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Stone starts, Blues romp!!

Posted in Basketball, Wolves in college, tagged , , , , on January 22, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Makana Stone (John Fisken photo)

   Makana Stone, seen here during her high school days, made her first college start Sunday afternoon. (John Fisken photo)

Makana Stone got her moment in the spotlight, and it paid dividends for the Whitman College women’s basketball squad.

Making her debut as a college starter Sunday, the freshman phenom and former Coupeville High School star lit a spark under the Blues, who roared out to a 10-0 lead en route to knocking off highly-ranked George Fox University.

Stone snatched four boards, scored a bucket, doled out an assist and rejected a shot in the game’s opening minutes, helping Whitman roll to an 82-74 win.

That snaps a two-game skid for the Blues and lifts them to 15-2 overall, 6-2 in the Northwest Conference.

They move back into second-place, trailing just front-runner Puget Sound (8-0).

Stone, who has been one of the first players off the bench in every game this season, got the nod as a starter on the road and responded.

She finished with five points, nine rebounds, three assists and two blocks in 23 minutes of action, including grabbing the game’s first and last rebounds.

After adding three more boards and her second block in the second quarter, Stone picked up two of her three assists at a crucial moment early in the fourth.

She fed Emily Rommel, who scored a team-high 20, on back-to-back buckets to stake Whitman to a 62-60 lead.

Through 17 games, Stone is averaging 5.0 points and 5.1 rebounds a night.

Her 87 boards put her third on the team, while she also has 15 assists, seven blocks and 11 steals.

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Two steps back!!

Posted in Basketball, Wolves in college, tagged , , , , on January 21, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Makana Stone (center), seen here back in the day with Lindsey Roberts (left) and Amy Briscoe, had another string college hoops game Saturday. (John Fisken photo)

   Makana Stone (center), seen here with Lindsey Roberts (left) and Amy Briscoe, had another strong college hoops game Saturday. (John Fisken photo)

After 14 straight wins to open the season, the Whitman College women’s basketball squad has taken back-to-back losses as it plows through the most dangerous stretch of its schedule.

Saturday afternoon, despite seven points and five rebounds from former Coupeville star Makana Stone, the Blues fell 79-70 on the road in Portland against Lewis and Clark College.

The loss drops Whitman to 5-2 in Northwest Conference play and knocks it, for the moment, into third-place in the nine-team league.

The University of Puget Sound (8-0), which nipped the Blues in overtime a week ago, is in first, while George Fox University (6-1), which Whitman plays Sunday, sits in second.

Saturday’s game was a close one until Lewis and Clark pulled away down the stretch in the fourth.

Whitman trailed by just a point at the half, 32-31, but a 27-22 fourth quarter surge by the hosts was too much to overcome.

Stone, who was the first sub in for the Blues, tallied a free throw, a rebound and an assist — feeding Casey Poe on a layup — in the first quarter, than was a vital part of a Whitman run of success in the second.

She pulled down four of her rebounds during the one quarter the Blues won (21-19), and scored five of her seven points.

The best came on a three-point play the hard way, as Stone corralled an offensive rebound and took it back up for a basket while being hammered. She then slipped the charity shot through the twines as well.

Chelsi Brewer paced Whitman with 21 points.

On the season Stone is averaging 5.0 points and 4.9 rebounds a night. Her 78 boards are the third-most grabbed by a Blues player.

She also has 12 assists, five blocks and 11 steals while averaging 16 minutes a game.

Of the seven Blues freshmen, Stone is getting the second-most playing time, narrowly trailing Mady Burdett.

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One win from a three-peat!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , on January 21, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Lauren Grove racked up five points, four boards, two assists, two steals and played stellar defense as Coupeville won its sixth straight. (John Fisken photo)

   Wolf senior Lauren Grove played stellar defense Friday as Coupeville won its sixth straight. (John Fisken photo)

Find a way, night after night.

Not every game this season has been a thing of beauty, but a scrappy Coupeville High School girls’ basketball squad refuses to bend under pressure.

Sparked by a “great start and a good finish,” packaged around two sub-par quarters, the Wolves held off host Port Townsend 39-31 Friday night for a victory that was huge for several reasons.

One, it lifts Coupeville to 5-0 in Olympic League play (10-3 overall) and moves the Wolves two games up on the RedHawks (4-3, 8-6).

After playing an unheard-of eight straight games on the road, CHS plays its first home game in 45 days this coming Tuesday.

Beat Klahowya (0-4, 3-10), or, for that matter, win at least one of their final four league games — all at home — and the Wolves clinch a third-straight league title.

The victory was Coupeville’s sixth straight, capped a 7-1 road trip from Hell and gives them nine wins away from the CHS gym this season, an especially strong sign as the Wolves look ahead to postseason play.

Friday night was a bit of a mixed bag for CHS coach David King, but a win always helps ease any concerns over a rough spot here or there.

“We came out red hot in the first, moving the ball well,” he said. “I’m not sure what happened to us in the middle quarters after such a great start.

“The middle quarters were tough, with the third being a grind and just not played well on either end of the court.”

Coupeville roared out to a 12-0 lead at the first break, then struggled to scrape out another 12 points combined across the second and third.

But, as quickly as the offense vanished, it returned in a 15-point fourth.

Lauren Grove opened the game by knocking down a three-ball, followed by a bucket off the finger-tips of Kailey Kellner, and the Wolves seemed headed to a rout.

