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Stone cold and streaking!!

Posted in Basketball, Wolves in college, tagged , , , , , , on January 27, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville grad Makana Stone (far right) and Whitman are 18-1 after a win Saturday over PLU. (Photo courtesy Eileen Stone)

What did you think was going to happen?

Not this, that’s for sure.

Take the best college women’s basketball squad in the nine-team Northwest Conference, pit it against the cellar dweller, and a nail-biter was not expected to be on the menu.

But there lowly Pacific Lutheran University was midway through the fourth quarter Saturday, nipping unexpectedly at the heels of a red-hot Whitman College squad.

Until Makana Stone closed the door.

Chained to the bench for much of the first half thanks to early foul trouble, the Coupeville grad netted a pair of free throws with 34 ticks to play, ending PLU’s final hope.

Stone’s sweet shots stretched a one-point lead to three, and Whitman tacked on three more freebies in the final 13 seconds to claim a much-closer-than-expected 69-63 victory, keeping alive an 18-game winning streak.

Now sitting at 10-0 in league play, 18-1 overall, the Blues have six days off before they make a two-game trip to Oregon next weekend.

That road jaunt will feature stops at Lewis & Clark College and Pacific University Feb. 2-3.

After struggling to find a rhythm, with Stone, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder limited to just four minutes in the first half, Whitman seemed to have iced the game midway through the fourth.

Freshman Kaelan Shamseldin netted back-to-back three balls to push the lead to 64-55, and it was time for PLU to give up the good fight.

Not so fast, said the Lutes, as Madison Salisbury led an 8-0 rally, with her three-point play the hard way (layup and free throw) pulling the visitors within 64-63.

Whitman’s defense stiffened, though, holding PLU scoreless over the final 91 seconds.

Stone’s free throws gave the Blues breathing room, Casey Poe made it a two-possession game with a single successful shot from the charity stripe, and Taylor Chambers closed things out with two more freebies.

After scoring in double digits in 14 of the first 18 games, Stone was held to a season-low four points (on a season-low four shots), but she used her limited time well, grabbing five boards and handing out two assists.

Senior All-American Poe paced Whitman with 19 points, while junior Maegan Martin exploded off the bench for 18, her single-game best as a college player.

Through 19 games, Stone sits with 267 points, 122 boards, 34 assists, 13 steals and two blocks.

She’s shooting 58% from the floor (113 of 195) and 77% from the free throw line (41 of 53).

Luck runs out in Buffalo:

Coupeville’s other basketball-playing grad, D’Youville College freshman Kailey Kellner, didn’t have as much luck Saturday afternoon.

The Spartans surrendered an eight-point fourth quarter lead, then fell 78-76 in overtime to visiting Pitt-Greensburg.

The extra five minutes were a wild affair, with the teams combining for 32 points, capped by PG gunner Kelsey Oddis hitting what turned out to be a game-winning three-ball with 20 seconds to play.

It was one of seven treys Oddis, a senior averaging 19 points a night, hit en route to a game-high 32.

D’Youville had a chance to tie with seven seconds left, but missed two free throws.

Kellner finished with two assists and a rebound in 10 minutes of play. On the season, she has 46 points, 45 rebounds, 20 assists, eight steals and three blocks.

The loss was a rough one for the Spartans, who are fighting to earn a playoff berth in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference.

The top six teams from the 10-team conference advance, but D’Youville (4-7 in league, 5-13 overall) currently sits in 7th, a game behind Penn State-Behrend with seven to play.

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A win is a beautiful thing!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , , on January 27, 2018| Leave a Comment »

   With Genna Wright cleaning the boards with a fury Friday, the Coupeville JV girls crushed Port Townsend. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Put ’em down and put ’em down hard and fast.

That was the goal for the Coupeville High School JV girls basketball squad Friday as it faced off with very-overwhelmed Port Townsend.

Mission accomplished, as the Wolves, behind the hot shooting touch of frosh phenom Mollie Bailey, jumped out to a 13-0 lead, then strolled home for a 28-6 win.

