The third quarter raised the intensity, with Murdy rejecting a La Conner shot, and Coffman and Cole White drawing offensive charges on the Braves.
Still trailing 42-35 midway through the third, Coupeville reclaimed the lead by scoring the final 10 points of the period, with Valenzuela, White, Nick Guay, and Anderson rattling the rim on successful shots.
That set up the fourth quarter fireworks, with the final result leaving CHS coach Brad Sherman mentally exhausted, but happy.
Winning back-to-back games by a point will do that for a guy.
“Wow! These guys never quit,” Sherman said. “A lot of guys stepped up tonight.
“La Conner is a tough team,” he added. “Really big to leave with a win – specially to do it that way!”
With Downes saddled with rare foul trouble, Coupeville spread its offense among multiple players.
Murdy led the way with 17, reaching an even 350 for his high school career, while Downes banked in 16 of his own in limited minutes.
That was still enough to lift him to 564 career points, and he moves from #44 to #39 on the all-time CHS boys’ career scoring chart for a program launched 106 years ago.
With his work against La Conner, Downes passes old-school Wolf hoops stars Marc Bissett (549), Jim Syreen (550), Roy Marti (551), and Randy Duggan (552).
Anderson (9), Valenzuela (8), White (4), Guay (2), and Coffman (1) also scored Wednesday, with Zane Oldenstadt, Ryan Blouin, and Davidson seeing floor time.
Riding high after back-to-back thriller wins, Coupeville faces one of its biggest tests Friday, when it travels to Mount Vernon Christian to face a 12-5 squad.
The Wolves beat the Hurricanes 44-39 the first time around, but that game was a “non-league” game against a league foe.
Friday’s matchup, however, counts in the NWL standings.
Aiden O’Neill makes his move. (Chloe Marzocca photo)
They may never lose again.
Getting buckets from nine players Wednesday, the Coupeville High School JV boys’ basketball team roared past host La Conner, winning 51-30.
The fifth straight victory for the young Wolves, it lifts them to 2-0 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 6-3 overall.
Hunter Smith’s squad built an early lead against the Braves, before blowing things wide open with a dramatic third-quarter run.
Up 14-11 at the first break, Coupeville stretched the margin to 29-19 by the half, while saving its best for right after halftime.
Jack Porter and Aiden O’Neill both popped for five points in the third frame, including a three-ball apiece, as CHS torched La Conner 14-0.
From there, the Wolves strolled in for the win, running their road record to a pristine 4-0 on the season.
With Coupeville’s next game involving a bus trip to Mount Vernon Christian Friday, that bodes well for the young guns.
Landon Roberts prepares to break a defender in half. (Delanie Lewis photo)
O’Neill paced the Wolves at La Conner, splashing home a pair of three-balls en route to a game-high 10 points.
Hunter Bronec (8), Malachi Somes (7), Jack Porter (7), Chase Anderson (6), Landon Roberts (4), Johnny Porter (4), Hurlee Bronec (3), and Camden Glover (2) also scored, with Carson Field and Yohannon Sandles seeing floor time.
Somes, Hunter Bronec, and Jack Porter all connected on three-balls, joining O’Neill in the long-distance club.
Coupeville Sports 