Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Basketball’

Stone earns college hoops honor

Posted in Basketball, Wolves in college, tagged , , , , on January 7, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Makana Stone opened a new year with back-to-back double-doubles for Whitman, earning Athlete of the Week honors from the Northwest Conference. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Makana Stone kicked off a new year in style.

The Coupeville High School grad was honored Monday by the Northwest Conference as its Women’s Basketball Student/Athlete of the Week.

Stone, a senior at Whitman College, was honored for the second time this season, having already been picked December 9.

She shares honors for week eight of the season with men’s basketball player Ben College (really his last name) of Whitworth and Linfield swimmers Molli Hartzell and Noah Cutting.

Returning from a three-week winter break, Stone threw down back-to-back double-doubles this past weekend, leading Whitman to a sweep over the University of Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran University.

The Blues are 2-0 in league play, 10-1 overall, and ranked #13 in NCAA D-III.

Stone collected 12 points and 12 rebounds against UPS, then went off for 14 and 11 against PLU.

On the season, the former Wolf standout is averaging 14.8 points and 8.4 boards a night, both of which tops the Blues stat sheet.

Read Full Post »

Wolf girls get a smidge of respect

Posted in Basketball, tagged , , , , on January 6, 2020| Leave a Comment »

CHS senior Tia Wurzrainer plays for the #17 girls basketball team in 1A. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

The basketball overlords like us, sort of.

With the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association now posting RPI numbers, the Coupeville High School girls basketball team is trending upwards.

The Wolf boys, however, are still looking for their fair share of love.

As of Monday morning, the CHS girls sit at #17 out of 65 schools in 1A, while the boys are #57 among 63 teams.

RPI, or Rating Percentage Index, is used by the WIAA to seed teams in the postseason, beginning when the final 16 teams in each classification advance to regionals – the first round of the state tourney.

You still have to make it to regionals on your own, advancing through districts and/or bi-districts, and finishing the regular season in the top 16 in the RPI rankings guarantees nothing.

But, advance to regionals, as the Wolf girls last did in 2016, and then the WIAA takes the survivors and plugs them into games based on where the system has them ranked.

Until we get to that level of play, RPI is just for bragging rights.

The system looks at each team’s winning percentage, their opponents winning percentage, and their opponents’ opponents winning percentage.

It does not take into consideration whether a school played against opponents from higher or lower classifications, and puts no emphasis on point differential.

The biggest stumbling block to RPI is it depends on schools accurately reporting scores to MaxPreps, which … think of something tactful to say … has been … problematic at best.

But ignore all that! Cause the WIAA would like you to do just that.

So, under this flawed, but improving, system, the Coupeville girls, who boast a 6-2 record, are holding up well.

Cashmere (9-0) holds the #1 spot on the girls side, with Warden (9-0), Lynden Christian (8-1), Connell (8-0), and Freeman (7-2) rounding out the current top five.

Coupeville’s fellow North Sound Conference teams sit at #7 (King’s), #19 (Cedar Park Christian), #49 (Sultan), #50 (South Whidbey), and #58 (Granite Falls).

Nooksack Valley, the only 1A school to beat the Wolves (their other loss was to 3A Oak Harbor), is nestled in at #8.

On the boys side, where the Wolves are 3-5, big-timers Seattle Academy (8-1), Medical Lake (8-1), Zillah (10-0), Meridian (7-1), and Cashmere (5-2) are the current top five.

NSC teams King’s (#23), South Whidbey (#25), Cedar Park Christian (#28), Granite Falls (#51), and Sultan (#58) get a mixed reaction.

The Knights benefit a bit from the whole “inaccurate reporting to MaxPreps” issue, as they’re currently ranked on a 5-5 record, yet are really 5-7.

Add in those two losses, which came at a tournament in Arizona, and it’s quite possible King’s dips, and South Whidbey, at 8-2, gets a boost.

Either way, it’s just RPI – a good way to start an argument and give bloggers something to ramble on about, if nothing else.

Read Full Post »

High school hoops (finally) return

Posted in Basketball, standings, tagged , , , , on January 5, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Jacobi Pilgrim and friends return to the court Tuesday after a 16-day break between games. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

They should be well-rested.

The Coupeville High School basketball teams return to action this coming week.

Finally.

What was supposed to be a 12-day gap between games instead stretched out to 16 when Friday’s non-conference tilts at Chimacum were erased by high winds which made the Port Townsend ferry run dicey.

That boat is out of the picture now, and the Wolves are set to kick off the 2020 portion of the 2019-2020 season Tuesday night.

The Coupeville girls are at home, playing Cedar Park Christian with sole possession of first-place in the North Sound Conference at stake, while the Wolf boys travel to Granite Falls.

Then both CHS programs play at home Friday, with Sultan the foe.

