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Posts Tagged ‘1A vs. 2A’

Blind refs a callin’ and three-balls a droppin’!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , , on January 30, 2018| Leave a Comment »

   Sarah Wright dropped in eight points to pace Coupeville Tuesday in a road loss at Sequim. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

If they only counted two-point shots Tuesday, it’s a Coupeville win.

Unfortunately, the scoreboard operator in Sequim was willing to credit the hosts for free throws and three-point bombs, and that tipped the scale the wrong way for the Wolf girls basketball squad.

Capitalizing on a 24-0 advantage on specialty shots (nine free throws and five treys), Sequim broke open a close game in the second half and surged to a 44-26 victory.

The non-conference loss drops Coupeville to 6-13 as it kicks off the final week of the regular season.

The Wolves have Olympic League games Thursday at Klahowya and Saturday at home against Chimacum, then head to the playoffs.

Tuesday’s game was an odd one at times, mainly whenever the refs decided to be a part of things.

CHS didn’t shoot a free throw until the 4:45 mark of the fourth quarter, but it was when the guys in black and white stripes actually went to their whistles that things got strange.

At one point Coupeville’s leading scorer this season, Mikayla Elfrank, was whistled for a foul.

Only thing is, she was in street clothes, thanks to an ankle injury, doing the books and no one on the floor was wearing her #23 uniform.

After much consternation, the refs changed the call and dinged #24, Lindsey Roberts, even though she was on the opposite side of the floor from where the foul had occurred.

Meanwhile, the real culprit, Sarah Wright (#45), who had ripped the head off of a rival player in a fight for a loose ball —  a few inches away from two refs, I might add — got off free ‘n easy and walked away with a huge grin on her face.

Just to make sure no one thought that play was an accident, the refs severely bungled the very next call, as well, trying to give Roberts a foul meant for Ema Smith (#14), then arguing with the scorekeeper’s table after being called on their lack of proper glasses.

To be fair, it was Sequim’s daggers which ultimately killed Coupeville more than the refs.

Specifically, a trio of three-balls to open the second quarter opened a wound which never healed.

Coupeville rolled out of the first break up 10-9, and feeling pretty good about things after capping the quarter with back-to-back scores.

First Roberts slapped home a layup off of a sweet feed from Wright, before it was Ashlie Shank’s turn to slip Wright a picture-perfect in-bounds pass for a quick bucket.

With Wright pounding away down low — she had six of her eight points in the opening quarter — Coupeville looked like it was ready to scrap all night with its 2A hosts.

And then the sky fell in.

Or, more appropriately, the basketball kept falling out of the sky and dropping through the wrong bucket.

Sequim nailed three consecutive shots from behind the arc, with three different players connecting on treys, and a 10-9 lead quickly turned into an 18-10 deficit.

CHS fought back, twice closing within four points, at 18-14 late in the second quarter and 22-18 early in the third, but could get no closer the rest of the night.

The Wolves would put together a mini-run, only to have their surge blunted when Sequim tossed in another string of rally-killing shots.

Whether is was Allison Wenzel banking home a shot off the glass from the right side or Scout Smith singing the net with an elegant running hook shot, Coupeville’s offense was like a candle that starts to flicker to life, only to get promptly blown out by the wind.

Sequim was a precision-shooting team, though matters were helped by the Wolves defense not fully clicking on all cylinders.

“Defensively we didn’t play what I would call our tough, hard-nosed defense,” said CHS coach David King. “We did have moments when we did, and disrupted Sequim’s offense. Caused a few turnovers.”

He pointed to a fourth-quarter defensive stand, when the Wolves forced a shot-clock violation, as a positive sign.

Coupeville spread its offense out, with Wright (8), Kyla Briscoe (6), Ema Smith (4), Scout Smith (4), Wenzel (2) and Roberts (2) all scoring.

Hannah Davidson hauled down a team-high five rebounds, Chelsea Prescott delivered two boards and a blocked shot and young guns Maddy Hilkey and Avalon Renninger saw quality floor time.