The victory lifts the CHS young guns to 3-4 in Olympic League play, 7-10 on the season, and gives them the most wins of any of the four Wolf hoops teams this winter.

Port Townsend’s JV is very much a work in progress, with many of its players unable to breach the withering Wolf defense.

Nicole Lester slapped home a rebound a few seconds into the game, effectively ending things, though the two teams continued to play so the paying fans would get their money’s worth.

With Bailey dropping home a pair of first-quarter buckets, one on a fall-away jumper, the other on a runner off of a break, Coupeville went to the first break up 11-0.

Tack on another Lester bucket, this one set up by a zinger of a pass from Tia Wurzrainer, and the game looked much like the two previous times the Wolves and RedHawks faced.

But there was a new wrinkle, as the Port Townsend JV, which didn’t score until the fourth quarter in the last meeting, tickled the twines just two minutes or so into the second quarter this time around.

It might not have been much, and was quickly answered by a soft jumper from Wurzrainer, a three-ball off the fingertips of Bailey and a stop ‘n pop jumper from Ashlie Shank, but it was still a nice moment for the still-growing RedHawks.

Up 22-4 at the break, Coupeville decided to give fans a chance to head to the snack bar or bathroom in the third.

In a rarity I’m not sure I’ve ever witnessed at the high school level before, the squads combined to rim out 247 shots (give or take one or two) and score a combined ZERO points in the third.

Then it was back to Bailey knocking down jumpers and calmly cruising back down court, small smile slightly acknowledging the screams of her rabid fan base, and we were done.

The freshman sharpshooter finished with 11 points, while Wurzrainer, Lester and Genna Wright each tallied four.

Maddy Hilkey (3) and Shank (2) also scored, while Kylie Chernikoff was a one-woman wrecking crew on the boards, and Spanish sensation Julia García Oñoro came dangerously close to scoring her first American points.

Drawing an explosion of cheers from her teammates, García Oñoro pulled down a rebound and, maybe for the first time since she hit these shores, immediately shot right back up and tried to knock down the shot.

While her bucket wouldn’t drop, the foreign exchange student was battered around the head by a pair of RedHawk rivals and earned two free throws.

Trying to stay composed as varsity star Sarah Wright hollered her name, García Oñoro had both charity shots pop back up and out, as the basketball gods refused to play fair.

Still, her shy smile as she was mobbed by teammates and congratulated by CHS coach Amy King afterwards, was worth far more than two points.

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Her name, not her game, is Meek!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , , on January 27, 2018| Leave a Comment »

   Coupeville freshman Chelsea Prescott played strongly Friday, but Port Townsend’s Kaitlyn Meek carried the RedHawks past the Wolves. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Meek shoots over the defense of Coupeville’s Lindsey Roberts.

Kaitlyn Meek has waited for this moment.

For the last four years, the Port Townsend gunner has been one of the best girls basketball players in the 1A Olympic League, but Coupeville has always been the best team.

But the Wolves of 2017-2018, weighed down by graduation losses, injuries and defections, are not flying quite as high as they did during three straight unbeaten league campaigns.

Friday night Meek took advantage, tossing in 14 of her game-high 19 in the second half, spurring the RedHawks to a huge 39-26 come-from-behind win on Coupeville’s floor.

Sparked by its senior star, Port Townsend jumps to 5-2 in league play, and goes a game up on Coupeville (4-3) and Chimacum (4-3) with two to play.

All three are guaranteed playoff spots, since Klahowya (1-6) has already been eliminated, but a league title gives a team direct entry into the double-elimination portion of districts.

If three-time defending league champ Coupeville finishes second or third, it will host its first postseason game, but will also have to survive either one or two loser-out games.

With two conference games left, Feb. 1 at Klahowya and Feb. 3 at home against Chimacum, the Wolves still have a shot at a fourth-straight title, or at least a share of one.

But, to win the title outright and be a #1 playoff seed, Coupeville has to sweep its final two league games, while hoping for back-to-back RedHawk losses.