As we (finally) move back into hardwood action, a look at the current league standings:

 

North Sound Conference girls basketball:

School League Overall
CPC-Bothell 2-0 8-4
Coupeville 1-0 6-2
King’s 0-0 7-2
South Whidbey 1-1 5-6
Granite Falls 0-1 2-8
Sultan 0-2 3-6

 

North Sound Conference boys basketball:

School League Overall
King’s 1-0 5-7
South Whidbey 1-0 8-2
Coupeville 0-0 3-5
CPC-Bothell 1-1 5-5
Granite Falls 1-1 3-6
Sultan 0-2 1-8

Read Full Post »

Stone, Whitman cap perfect weekend

Posted in Basketball, Wolves in college, tagged , , , , on January 4, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Makana Stone and Whitman College women’s basketball are a sparkling 10-1 on the season. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

One weekend into league play, and things look pretty darn good.

Sparked by a 14-point, 11-rebound performance from Coupeville’s Makana Stone, the Whitman College women’s basketball team rolled to another win Saturday night.

Decimating visiting Pacific Lutheran University 69-56 in a game which could have been an even bigger blowout, the Blues won their fourth straight game.

With the victory, Whitman, ranked #13 in NCAA D-III, sits at 2-0 in Northwest Conference play, 10-1 overall.

The Blues are tied atop the league standings with Pacific (2-0, 8-3) and Willamette (2-0, 8-3), a team they play next weekend.

Stone and Co. return to action next Friday, January 10, against Lewis & Clark (0-2, 1-9), then play Willamette the next day.

Both games will be in Walla Walla, on Whitman’s home floor at the Sherwood Athletic Center.

Facing off with PLU, the Blues came out aggressively, running the Lutes off the floor in the game’s opening minutes.

Stone slapped home a layup to open the scoring, sparking a 13-0 run to effectively put the game on ice before the first quarter was even done.

Whitman led 17-3 at the first break, then stretched its lead out to 34-16 at the half, and 54-31 by the end of the third quarter.

Facing off largely against the Blues bench players, PLU put together a 25-15 run in the fourth quarter to make the game seem a bit closer than it was in reality.

Stone, who tied with Mady Burdett for team-high scoring honors, tossed in all 14 of her points across the first three quarters.

Her 11 boards were a game-high, and the former Wolf ace also made off with a steal during 27 minutes of action.

On the season, Stone has 163 points, 92 rebounds, 14 assists, 14 steals, and 12 blocks.

She’s hit 67-122 (54.9%) from the field and 27-33 (81.8%) at the free throw line.

Saturday’s game was the 94th of Stone’s collegiate career, and the former CHS star grabbed her 700th rebound in a Blues uniform, finishing the night with 704.

Read Full Post »

Back in action, back to winning

Posted in Basketball, Wolves in college, tagged , , , , , on January 3, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville’s Makana Stone had 12 points and 12 rebounds Friday as Whitman used a fourth quarter surge to claim a league win. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

There was some rust, but it fell off by the time things got serious.

Returning to the floor after a 19-day winter break, the Whitman College women’s basketball team roared to life in the fourth quarter Friday, using a 22-10 run to grab a come-from-behind 60-51 win over the University of Puget Sound.

Kicking off the Northwest Conference schedule on their home court in Walla Walla, the Blues, who got 12 points and 12 rebounds from Coupeville’s Makana Stone, improve to 9-1 on the season.

Whitman will try and go 2-0 in league play when it hosts Pacific Lutheran University (0-1, 5-5) Saturday afternoon at the Sherwood Athletic Center.

Friday’s game, the first of four straight at home for the Blues, was a tense affair for much of the night, with neither team able to pull away through the first three quarters.

UPS led 13-11 after one, the teams were tied 28-28 at the half, then the Loggers clung to a 41-38 advantage headed into the final quarter.

That was when Whitman seized control, thanks to their senior star and a pair of hard-charging freshmen.

Stone, who is 69 points shy of becoming the #6 scorer in Whitman women’s basketball history, opened the fourth with an eye-popping shot.

Catching the ball on the left side and rising high above her defender, the former Wolf dropped in a jumper which rattled around the rim, popped up, popped down, popped up again, then settled through the net.

Back within 41-40, Whitman pushed hard on defense, with freshmen twins Caira and Shaira Young, the pride of Las Vegas, coming off the bench to ignite the fire.

Forcing turnovers, the Blues immediately converted, taking the lead for good on back-to-back three-balls from Shaira Young.

UPS got back within three points twice in the final stretch, first at 46-43, then later at 52-49, but Whitman held strong both times and never cracked.

The first time, the Blues answered with back-to-back buckets inside from Kaylie McCracken and Katie Stahl, then they closed the game by scoring their final 10 points at the free throw line.

Mady Burdett, who paced Whitman with a game-high 15 points, swished five of those charity shots, while Stone and McCracken came up with huge rebounds in the waning moments.

McCracken finished with 12 points to tie Stone, with Shaira Young netting all eight of her points in the fourth quarter.

On the season, Stone sits with 149 points (she has 1,077 for her career), 81 rebounds, 14 assists, 13 steals, and 12 blocked shots.

She’s 60-109 (55%) from the field, and 27-33 (81.8%) at the free throw line.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »