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Stone cold, red hot!!

Posted in Basketball, Wolves in college, tagged , , , , on January 28, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Makana Stone (John Fisken photo)

   As her minutes increase at the college level, CHS grad Makana Stone continues to kick up her stats as well. (John Fisken photo)

It’s her team now.

OK, we’re probably jumping the gun, at least a little, but this much is true — having worked her way into the starting lineup for the Whitman College women’s basketball squad, Makana Stone seems dead-set on staying there.

The former Coupeville supernova made her third college start Saturday and promptly dropped a team-high 14 points and nine rebounds, powering the Blues to a 71-51 thrashing of visiting Willamette.

The win lifts Whitman to 17-2 overall, 8-2 in Northwest Conference play.

They’re 3-0 with Stone as a starter.

The frosh phenom scored in every quarter Saturday, dropping four in the first, two in the second, six in the third and a final bucket in the fourth quarter.

She also spread out her rebounding, hauling down caroms in every quarter as well.

Five of her nine boards were on the offensive glass, and Stone went right back up for baskets off of two of those rebounds.

On another, she snatched the board, then hit teammate Mady Burdett for a basket.

Stone has 109 points (5.7 a night), 106 rebounds (5.6), 19 assists, seven blocks and 11 steals on the season.

Whitman, which sits in second place in the Northwest Conference, trailing Puget Sound (10-0), has six regular season games left.

The biggest is a rematch with UPS Feb. 10, where the Blues will seek revenge for a 73-71 overtime loss the first around.

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Cue the late-season charge!!

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , , on January 27, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Brian Shank (John Fisken photo)

   Wolf senior Brian Shank soared for five Friday as the Wolf boys won their second straight league game. (John Fisken photo)

Every point counts.

Give Coupeville High School boys’ basketball manager Axel Partida a huge assist Friday night.

He caught Chimacum in a uniform violation, giving Wolf senior Gabe Wynn two free throws thanks to a technical foul called on the host Cowboys.

Wynn drilled both of them — part of his team’s superb 13 of 15 work at the charity stripe — and that helped CHS hold off a late rally to escape with a 56-53 win.

The second straight Olympic League victory for the Wolves, it lifts them to 3-5 and pulls them within a half-game of Chimacum in the race for second place.

League champ Port Townsend can’t be caught at 7-0, but the Cowboys (3-4) are getting an unexpected challenge late from Coupeville.

Admittedly, it’s still a long-shot.

The Wolves, 3-13 overall, need to upend Port Townsend in their league finale Feb. 4 and have Chimacum stumble twice in the final week against Klahowya (1-5) to finish in second place.

If Coupeville and Chimacum finish with the same record, the Cowboys own the tiebreaker, having taken two of three games played between the teams this season.

The win, however, did strengthen Coupeville’s hold on third-place, which they need to claim the league’s final playoff berth.

The Wolves are a game up on Klahowya and own the tiebreaker, so the ONLY way they miss the postseason is if they lose to Port Townsend and the Eagles win all three of their league games next week.

OK, now that we’re all confused, let’s jump back to Friday night’s game.

Coupeville rode another red-hot performance from junior Hunter Smith, who, a game after scoring 34 in a win over Klahowya, torched the nets at Chimacum for 26.

He did most of his damage in the second quarter, raining down 14 as the Wolves blew open a tied game, turning a 13-13 stalemate after one into a 31-21 lead at the break.

Chimacum chipped away at the deficit in the second half, putting together 20-18 and 12-7 quarters, but the Wolves held fast and held on when it mattered.

Ethan Spark added 11 and Wynn knocked down 10 to back Smith up, while Brian Shank popped for five and Joey Lippo and Steven Cope each scored two points.

Cameron Toomey-Stout rounded out a very short bench, chipping in with his customary Energizer Rabbit hustle, ball-hawking defense and impeccable hair.

JV falls in second half:

A close game turned a lot less close after halftime, as the Wolf young guns saw a seven-point deficit turn into a 73-36 rout.

It was just 34-27 at the break, but the Cowboys turned up the offense after the break, with a 23-4 fourth quarter run a real killer.