JV gets night off:

A lack of refs kept the Wolf young guns, who are 7-10 on the season, from playing.

Instead, they kept up a lively stream of chatter from the stands in support of the varsity and will return to action Thursday at Klahowya.

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Never stop fighting!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , , on December 8, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Wolf frosh Mollie Bailey, seen here in an earlier game, dropped in 10 points Friday against Sequim. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Never say die.

It’s one of the trademarks of any Amy King team, and Friday was no different.

Shaking off an extremely lackluster first quarter, the Coupeville High School JV girls basketball team spent the rest of the night fighting to get back into its game against visiting 2A Sequim.

Give them two or three more minutes, and we might be talking about a win.

Instead, after slicing a 12-point deficit away, the young, thin Wolves finally ran out of time and luck, falling 41-36 to the invaders.

The loss drops Coupeville to 2-2 headed into another non-conference game Saturday, this one coming on the road at South Whidbey.

Friday, the Wolves, who played very, very early (a 3:30 PM tip), took eight minutes to wake up.

Down 15-3 at the first break, Coupeville was in trouble.

“We came out so slow tonight,” King said. “Our defense in the first quarter really did not exist.

“On offense, we had turnover after turnover on our first four to five possessions,” she added. “Both offense and defense for us were passive and just not clicking.”

Coupeville desperately needed a spark, and it arrived in the form of swing player Avalon Renninger.

Needing to save playing time in case the varsity needed her services later (it did), the sophomore sensation sat out the first quarter. Once in the game, though, she was raring to shake things up.

“Avalon made a noticeable difference with the energy,” King said. “She instantly scored and had fresh legs for defense that seemed to help energize her teammates.”

With energy crackling from one end of the floor to the other, Renninger’s teammates fed off of her go-go-go attitude.

Mollie Bailey and Kylie Chernikoff “hit a few really pretty shots,” Nicole Lester knocked down a bucket, then Chelsea Prescott went off, rattling the rim with shot after successful shot.

Coupeville came all the way back to claim a short-lived lead in the fourth quarter, off of a Prescott bucket set up by a Renninger pass and a Bailey screen.

Sequim, blessed with a much deeper bench (CHS was missing four players), used its fresh legs to reclaim the lead, however, and held on down the stretch.

King still walked away happy, pleased with her team’s refusal to go down easy.

“I know a few of the girls were not feeling well tonight and we’re still short-handed, but the girls fought their hardest,” she said. “I was happy for them with their comeback. They are learning with every game.”

Prescott led the way with 13 points, 11 rebounds, a steal and a block, while Bailey torched the nets for 10 points.

Renninger (5), Chernikoff (4) and Lester (4) rounded out the scorers, with Maddy Hilkey (in her season debut) and Julia García Oñoro also seeing floor time.

Playing a strong all-around game, Chernikoff snared five rebounds and delivered two soul-searing blocks.

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Grove scorches nets!!

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , on December 8, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Mason Grove knocked down 14 points Friday, including hitting four times from behind the three-point arc. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Chris Smith is one of the most upbeat coaches you’ll find.

So, even after his Coupeville High School JV boys basketball squad was torched by a high-quality foe Friday, he could still find a silver lining.

“Tough game … but, on the bright side, we still have some things to work on. At least I know I’ll be busy at practice,” Smith said with a good-natured laugh.

Sequim’s young guns came to Whidbey already highly-polished, while Coupeville’s JV has a huge chunk of newcomers, so the 65-19 final wasn’t a huge surprise.

The loss drops the Wolves to 1-2, but they’ll get a chance to bounce right back with a game Saturday at South Whidbey.

Coupeville fell behind 21-5 after one quarter against Sequim, and didn’t have enough firepower to climb back into the game.

Sophomore Mason Grove went down fighting, though, hitting for a team-high 14 points.

That included four shots from long range, giving the Wolf gunner 17 three-balls in the first three games of the season.

Fellow sophomores Ulrik Wells and Jean Lund-Olsen rounded out Coupeville’s scoring, with three and two points, respectively.

