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“Some good learning moments for our boys”

February 10, 2022 by David Svien

Hunter Bronec tossed in six points Thursday in the JV season finale. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

For eight minutes they were unstoppable.

Unfortunately, high school basketball games are 32 minutes long, and the Coupeville JV boys cooled off a bit after a torrid start Thursday and got caught from behind.

Up 13-2 at the first break, the Wolves eventually fell 44-38 in a hard-fought clash at La Conner.

The loss, coming in the JV season finale, drops Coupeville’s young guns to 1-6 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 3-8 overall.

In the opening moments it looked like the Wolves couldn’t be stopped.

CHS gunner Ryan Blouin knocked down back-to-back three-balls to open the game, while La Conner didn’t even get a shot up until the 5:42 mark of the first quarter.

Add Hunter Bronec driving and dishing to Zane Oldenstadt for a layup, another Blouin trey, and two free throws from Hurlee Bronec and the Wolves were sizzlin’.

And then it all went away for a bit.

La Conner finally found its rhythm, opening the second quarter with a 9-0 run that set the Wolves back on their heels.

Coupeville stopped the bleeding for a bit thanks to a putback from William Davidson and Blouin’s fourth three-ball of the half, but the Braves kept chipping away.

A turnaround jumper from La Conner gave the host team its first lead of the game, at 19-18 heading into the halftime break, though CHS answered on the first play of the second half.

Nick Guay slashed to the hoop for a bucket and free throw after getting hacked in the head on the play, and the Wolves had a short-lived 21-19 advantage.

Short-lived because La Conner rained down the next 11 points, effectively taking control of the game.

The Wolves continued to scrap, however, carving the deficit back to 33-31 midway through the fourth quarter.

Quinten Simpson-Pilgrim drained a short jumper, on a play set up by Davidson yanking a rebound free, and that capped a 6-0 Wolf surge.

La Conner had an answer, however, driving a stake through Coupeville’s heart with a long three-ball, before closing out the win at the free-throw line.

Afterwards, Wolf coach Hunter Smith was philosophical about the defeat.

“Would’ve liked to come away with the win, but definitely some good learning moments for our boys today,” he said.

Quinten Simpson-Pilgrim and Bronec give a rival player few options.

Blouin paced Coupeville with 13 points, while Davidson banked in a season-high eight and Hunter Bronec popped for six.

Guay (5), Simpson-Pilgrim (2), Oldenstadt (2), and Hurlee Bronec (2) also scored, with Mikey Robinett, Jack Porter, Landon Roberts, and Johnny Porter seeing floor time.

Robinett was a force on the defensive end for the Wolves, sweeping down rebounds and forcing turnovers.

 

Final season scoring stats:

Nick Guay – 79
Ryan Blouin – 74
Hunter Bronec – 74
Zane Oldenstadt – 38
Mikey Robinett – 30
Hurlee Bronec – 27
Quinten Simpson-Pilgrim – 24
William Davidson – 18
Jack Porter – 15
Johnny Porter – 8
Landon Roberts – 8
Carson Field – 2

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JV girls fight until final moment

February 10, 2022 by David Svien

Freshman Madison McMillan led the Wolf JV in scoring this season. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Playing from behind is tough.

The Coupeville High School JV girls basketball team got stronger as the game went on Thursday but couldn’t catch host La Conner.

Despite outscoring the Braves in the second half, the young Wolves ultimately fell 32-22 in their season finale.

The loss leaves Coupeville’s final record at 3-4 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 3-8 overall.

The Wolves hit the floor ready to rumble, fighting for rebounds and loose balls, but an ice-cold shooting touch in the early going made things tough.

The ball skipped off the rim, rolled around and popped back out, and thoroughly failed to cooperate with Coupeville’s shooters as they slipped behind 7-0.

Kayla Arnold put a rebound back up and in to finally crack the scoreless run, but by then nearly six minutes had been erased from the clock.

Trailing 9-2 at the first break, the Wolves got buckets from Brooklyn Thayer and Madison McMillan in the second quarter, but the deficit widened to 19-6 by halftime.

The break seemed to help, however, as Coupeville battled La Conner even through a 9-9 third quarter, before claiming dominance in a game-closing 7-4 surge in the fourth.

Desi Ramirez-Vasquez had the hot hand in the second half, draining a pair of three-balls.

The first one was set up by a nice kick-out pass from Skylar Parker, while the second one was all Desi, all day.