Mason Grove paced the Wolves with 13, including three treys, while Sean Toomey-Stout played through a lingering shoulder injury to knock down 11.

Ulrik Wells (4), Kyle Rockwell (3), Ariah Bepler (3), Aram Leyva (1) and Tucker Hall (1) also scored, while Jacobi Pacquette-Pilgrim, Koa Davison, Gavin Knoblich, Nikolai Lyngra and Elliott Johnson saw floor time.

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Team ball, team win!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , , on January 27, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Lindsey Roberts and Coupeville are all smiles after winning their eighth straight game. (John Fisken photo)

   Lindsey Roberts and Coupeville are all smiles after winning their eighth straight game. (John Fisken photo)

Get rocked, never get knocked out.

Twice Friday night Chimacum made runs at the Coupeville girls’ basketball squad and cut the lead to a single point.

Both times the Wolves dug down deep, found an answer sparked by an aggressive team-wide display of defensive excellence and rose to the moment.

Bending just a bit, but never breaking, the host Wolves eventually rolled to a 44-33 decision for their eighth straight victory.

Now 7-0 in Olympic League play (25-0 all-time) and 12-3 overall, CHS got something from everyone on their roster.

Big buckets from Kailey Kellner, huge rebounds from Lindsey Roberts, gritty work in the paint from Tiffany Briscoe, electrifying passes from Mia Littlejohn and a spark off the bench from both Kalia Littlejohn and Mikayla Elfrank.

The Wolves bolted out to a 10-0 lead, holding Chimacum scoreless for the first 7:58 of the game.

Kellner rippled a three-ball from the right corner, after playing give-and-go with Mia Littlejohn, to kick things off and Coupeville pressed the pedal through the metal in the early going.

Elfrank added three the hard way, making off with a steal and beating the Cowboy defense to the other end, then added a free throw after being hammered at the very last second.

The steal was one of four the Wolf junior made off with in a wild two-and-a-half minute stretch after she first jumped off the bench and jump-started Coupeville.

Chimacum, a scrappy, physical team if ever there was one, finally settled in and cut the lead to 12-11, but the Wolves never blinked.

Two free throws from Briscoe — she was 4-of-4 at the charity stripe in the first half — sent CHS on an 11-5 tear to end the half.

Four Wolves scored in the run, with Roberts nailing a gorgeous trey from the left side that was set up by Briscoe, who hauled down an offensive board, dribbled out of danger and found an open teammate.

The Cowboys made their second, and final, run right after the halftime break, using three straight baskets in the paint to once again cut the margin to a single digit.

Enter the cold-blooded Kellner, who scorched the net with a three-ball from the top of the arc.

That sent the Wolves on a game-busting 14-0 run, with Elfrank hitting twice, both on plays set up perfectly by teammate’s passes.

First Roberts dished, then Kellner, as the Wolves got out on the run and finished strongly.

Coupeville stretched the lead out as far as 17 before cruising in during the game’s final minutes, giving their end-of-the-bench players a chance to stretch their legs.

Before she left, Kellner dropped another trey, set up by Mia Littlejohn beating the Chimacum press by bull-rushing two defenders, then firing the ball over the top to her waiting shooter.

Kellner paced the Wolves with 15, while Roberts and Elfrank each went for nine. Briscoe added a season-best seven, while Lauren Grove and Kalia Littlejohn each had a basket.

Roberts hauled in 12 boards, while Kellner had eight rebounds and two blocked shots.

Mia Littlejohn played inspired ball at the point, picking up four assists and setting up numerous plays with her ball movement and dribbling skills.

Lauren Rose, Allison Wenzel, Ema Smith and Sarah Wright all got floor time as well, with Wenzel being especially scrappy on the defensive side of the ball.

Coupeville returns immediately to action, hosting Klahowya (0-5, 3-12) Saturday in a game that was postponed earlier by bad weather.

The varsity tips at 12:30, followed by the JV at 2:00.

JV sits night out:

The Wolf young guns are officially 4-0 in Olympic League play, but, if you count forfeits, they sit at 7-0.

