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Posts Tagged ‘Aiden O’Neill’

They dazzle, they delight, they win

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , on March 26, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Coop Cooper loves the taste of sweet, sweet victory. (Jackie Saia photos)

Big-time players make big-time plays.

In related news, Aiden O’Neill and Coop Cooper fully embrace the spotlight.

The duo came up with huge plays in the game’s final inning Thursday, propelling the Coupeville High School baseball squad to a come-from-behind 10-8 victory on Friday Harbor.

The victory, the second in as many days against one of their true die-hard rivals, lifts the Wolf diamond men to 2-0 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 3-1 overall.

It didn’t come easily, but that just makes the taste of victory even sweeter.

In a game where the two teams exchanged leads all afternoon, Coupeville capped a nearly three-hour rumble by breaking an 8-8 tie in the top of the seventh, before holding on for desperate life in the bottom half of the frame.

With the score knotted up, the Wolves had Leo Rodriguez on third and Chase Anderson bouncing on second with two outs when Cooper ambled to the plate.

Picking his moment, the CHS senior walloped a game-busting two-run double, picking up his second extra-base hit of the game, and giving sophomore hurler Carson Grove a lead to hold onto heading to the mound in the bottom half of the inning.

Friday Harbor thought it had the potential for a comeback of its own, getting the first two batters aboard before a Wolverine sent a long shot soaring to deep left field.

Aiden O’Neill is an assassin at the plate and in the field.

Enter O’Neill, the ultimate gamer, a dude who has fought through numerous injuries with grace and grit over the last four years while playing football, basketball, and baseball for the Wolves.

That he was on the field after the pain he has endured is an accomplishment.

But O’Neill isn’t here to just stand around and watch the grass grow.

He’s here to dazzle and delight and make dang sure you’ll remember his name long after he graduates and his younger siblings are following in his massive footsteps.

So, baseball went airborne like a missile. And the unflappable O’Neill promptly went to work.

In the words of CHS assistant coach Jon Roberts:

“Aiden made a Sports Center catch! Absolutely pounded ball to deep left field, he got on his horse, chased it down and launched himself.

“Horizontally stretched out as far as he could and made the catch, came up, threw it to shortstop as a cut, who threw it to second base to tag out the advancing runner. Double play!

“I’m telling you, it was an absolute holy shit play! (Assistant coach) Morgan (Payne) knocked the scorebook out of my hand up into the air and I caught it like I was going after a touchdown catch!”

While two outs on one play were huge, the Wolves needed three to clinch the W.

To which the young guy, one Carson Grove, looked at his veteran teammates and said “I got this, old dudes. Sit down.”

And promptly punched out the final batter, recording his third strikeout in three innings of relief work to set off the celebration.

The wild finale capped a game which veered back and forth from the start.

Coupeville got on the board with two runs in the top of the first, with a double from Anderson followed by an impressive collection of errors, balks, and wild pitches from the home team.

But as quickly as they had the lead, the Wolves gave it back, surrendering four in the bottom half of the frame, with their own errors stinging.

Not to worry, things were just getting started, however.

CHS shot back ahead 6-4 in the second with its own four-run burst, with a bunt single(!) from Rodriguez the deadliest hit, before the rivals went back to flicking each other with jabs.

Trent Thule: “Pardon me ladies, I have to go hurt the baseball now.”

Friday Harbor cut the margin to 6-5, Coupeville answered with an RBI single from O’Neill to get back to 7-5, the Wolverines cinched things up at 7-7, then Trent Thule punched an RBI single to plate Grove and make it 8-7.

But since everyone loves a bit of angina, it couldn’t be that simple.

Pushing a run across in the bottom of the sixth to get even one final time, Friday Harbor had two runners on with just one out.

Refusing to buckle, Grove responded by whiffing a perplexed Wolverine, then getting another one to weakly bounce the ball back to the mound for a good old-fashioned 1-3 putout at first.

Cue the magic and the mania of the seventh inning and cue another win for Steve Hilborn’s Coupeville hardball heroes, who are proving to be nicely resilient.