The sophomore sparkplug stole the ball, beat a mad path down court, then suddenly slammed on the brakes and banked home a three-ball from somewhere deep in the parking lot, earning some oohs and ahs.

Desi Ramirez-Vasquez played strongly on both ends of the floor in Thursday’s finale.

Coupeville’s defense was key in the late game run, with Mia Farris and Jada Heaton both coming up with big plays to thwart the La Conner offense.

Ramirez-Vasquez led the Wolves with six points, while Thayer and McMillan backed her up with four apiece.

Katie Marti, Farris, Arnold, and Heaton all chipped in with a bucket, while Bryley Gilbert, Parker, and Reese Wilkinson also saw floor time.

 

Final season scoring stats:

Madison McMillan – 66
Katie Marti – 52
Brooklyn Thayer – 38
Gwen Gustafson – 32
Desi Ramirez-Vasquez – 32
Mia Farris – 19
Skylar Parker – 19
Kayla Arnold – 18
Reese Wilkinson – 13
Lyla Stuurmans – 12
Bryley Gilbert – 7
Jada Heaton – 7
Nezi Keiper – 3
Edie Bittner – 2
Yodnum Nakakul – 2

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Wolf boys clinch #1 playoff seed

February 9, 2022 by David Svien

Logan Downes and Coupeville will carry a #1 seed into the playoffs. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

The Wolf boys, some seen here, are 14-0 heading into their regular season finale.

They get by with a little help from their rivals.

The Coupeville High School varsity boys basketball team didn’t take the court Wednesday night, but still achieved a major goal thanks to another squad.

Friday Harbor’s 66-41 win at La Conner guarantees the Wolves are the #1 seed to next week’s District 1/2 tourney and sends CHS straight to the tournament’s title game.

Coupeville, which has already won the Northwest 2B/1B League title, is 14-0 heading into its regular season finale Thursday at La Conner.

Playoff seeding, however, is determined by how the league’s three 2B schools do in games against each other.

The Wolves are 3-0 in that mini rumble entering their finale, while Wednesday’s loss drops La Conner to 1-2.

Friday Harbor, which was playing for its postseason life, is now 1-3, having split the season series with the Braves while being swept by Coupeville.

If CHS bounces La Conner Thursday — the Wolves won 54-26 first time out — the Braves and Friday Harbor will face off in a play-in game to decide the #2 boys seed from the NWL.

The district tournament, which is set to go down in Coupeville, opens Feb. 15 with Auburn Adventist playing the NWL #2 seeds in loser-out games.

The winners return to the CHS gym Feb. 17 for championship games, where the Wolf boys and (very likely) La Conner girls will await.

Win a district title and you also clinch a trip to the state tourney.

The losers of the district title games get a second crack at earning a ticket to the big dance.

The boys runner-up faces a team from District 4, while the girls runner-up squares off with a District 6 squad in winner-to-state, loser-out games either Feb. 19 or 20.

Coupeville’s league title was its first for the boys program since 2002, when current head coach Brad Sherman was still raining three-balls as a player.

The lone district title in program history came in 1970, while the last time the Wolf boys made it to state was 1988.

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Our neighbor, our storyteller, our friend

February 9, 2022 by David Svien

Steve Smith, son of the prairie. (Photo courtesy Emma Smith)

Steve Smith was a rascal.

And I mean that in the best way possible.

Steve, who passed away at age 78 last week after a fight with multiple myeloma, was a larger-than-life athlete during his days at Coupeville High School.

Whether chasing people on the football field, or wielding a tennis racket, he was power and grace combined.

Or, as one former teammate remembered, “He tore people in half, and that was just in practice!”

Steve’s athletic skills stayed sharp throughout his college days, as he competed in track and field and once again blew up folks on the gridiron.

Drafted into the Army, he served in Vietnam as a medic between 1966-1968, earning the Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.

Stories passed down about his time in country paint a portrait of a man beloved by those he served with, though Steve himself was not one to blow his own horn.

Not that he didn’t love telling a story or too, which is where the rascal part comes in.

A twinkle in his eye, Steve spent many an afternoon regaling me with tales during the Videoville days.

That continued over the years, both when I would see him at athletic events featuring his offspring, and during his frequent afternoon visits to swap tall tales with my landlord, Jack Sell, a fellow Coupeville native.

“Did you see what Emma did in the volleyball match last night? That’s my granddaughter, you know!! Gets all her talent from me!!!”