Smith got plenty of playing experience for his still-developing players, with 12 Wolves seeing floor time.

Daniel Olson, Sage Downes, Tucker Hall, Ryan Labrador, Chris Ruck, David Prescott, Alex Jimenez, Jake Pease and Gavin Knoblich all saw action.

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“We’ll learn from it!!”

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , on December 8, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Hunter Downes drew praise for his play on the boards and in the paint Friday against a physical Sequim team. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Big, strong and aggressive.

It’s a potent mix, as the Coupeville High School boys basketball squad found out the hard way Friday night.

Roughed up down low, scorched from out high and troubled by inconsistent reffing, the Wolves weren’t able to get over the hump against 2A Sequim, eventually falling 59-35 to the visitors in the purple shoes.

The loss drops Coupeville to 1-2 heading into another non-conference game Saturday, this one on the road at South Whidbey.

Sequim rolled into town with a height advantage on the small but scrappy Wolves, and they rode their big man, Payton Glasser, who pounded away for a game-high 30 points.

While you could reasonably argue he’s not really the six-foot-five the program claims, that hardly mattered as he scored inside, outside and at the free throw line with abandon.

Coupeville did its best to slow down its rivals, but Sequim was crisp and efficient with its passing, and took advantage of every little opportunity it could claim.

“We played fairly tough on defense,” CHS coach Brad Sherman said. “We were fighting pretty hard, but it’s not easy when you’re playing a team that’s so big and strong down low.”

He praised senior Hunter Downes, a five-foot-11 rock who fought like a wild man on the boards, and was quick to embrace the quick turn-around his squad will have as it heads to Langley.

“We’ll learn from it,” Sherman said. “Good thing is there’s not a lot of time to hang our heads.”

The Wolves stayed close well into the second quarter, pulling within 16-13 when sophomore Jered Brown drilled a three-ball from the left side for his first points of the season.

But, while that seemed like a major turning point, the floor fell out from beneath Coupeville two seconds later.

Glasser knocked down a bucket off a quick cut inside, and Sequim was off and running on a game-busting 12-0 run from which CHS was never able to fully recover.

The Wolves closed the half on a 5-0 mini-run of their own, with Dane Lucero capping things by putting a rebound back up and in at the buzzer, but the offense went cold after the break.

Coupeville could only manage 13 second-half points, and the best play came not off of a bucket, but on a hustle play on defense in the waning moments.

With the game already decided, Joey Lippo, who is performing with twin sister Skyy in “The Nutcracker” the next two weekends, went full ballet.

Flying airborne while spinning, his body a millimeter away from the end line, he somehow punched a loose ball off of a Sequim player’s chest at the very last second, causing it to deflect out of bounds.

Regaining possession at a most unexpected moment, Coupeville responded with its final bucket, a pull-up jumper from Hunter Smith on the ensuing play.

In the grand scheme of things, Lippo’s play didn’t change anything all that much, but it was a nice salve for a Wolf fan base which spent much of the game hollering at the refs.

Sequim earned 18 free throw attempts (hitting 10), while Ethan Spark was the lone CHS player to step to the charity stripe on this night, netting three of his four attempts.

The refs, for their part, were serenaded with choruses of “three seconds, four seconds, five seconds,” as they seemed to allow the visitors to frequently camp in the key.

Of course, if Coupeville could have gotten the ball to pop out of the basket a few less times, that hardly would have mattered.

“We had our share of open looks, but the shots were just not falling tonight,” Sherman said.

Smith paced Coupeville with 15 points, passing three more former greats as he climbs from #41 to #38 on the Wolf boys basketball career scoring list.

With 524 points, he vaults Cody Peters (518), Gary Faris (518) and JJ Marti (520), pulling within a bucket of Brad Miller (526).

Spark added 11, while Brown (3), Lippo (2), Downes (2) and Lucero (2) also scored.