 

Thursday stats:

Chase Anderson — Two singles, one double
Coop Cooper — Two doubles, two walks
Camden Glover — Four walks
Carson Grove — One walk
Riley Lawless — Two walks
Aiden O’Neill — One single
Leo Rodriguez — One single, two walks
Trent Thule — One single, two walks

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One battle after another for Wolves

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , on January 17, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Malachi Somes, ready to defend his basket. (Jackie Saia photo)

Every bruise a lesson learned.

And lesson #1? Don’t get too close to Chase Anderson if you’re wearing another team’s uniform.

Crashing out of bounds Saturday, the Coupeville High School senior had the presence of mind to bounce the basketball off of his defender, creating a positive turnover for the Wolves.

That Napavine rival however discovered that Anderson is a feisty one, as instead of lightly chucking the ball, he wound up and delivered a 97 mile-per-hour fastball off the dude’s chest from about two inches away.

The ensuing sound echoed through a cold, sparsely populated weekend afternoon gym like a gunshot, and was undoubtedly the highlight of the day for the CHS boys’ varsity hoops team.

You take your small bits of joy where you can, so treasure the look on the Napavine player’s face, a mix of shock and awe as Anderson stood his ground, giving him serious side-eye.

Otherwise, most of the day went the way the visitors wanted it to, as they pulled away late to make things seem more lopsided than they really were in a 62-33 win.

The non-conference loss, coming about 17 hours after a huge victory over league rival Darrington, drops Coupeville to 5-8 on the season.

But it also gives the Wolves a good measuring stick.

Facing off with a tall, quick, often brutally efficient collection of Napavine players battle hardened by life in the rugged Central 2B League is ultimately worth far more to CHS than scheduling a cupcake foe it would run ragged.

Brad Sherman’s squad already played, and beat, Napavine league mate Morton-White Pass earlier this season, and these are the type of teams the Wolves would have to get through to make a postseason run.

While the Wolves couldn’t quite hold down Tiger guard Eric Bullock, who rained down a game-high 22 points while making the most electrifying passes the CHS gym has witnessed this season, they did have their moments.

Coupeville carved an 18-point deficit down to single digits, put together a really strong defensive effort in the middle two quarters, and didn’t back away from playing rough-and-tumble with a physical Napavine squad.

The game was a nailbiter for the first three-plus minutes, with the Tigers holding a slim 7-4 lead after Wolf big man Camden Glover crashed hard to the hoop for a bucket off of a rebound and set-up pass from Aiden O’Neill.

Then things fell apart for Coupeville, as Napavine jumped on them for a game-busting 15-0 tear which carried over through the start of the second quarter.

Trailing 15-4 after one, the Wolves fell behind 22-4 and were desperately looking for a spark.

It arrived in the form of one Liam Blas, who normally makes his living cleaning the boards for CHS, but got out ahead on the break and converted a layup off a long pass launched by Anderson.

That bucket not only stopped the bleeding for a Wolf team struggling through a cold shooting performance, but it seemed to re-center Coupeville.

CHS closed out the half on a 17-7 surge, with Anderson pouring in 11 points while being frequently knocked to the floor, and we suddenly had a game at the half, with Napavine up just 29-21.

That set off the Tiger coach, a wiry, tattooed fellow who radiates fiery intensity, especially when he leans in extra-close to his players during a timeout to tell them in no uncertain terms that “You are all soft!!!”

Like Pillsbury Dough Boy soft, was the implication.

Like pull your head out of your rear, or you’re going to walk back to Napavine and not get to catch a ride in the school’s vans, soft.

Imagine if Napavine was losing at that point? We might have had our first on-court stroke of the season.

Coupeville hoops guru Brad Sherman, an island of calm in a frazzled hoops world. (Melanie Wolfe photo)

Apparently thinking of their coach’s well-being, the visitors got progressively crustier from that moment on, stretching the lead back out to 17 before Anderson hit a pullup jumper and a pair of free throws to get Coupeville within 44-31 as the third quarter ended.

Of the fourth quarter, we shall not say too much, as it’s best forgotten.

Persistent foul trouble dogged the Wolves, while Napavine, leaving most of its starters on the floor until the end, while continuing to employ a stifling full-court press, busted out an 18-2 run to end the day.