If CHS and PTHS were to finish with the same record, the tiebreaker for seeding would go Port Townsend’s way, as it took the season series 2-1.

Friday’s royal rumble was a tale of two halves with two very different styles.

In the first 16 minutes, Coupeville’s crushing defense did its job extremely well, limiting the RedHawks to just seven points, five from Meek.

And, while the Wolves weren’t exactly burning up the nets themselves, clinging to a 12-7 lead at the half, they looked like they were largely in control.

Exchanging buckets to open the third, Coupeville got a beauty when Lindsey Roberts slapped home a layup in traffic off of a nifty entry pass from Sarah Wright.

At which point Meek, after three years of chasing Wolf stars like Makana Stone, Kailey Kellner and Co., only to see her teams fall short, unleashed payback.

Slashing to the hoop at will, exploiting her quickness and ability to score inside and outside, the veteran RedHawk kicked off a game-busting 10-0 run that turned a five-point deficit into a five-point advantage.

CHS, which struggled mightily to get anything to drop all night, finally stopped the hemorrhaging when Hannah Davidson snared a ball out of mid-air and beat the shot clock by half a tick.

That pulled the Wolves within 19-16 and a Coupeville win still seemed very possible.

Cue Meek, who plunged into the heart of the defense, nailed a short turn-around jumper while being pummeled, then added a free throw to stretch the lead back to six exiting the third.

After a game that featured a second quarter where both teams scored just two points apiece, the fourth quarter was an offensive fireworks show.

Unfortunately for the Wolves, 17 of the 27 points to drop through the net in the final eight minutes came from the visitors, who stretched the lead out to double digits and coasted home for the win.

Roberts nailed a gorgeous three-ball from the right corner late in the game, while Wright got three the old-fashioned way with a put-back and free-throw.

The charity shot marked a milestone, as it was the 100th point of Wright’s career.

Playing without three starters, and with reserve Avalon Renninger out with a concussion, Coupeville had a thin bench and tired legs hurt the Wolves in the end.

“It was just a tough game,” said Coupeville coach David King. “I was happy with the effort put forth by those who played, though.

“Lindsey was one who kept fighting until the end, even though she was dead tired.”

Roberts and freshman Chelsea Prescott led the offensive attack, each hitting for seven, while Scout Smith knocked down her four points in the first quarter.

The sophomore spark-plug swished a pair of free throws, and also snagged a long outlet pass and threw down a runner after Coupeville beat the RedHawk press.

Ema Smith (3), Wright (3) and Davidson (2) also scored.

Wright was a beast on the boards, hauling down 12 rebounds, with Roberts (eight rebounds, two blocks, two assists) and Allison Wenzel (three rebounds) backing her up.

Swing player Ashlie Shank, getting her most varsity minutes of the season, snagged a rebound, helped run the offense while on the floor and drew praise from her coach for “giving us a lot of hustle.”

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Bloody but not bowed!!

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , , on January 26, 2018| Leave a Comment »

   Hunter Smith poured in 15 Friday, moving into 13th place on the Coupeville boys basketball career scoring chart. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Now, they play for pride.

Unable to recover from a large early deficit Friday after its #2 scorer was literally knocked out of the game, the Coupeville High School boys basketball squad was eliminated from playoff contention.

Falling 64-41 at Port Townsend, the Wolves drop to 3-4 in Olympic League play, 5-12 overall.

With only two boys teams advancing to the postseason this year, Klahowya (6-1) and Port Townsend (5-2) have clinched those berths.

Coupeville closes with three games next week, traveling to Sequim for a non-conference tilt Tuesday, before welcoming Klahowya to Whidbey Thursday for Senior Night.

The season finale comes next Saturday, Feb. 3, when the Wolves travel to Chimacum to face the win-less (0-7) Cowboys.

After splitting the first two games this season with Port Townsend, CHS went into Friday’s rumble hoping for a strong showing.

And while the Wolves brought consistent effort, the RedHawks were in the zone and never left.

“They came out and shot the lights out to start the game,” said Coupeville coach Brad Sherman. “And then just really took advantage of how big and solid they are inside.