Cameron Toomey-Stout was a devil on defense (and yet not a hair on his head was out of place) while Gavin Knoblich came off the bench to crash the boards.

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One step away!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , , on December 8, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Lindsey Roberts scored a game-high 11 Friday, passing mom Sherry to claim family career scoring honors. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Their record is a bit deceptive.

Stung by poor free throw shooting down the stretch Friday, the Coupeville High School girls basketball team fell 39-35 to visiting 2A Sequim.

And, with that loss, the Wolves fall to 1-4 heading into another non-conference game Saturday, this one on the road at South Whidbey.

But the record is deceptive, as I said, because if a few plays go differently, a ball bounces in a different direction, or some free throws drop, and CHS is 4-1, maybe even 5-0.

The Wolves, who are rebuilding after losing four starters, have been in every one of their games until the end, with three of four losses by six points or less.

Friday night was a classic example of how Coupeville is playing this season — scrappy on defense, opportunistic on offense, but just not always clicking on every cylinder.

Time after time against Sequim, the Wolves would rally, put together a nice run, pull within a single bucket, then not be able to get over that last hump.

CHS led twice, at 6-5 after Ema Smith threw her rear into a defender and backed her down for a solid bucket in the paint, and 19-18 right before the half.

At that moment, the Wolves were on their best run of the night, a 10-2 surge which saw four different players score.

Kyla Briscoe started it with a soft jumper in the paint, then Scout Smith tickled the nets for a pair of free throws before setting up Lindsey Roberts for a bucket with a beautiful entry pass.

Add two more free throws from Roberts, who passed mom Sherry to become the family’s all-time leading scorer (she had already beaten her grandfather, dad, two uncles and an aunt) and a coast-to-coast romp by Kalia Littlejohn, and the heat was on.

Littlejohn, who spent much of the night driving Sequim’s ball-handlers batty, picked the pocket of a rival, then thundered to daylight, slicing between two sprinting defenders to slap the ball up and off the glass.

But, as good as the moment seemed, it was fleeting.

Sequim dropped in a short jumper to regain the lead and end the half, then refused to surrender the momentum in the second half.

Three times the Wolves repeated the same sequence — fall behind, rally within a bucket, then fall behind again — before eventually running out of opportunities and time.

Free throws were a true killer as the game played out.

After hitting five of six freebies in the second quarter, Coupeville made just 4-17 free throws in the second half, including missing seven in the game’s final 51 seconds.

As he watched it play out, CHS coach David King had a mixed reaction.

“Throughout our first five games we have done a very good job of attacking the basket and getting to the free throw line,” he said. “Today we shot 23. I’ll take that every game.

“We just aren’t capitalizing with all of the misses,” King added. “We have to start taking advantage if we are to take the next step up as a team.”

Coupeville kept things close in the final seconds by hitting the boards (and the floor) hard.

Mikayla Elfrank ripped a rebound away from a Sequim player on one of the missed free throws, turning it into second chance points, while Ema Smith was an artist.

Crashing to the floor, she pulled a loose ball from between a player’s legs, then alertly popped up to her knees and delivered a bounce pass right on to the fingertips of Roberts.

Bing-bang-boom and a broken play turns into a Wolf bucket.

Hustle plays like that, and the take-no-prisoners style of team leaders like Littlejohn (“Kalia played outstanding again for us”) offer genuine hope for King as the team prepares to launch a bid for a fourth-straight Olympic League crown.

Coupeville’s hoops guru also liked what his players brought to the court on defense.

“At times we caused some turnovers with our press. We did some good things,” King said. “It’s a work in progress and we are dedicating more time to making it a disruptive part of our game.

“A good start tonight.”

Roberts paced Coupeville with 11 points, lifting the junior to 173 in her career. Her mom scored 165 in her Sherry Bonacci days before graduating in 1989.

Elfrank and Littlejohn each tossed in nine, while Scout Smith, Briscoe and Ema Smith all had a bucket to round out the scoring.

Allison Wenzel, Sarah Wright and Avalon Renninger saw floor time as well for the Wolves.

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