The lone highlight for Coupeville in the final frame came when Glover banked in a bucket to give him exactly 250 points for his varsity hoops career.

A night after burning Darrington for 36 points in three quarters of action, Anderson paced the Wolves with 20, while Glover (9), Blas (2), and O’Neill (2) also etched their names in the scorebook.

Davin Houston, Riley Lawless, Easton Green, Carson Grove, and Malachi Somes also saw floor time for Coupeville.

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Welcome to the big beat-down

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , , on January 16, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Chase Anderson scored a season-high 36 points Friday as Coupeville blew out a solid Darrington squad. (Melanie Wolfe photo)

Darrington came to town as high rollers. It exited as roadkill.

With the Coupeville High School varsity boys’ basketball team playing its most complete game of the season Friday, the Wolves proved win/loss records can be deceptive.

While Brad Sherman’s squad is fighting to get back to .500 and the visiting Loggers carried a 9-4 record onto the floor, the game fully belonged to the home team, which led by as many as 34 points en route to a 75-57 victory.

With the win, its fourth in its last six games, Coupeville gets to 2-3 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 5-7 overall.

The Wolves also move from sixth to fourth in the seven-team NWL, and are third best among the 2B schools, with conference clashes on the schedule next week against Concrete and Orcas Island.

Before that CHS will get another stern test, hosting non-conference foe Napavine (10-3) Saturday, with tipoff set for 2:00 PM.

Fear will not be a factor, as the Wolves showed against Darrington, which began the night in second place in the Northwest League.

After exchanging early buckets, Coupeville seized the momentum with a 15-8 tear to close the first quarter with a 22-14 lead.

Senior sniper Aiden O’Neill, who knocked down five three-balls on the night, nailed back-to-back treys to kickstart the run, with Malachi Somes and Chase Anderson contributing buckets to keep things hopping.

Anderson, enjoying his best shooting performance of the season, went off for 12 points in the opening frame, then tossed in 15 more in the second quarter as CHS stretched the lead out to 45-26.

Slashing to the bucket for layups, spinning past defenders and leaving them grasping at air, or calmly converting free throws, the Wolf senior outscored Darrington by himself across the first 16 minutes.

Anderson’s final two points of the half came with no time left on the clock, after the refs issued a technical foul to a chippy Logger.

Darrington’s fans got loud in response, then quieted down just as quickly as both charity shots barely rippled the net as they gracefully dropped through.

Camden Glover fights through the defense. (Jackie Saia photo)

The third quarter was a master class for the Wolves, as senior big man Camden Glover began to rampage through the paint for buckets while Anderson and O’Neill continued to slice ‘n dice.

Coupeville moved the ball effectively, with precision passes setting up buckets, and very few CHS shots popping back out.

Davin Houston zipped an especially nice set-up pass into the hands of the waiting Glover on one play, while rough ‘n ready duo Liam Blas and Riley Lawless, playing like the rampaging forces of nature they are, threw Darrington players out of their way in pursuit of rebounds.

Up 70-37 after three quarters, Coupeville had the look of a team that could score 100, but Sherman smartly rested his starters in the fourth, keeping them as fresh as possible for Napavine on a fast turn-around.

Darrington came hard in the fourth quarter, closing the game on a 17-1 surge across the final six minutes, but it was academic at that point.

Anderson finished with a season-high 36 points in three quarters of action, cracked the 800-point club, and continued his march up the CHS boys’ basketball career scoring chart.

Now sitting with 813 points, the Wolf senior passed Hawthorne Wolfe (800) and Corey Cross (811) Friday to move into 14th place all-time for a program launched way back in 1917.

He had plenty of support against Darrington, as O’Neill rattled the rims for 17 points and Glover banked in 13.

Houston (4), Somes (4), and Lawless (1) rounded out the attack, with Easton Green, Nathan Coxsey, and Blas also seeing floor time for the Wolves.

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High-flying Falcons scorch Wolves

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , on January 12, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Aiden O’Neill (left) and Carson Grove play aggressive defense in an earlier game. (Melanie Wolfe photo)

The winning streak hit a bump in the road.