“We actually played a decent game. Kind of fought and fought but just couldn’t make a big enough push to get back to even,” he added. “I think they will be really hard to beat (in the playoffs).”

With Noa Montoya dropping in 10 points in the first eight minutes, Port Townsend jumped out to a 26-10 lead which drew two exclamation points in the score-book from the home stat keeper.

The Wolves played relatively close in the second quarter (an 11-9 deficit) and fourth (a 17-14 advantage), but a cold-shooting third (a 13-5 deficit) doomed them for good.

Along with the loss, Coupeville took a body blow when senior Ethan Spark was brutalized, taking a shot to the face that left him with a gash inside his mouth, a partially-dislodged tooth and a fair amount of his blood on the court.

“He left his mark on Port Townsend, that’s for sure!,” said mom Kali Barrio.

Spark wanted to re-enter the game, but officials declined. Early indications are that he did not suffer a concussion, however.

Fellow senior Hunter Smith paced the Wolves, rattling the rims for 15 points and reaching a couple of new marks along the way.

He finished the night with 776 points, passing ’60s star Barry Brown (769) for 13th place on the CHS boys career scoring chart.

With 311 points this season, and 332 last year, Smith becomes the 13th Wolf male to put up back-to-back 300-point seasons since 1960, and the first since Mike Bagby did so in 2004-2005 and 2005-2006.

Joey Lippo backed Smith up with seven points, while Mason Grove (6), Spark (4), Hunter Downes (4), Jered Brown (3) and Kyle Rockwell (2) also scored.

JV falls short:

One bad quarter doomed the Wolf young guns in a 47-30 loss.

Coupeville’s second squad falls to 3-4 in league play, 4-12 overall.

Trailing just 10-8 at the first break, CHS was outscored 17-7 in the second quarter and never fully recovered.

After torching the RedHawks for 30+ points, and multiple three-balls, in both of the team’s previous games, Grove settled for seven free throws in limited time.

While he only played two quarters, allowing him equal time in the varsity game, the CHS sophomore topped a milestone, pushing his JV scoring to 301 points on the season.

Sage Downes led the Wolves with nine, while Ulrik Wells and Jean Lund-Olsen both dropped in four.

Jake Pease, Daniel Olson and Gavin Knoblich rounded out the scoring with a bucket apiece.

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She’s one bad mamba jamba!!

Posted in Basketball, Wolves in college, tagged , , , , , on January 26, 2018| Leave a Comment »

   Makana Stone, seen with parents Josh and Eileen, leads a 17-1 Whitman College basketball squad in scoring and rebounding. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Center stage is hers.

Coupeville grad Makana Stone is playing alongside an All-American in Casey Poe, but lately it’s the former Wolf who’s been the woman on fire.

Throwing down a team-high 15 points Friday, while snagging six rebounds, Stone sparked the Whitman College women’s basketball squad to an 83-62 rout of the University of Puget Sound.

The home victory runs the Blues winning streak to 17 games and leaves them atop the Northwest Conference at 9-0.

Now 17-1 on the season, Whitman, ranked #4 in NCAA D-III ball, jumps right back into things Saturday with another home game, welcoming Pacific Lutheran to Walla Walla.

Friday’s match-up pitted Whitman against their arch-nemesis from a season ago, and while UPS isn’t the powerhouse it was last year, the Loggers still put up a stiff fight.

Down just six at the half, UPS was finally subdued in the third quarter.

With Stone dropping in seven of her points coming out of the break, Whitman used a 22-14 surge to stretch its lead out to double digits and never looked back.

The Blues spread their scoring around, with six players going off for 10 or better. Maegan Martin and Mady Burdett each rattled home 12 in support of Stone.

Coupeville’s finest leads Whitman in scoring (263 points) and rebounding (117 boards), while also recording 32 assists, 13 steals and two blocks.

Stone, who has scored double digits in 14 of 18 games, is shooting a torrid 59% from the field (112 of 191) and 76% (39 of 51) from the free-throw line.

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