And then Steve would laugh, the mirth rumbling up from deep inside him, and he would admit that maybe some of the talent had come down from Grandma Sandi’s side of the family, too.

He loved his wife, and his pride in the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren their union produced was undeniable.

Steve’s dad Knight is a mythic legend, his own extraordinary sports exploits now somewhat buried in long yellowed newspaper clippings.

But daughter Joli was a transcendent three-sport star during my days as a painfully young Sports Editor at the Whidbey News-Times, one of the best I’ve written about.

And by the time I came back around to the prairie athletic beat with Coupeville Sports, some of Steve’s grandkids, like the aforementioned Emma, were making their own marks.

Through it all, whether it was his daughter, or sons Jesse and Todd, or the next generation, Steve glowed with pride when he talked about them and their exploits, sports related or not.

He was a small-town boy who reached for the stars, a prairie native whose impact touches many of us, near and far.

Steve Smith was our neighbor, our storyteller, and, most of all, our friend.

That will never change.

 

A graveside service will be held at 1 PM Saturday, Feb. 12, 2022, at Sunnyside Cemetery in Coupeville.

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Share the ball, share the wins

February 9, 2022 by David Svien

Caleb Meyer is one of six Wolf boys to top 100 points this season. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

They can sting you from every direction.

One huge reason for the 14-0 start put together by the Coupeville High School varsity boys basketball team is the way the Wolves share the scoring load.

Six of 10 players have topped 100 points, something only achieved 12 other times by CHS boys teams over the past 105 seasons.

It’s the first time the mark has been reached since the 2009-2010 campaign.

But what about putting seven players into triple-digit scoring?

It’s never happened for the CHS boys, though the 1974-1975 team came remarkably close, with Foster Faris, the #7 scoring option that year, rattling the rims for 95 points.

Heading into the regular season finale Thursday at La Conner, here’s where the current top Coupeville gunners sit:

 

Xavier Murdy – 196
Caleb Meyer – 152
Logan Downes – 141
Alex Murdy – 121
Grady Rickner – 108
Hawthorne Wolfe – 106

 

And here’s how that compares to previous CHS boys teams to reach the mark:

 

1960-1961:

Jim Yake – 247
Vance Huffman – 203
Noel Criscuola – 162
Mike Millenbach – 148
Utz Conard – 127
Pat Millenbach – 126

 

1968-1969:

Jeff Stone – 317
Eric Hopkins – 194
Jerry VandWerfhorst – 177
Pat O’Grady – 164
Alan Hancock – 153
Pat Brown – 121

 

1969-1970:

Jeff Stone – 644
Pat O’Grady – 296
Pat Brown – 220
Corey Cross – 211
Tim Quenzer – 202
Glenn Losey – 143

 

1970-1971:

Corey Cross – 333
Mike Mallo – 274
Randy Duggan – 233
Glenn Losey – 192
Bill Riley – 160
Jim Syreen – 156

 

1974-1975:

Randy Keefe – 398
Bill Jarrell – 357
Marc Bissett – 206
Mike Ankney – 173
Scott Franzen – 129
Ron Naddy – 103

 

1979-1980:

Joe Whitney – 388
Wade Ellsworth – 267
Roy Marti – 193
Shawn Ryan – 154
Keith Jameson – 139
Chris Marti – 107

 

1989-1990:

Jason McFadyen – 271
Ben Biskovich – 213
Sean Dillon – 200
Frank Marti – 177
Wayne Hardie – 143
Jesse Smith – 111

 

1993-1994:

Brad Miller – 238
Gabe McMurray – 235
Chris Cox – 157
Virgil Roehl – 141
Kit Manzanares – 123
Boom Phomvongkoth – 100

 

1995-1996:

Pete Petrov – 442
Rich Morris – 328
Greg White – 194
Nick Sellgren – 190
Arik Garthwaite – 176
Mike Vaughan – 162

 

1996-1997:

Rich Morris – 309
Pete Petrov – 274
Nick Sellgren – 216
Arik Garthwaite – 159
Greg White – 131
Mike Vaughan – 109

 

2007-2008:

Kramer O’Keefe – 235
Brian Miller – 189
Alex Evans – 174
Zepher Loesch – 151
Cody Peters – 138
James Smith – 111

 

2009-2010:

Hunter Hammer – 302
Jason Bagby – 288
JD Wilcox – 161
Chad Brookhouse – 147
Ian Smith – 119
Tim Walstad – 109

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