The Coupeville High School varsity boys’ basketball squad entered play Monday having won three of its last four games but couldn’t get past Auburn Adventist Academy.

The Falcons, who are in the top 10 in the state’s current RPI rankings for 2B schools, jumped on the visiting Wolves from the opening tip and ran away with a 66-35 victory.

The non-conference loss drops CHS to 4-7 on the season, with back-to-back home games against Darrington and Napavine set for this Friday and Saturday.

Brad Sherman’s squad fell behind 17-7 in the first quarter Monday and never got back into the game.

Auburn pushed the lead out to 39-20 at the half, then 51-30 through three quarters, cruising in for a victory which lifts it to 6-2 on the campaign.

Coupeville got most of its scoring from the duo of seniors Camden Glover and Chase Anderson, who banked in 15 and 12 points respectively.

Davin Houston (3), Carson Grove (2), Malachi Somes (2), and Aiden O’Neill (1) also chipped in to the scoring effort, while Nathan Coxsey, Liam Blas, Riley Lawless, and Easton Green rounded out the rotation.

The host team was effective from everywhere on the floor, with Auburn holding a 5-3 advantage on three-balls while also netting seven of nine free throws.

Coupeville got to the line more often than the Falcons did, but couldn’t take advantage, finishing just 10-19 from the charity stripe.

With his 12 points, Anderson moves to 777 for his high school career, which pushes him from #18 to #16 all-time on a CHS boys’ scoring chart which started in 1917.

He passed old-school Wolf legends Barry Brown (769) and Jack Elzinga (770) while in Auburn, with Hawthorne Wolfe (800) and Corey Cross (811) next up.

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Shooting woes haunt CHS boys

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , on January 6, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Aiden O’Neill left it all on the floor Tuesday in a rivalry rumble. (Jackie Saia photo)

Who shrank the rim?

Suffering through its worst collective shooting night of the season Tuesday, the Coupeville High School varsity boys’ basketball team ultimately had no answers for a feisty Friday Harbor crew.

With shot after shot rimming out and skipping away, the Wolves were unable to push their winning streak to three games, instead falling 46-34.

The loss, coming in the first home game of 2026, knocks CHS to 0-3 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 3-6 overall, with a trip Friday to La Conner offering a chance for a bounce-back.

Friday Harbor entered the night with an 0-10 record, though two of those defeats were by just a single bucket.

Regardless of their record, the Wolverines always come hard with a physical, hustling style of play, and Tuesday was no different.

The visitors bolted out to a quick 7-0 lead, as Coupeville couldn’t get a shot to go down for the first four-and-a-half minutes.

The Wolves finally broke through on a three-ball off of the fingertips of Chase Anderson but still trailed 11-5 at the first break and looked out of sync.

Things seemed to get better — a LOT better — in the second quarter, as senior gunner Aiden O’Neill ripped off three consecutive treys, before Anderson pushed CHS into the lead for the first time at 17-15 thanks to yet another three-ball.

Coupeville netted five shots from beyond the arc in the first half but didn’t get its first old-fashioned field goal until Anderson powered his way through the paint for a three-point play the hard way with just nine seconds left in the half.

Friday Harbor responded immediately, however, banking in a runner right before the halftime buzzer to carry a 21-20 lead into the break.

Whatever positive mojo the Wolves had going in the waning moments of the first half evaporated fairly quickly in the third quarter, with another string of shots clanking off the rim or popping back out after starting to go down.

The visitors surged to a 30-22 lead, Coupeville clawed back to within 33-28 at the end of the third after key buckets from Carson Grove and Davin Houston, then Friday Harbor pulled away for good early in the final frame.

A Wolverine three-ball that banked in off the glass a millisecond before a 24-second shot clock violation was a particularly nasty killer, blunting any lingering hopes of a comeback for the hometown hardwood heroes.

Coupeville’s scoring was limited to just four players — its smallest total of the season — with Anderson leading the way with 18 while O’Neill knocked down 11.

Houston (3) and Grove (2) wrapped things up, with Liam Blas, Riley Lawless, Camden Glover, and Malachi Somes rounding out the rotation.

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