Chimacum cancelled for the second time in three games Friday, citing a lack of players.

Tack on an earlier cancellation by Port Townsend and Coupeville’s JV has barely been able to take the court for 50% of its scheduled league clashes this year.

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Once, twice, three times a champ!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , , on January 24, 2017| Leave a Comment »

(John Fisken photo)

   Mia Littlejohn (left) and Tiffany Briscoe are league champs, again. (John Fisken photo)

Our league, yesterday, today, tomorrow.

There ain’t ever been a dynasty in the 1A Olympic League like the one being crafted by the Coupeville High School girls varsity basketball program.

Playing at home for the first time in 45 days Tuesday, the Wolves jumped out to a 13-2 lead after one quarter than strolled home with a 41-26 victory over visiting Klahowya.

The win, Coupeville’s 24th without a loss in the three-year history of the conference, clinches a third-straight league title for the Wolves.

Now sitting at 6-0 in league, 11-3 overall, CHS is on a seven-game winning streak and hasn’t tasted defeat since Dec. 16.

Coupeville, which has five regular season games left, will open the playoffs Feb. 14 against a yet-to-be-decided foe at Bellarmine Prep High School.

With the league title, the Wolves have automatically qualified for the double-elimination portion of districts and will need to win twice to punch their ticket to state for a second straight year.

To see the playoff bracket, pop over to: http://www.olympicleague.com/tournament.php?tournament_id=2187&sport=12

CHS girls’ hoops joins Klahowya girls’ soccer as the only 1A Olympic League programs to have won three straight league titles, but the Wolves 24-0 mark betters the Eagles booters, who are 20-0 in league play all-time.

To get there, Coupeville hit the court aggressively Tuesday night.

After playing an unprecedented eight straight on the road (and going 7-1 against a mix of league and non-league foes), the Wolves might not have recognized their own gym, but they adapted quickly.

Kailey Kellner kicked the game off with a long three-ball from the left side, then, after a Klahowya bucket sliced the lead to one, it was all Wolves, all the time.

Six different players scored to stake Coupeville to a 13-2 lead after one quarter, with Kellner capping things with a running layup off of a nifty steal and set-up pass from Kalia Littlejohn.

The Wolves continued that trend, of teammates setting each other up, throughout the game.

Whether it was Lindsey Roberts snatching a rebound and dishing to Mia Littlejohn for a put-back, or Littlejohn returning the favor by leading a breakaway, then dropping the ball into Roberts waiting fingers at the very last second, CHS was a well-oiled unit for much of the game.

Wolf guards Lauren Grove and Mia Littlejohn were on top of their passing game, threading balls between bodies or sucking in defenders, then flipping the ball to waiting teammates like Allison Wenzel for easy buckets.

Coupeville stretched the lead out to 31-14 midway through the third quarter, before hitting its only true dry spell.

Three straight Klahowya buckets, two coming off of in-bounds passes, put a little starch in CHS coach David King’s collar, and the loss of defensive scrapper Kyla Briscoe (she emerged from a tussle with a broken nose) slowed the Wolf strut for a moment.

But just a moment, as Coupeville came out firing in the fourth, scoring the quarter’s first 10 points to put an exclamation point on things.

Kellner knocked down a runner off a pass from Grove, then stepped outside, way outside, to drain a pretty three-ball, before Mia Littlejohn twinned her, but in reverse order.

Her trey, which was launched from somewhere up around Deception Pass, came first, before Littlejohn dropped in a jumper off of a little stutter-step drive to cap things.

“Mia played one of her better games all year,” King said.

He also praised Wenzel (“Allison gave us some really good defense”), Roberts (“she has provided us with a strong rebounding presence out there all year”) and Coupeville’s ability to control the boards against the Eagles.

Roberts (11), Kellner (7) and Tiffany Briscoe (3) led the carom collection troops, as the Wolves repeatedly got second chances in the paint off of offensive boards.

Coupeville put eight of its 12 players in the scoring column, led by Kellner, who rained down a game-high 18, scoring in every quarter.

Mia Littlejohn (7), Roberts (6), Mikayla Elfrank (3), Wenzel (2), Tiffany Briscoe (2), Grove (2) and Kalia Littlejohn (1) rounded out the well-balanced attack.

Lauren Rose was a spark-plug on both sides of the ball, Kyla Briscoe was a ball-hawk (even while getting blasted across the face by a wayward elbow) and swing players Ema Smith and Sarah Wright brought hustle to the floor in the late-going.

After playing so much of their season on the road, the Wolves close with five of their final six on their home court.

They have two more games this week, with Chimacum (3:30 JV/5:00 varsity) in town Friday and Klahowya (12:30 varsity/2:00 JV) returning to Whidbey Saturday.

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Our spirit is strong, our game better!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , , , on January 24, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Brittany Powers was one of several Wolves who hit huge fourth-quarter shots Tuesday night. (John Fisken photo)

   Brittany Powers was one of several Wolves who hit huge fourth-quarter shots Tuesday night. (John Fisken photo)

Guts.

The Coupeville High School JV girls’ basketball squad does not back down, does not give in, does not believe it will lose.

And that’s why the Wolves won again Tuesday night.

Because, one player after another stepped into the spotlight, seized their moment and sent their family and friends home riding a wave of euphoria.

Scoring the game’s final six points, the Wolves upended visiting Klahowya 29-27 to remain undefeated in Olympic League play.

They sit at 4-0 (6-0 if you give them forfeits for the two times league foes cancelled due to lack of players) and 8-3 overall.

Playing at home for the first time in 45 days, the young Wolves saved their best for the finale.

Trailing 23-21 coming into the fourth, they got one high-pressure play after another, with every player on the floor stepping up at one point or another.

Brittany Powers got things started when she swished a long jumper from the left side to knot things back up, before Klahowya scored back-to-back buckets to take its biggest lead of the night.

Little did the Eagles know they would never score again.

Sarah Wright pulled Coupeville within a bucket, backing her foe down in the paint before whirling to drop in a softly-banked shot off the glass, then Ema Smith sacrificed her body for the good of the team.

Charging from one end of the court to the other, in a mad attempt to get ahead of the ball-handler, Smith somehow got between the basket and the hard-charging Eagle.

Planting herself squarely in the oncoming path of a runaway freight train, she held her ground and got promptly run over.

A little dazed and confused, Smith happily peeled herself off the hardwood as the ref emphatically whistled an offensive foul on Klahowya, giving CHS the ball and a chance to tie with the clock ticking under a minute.

The Wolves took advantage, beating the Eagle press and putting the ball in Ashlie Shank’s hands.

Playing on the day her dad (Coupeville Superintendent Dr. Jim Shank) was celebrating his birthday, the youngest member of the clan drilled a soft jumper to knot things back up at 27-27.

Re-enter Smith, who got in the middle of a scramble for a loose ball — having been the one to knock the ball free in the first place — and recovered it while being blasted to the floor again.

Bouncing down court, the ever-giddy one grabbed the ball from the ref, and with no fanfare or wasted time, swished both of her free throws to give the Wolves a lead they would not relinquish.

Coupeville had started the game strongly, with Maya Toomey-Stout draining an eye-popping three-ball from the corner that she banked off the glass.

With Shank on a rampage — she dropped six of her team-high nine in the opening quarter — the Wolves ran to an early lead, then built on it later with strong inside play.

Nicole Lester dropped in a pair of buckets to fuel an 8-0 run in the second quarter, the first coming off of a rebound, the second on a picture-perfect play where she relentlessly backed down her defender in the paint.

The Wolves spread out their scoring, with seven of 11 players scratching their names in the scoring column.

Shank had four steals to go with her nine points, while Toomey-Stout rattled home five points and Lester and Wright banked in four apiece.

Powers (3), Ema Smith (2) and Avalon Renninger (2) rounded out the scoring, while Scout Smith ran the point and the three-headed beast of Maddy Hilkey, Tia Wurzrainer and Emma Mathusek harassed the Eagles on defense.

Lester led the Wolves on the boards, collecting seven caroms.

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