While Coupeville only tallied six in the second, its defense was still strong and CHS carried an 18-6 lead in at the half.

“Then the third quarter hit,” King said. “It hit us hard and we staggered the whole quarter.

“I’m going to take that and place the blame squarely on me.”

Recognizing some opportunities offered by the Port Townsend defense, he decided to change up the offense on the fly, having the Wolves try out a set they haven’t run this year.

It didn’t go particularly well.

“It should have worked, but we didn’t execute it,” King said. “I shouldn’t have put our team in that situation.

“But something to prepare us for when we see them (Port Townsend) later this month.”

The RedHawks splashed down a pair of treys during a 13-6 run to cut the lead down to five heading into the final quarter, then tied things up at 24 early in the fourth.

Showing composure down the stretch, the Wolves never blinked, however.

A “huge three” from Kellner was key, while Coupeville stamped the win with its work at the free throw line in the game’s final minute.

Mia Littlejohn hit the front end of one-and-one opportunities twice, while Mikayla Elfrank crushed the home fan’s hopes by slipping past a RedHawk to snare the rebound and put it back up and in on off a Littlejohn miss.

“Mikayla made a nice move,” King said. “This is the type of effort we see every game from every player that steps on the court.”

Other than their mid-game shooting struggles, the Wolves played solid ball, with seven of 11 players scoring and the team keeping its turnovers to a minimum.

“Offensively we had some very sweet passes into players in the post,” King said. “Many players hit some big shots early, then when we needed them in the middle quarters. The big shots carried over to the fourth as well.

“We only had 12 turnovers; that’s 22 total in our last two games. Trending in the right direction, just what I like to see.”

Kellner paced CHS with 13 points and six rebounds, while Elfrank pumped in eight and snatched six caroms. Lindsey Roberts topped the rebound chart with seven.

Mia Littlejohn (6), Grove (5), Kalia Littlejohn (3), Roberts (2) and Tiffany Briscoe (2) rounded out the offensive attack.

Just as important as the buckets was the team-wide emphasis on defense, with Grove and Kalia Littlejohn clamping down on RedHawk star Kaitlyn Meek and Kellner and Elfrank taking charges to draw offensive fouls on Port Townsend.

“Big momentum swings when defensively we step in and take a charge!,” King said.

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Young guns in a groove!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , on January 20, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Ashlie Shank (John Fisken photo)

   Ashlie Shank scored six points and hauled in seven rebounds Friday night in a 25-point Wolf JV win. (John Fisken photo)

Scout Smith 14, Port Townsend 7.

Sparked by its rampaging freshman guard, the Coupeville High School JV girls’ basketball squad romped to a runaway win Friday night at Port Townsend.

Toss in 18 points from Smith’s teammates and the final tally was 32-7 in favor of the Wolves.

The conference victory lifts the CHS young guns to 7-3 overall, 3-0 in Olympic League play.

Just getting on the floor was a win for the Wolf JV, which had two previous games cancelled when Chimacum and Port Townsend were unable to pull together enough players to compete.

Friday night the RedHawks put two seniors and a junior on the floor as part of a six-player roster, and Smith and Co. promptly ran them out of the gym.

It all started with defense, where the Wolves shut down both of Port Townsend’s tall players.

The three-headed beast of Scout Smith, Maya Toomey-Stout and Emma Mathusek shut down the passing lanes, while Ashlie Shank, Ema Smith and Nicole Lester took turns matching up with the RedHawks post players.

The Wolves held Port Townsend scoreless through the first eight minutes — a feat the CHS varsity would match later in the night — and was never threatened.

Scout Smith and Shank spent much of the night sniping away on outside shots, as the Wolves controlled the offensive flow.

“Our offense was fast but fairly patient with girls taking shots whenever open,” said Coupeville coach Amy King. “It was great to see that kind of aggressive play.”

Scout Smith brought her bench to its feet with a pair of back-to-back steals, while everyone chipped in, often by trying out something new.

“Tia (Wurzrainer) came up with several fourth quarter rebounds, passing the ball out to her teammates,” King said. “Avalon (Renninger) helped us out by playing point guard in the fourth and Maya stepped in as post at the end of the game.”

Shank drew a special heapin’ of praise.

“It was a full team win but a standout for me was Ashlie,” King said. “Her leadership on defense was huge, and her being able to shut down the taller post caused extra heartache for Port Townsend.

“She was aggressive on offense as well as on defense.”

Scout Smith’s 14 paced the attack, while Shank chipped in with six. Lester (4), Mathusek (4), Ema Smith (2) and Renninger (2) also put their names in the scoring column.

Lester and Shank ripped down seven boards apiece, while Maddy Hilkey picked up two boards and two steals.

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Live and learn!!

Posted in Boys Basketball, Middle School, tagged , , , , on January 19, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Xavier Murdy

   Xavier Murdy scored eight points and was a relentless beast on the boards Thursday for the CMS 7th graders. (John Fisken photos)

Dakota Eck

Dakota Eck wanders in among the tall trees.

Daniel Olson

Daniel Olson can taste the three-balls droppin’.

Connor Barton

Connor Barton wheels and deals under the ever-watchful eye of the ref.

Caleb Meyer

Caleb Meyer prepares to seize the moment.

Alex Jimenez

One on four? No big deal for Alex Jimenez.

It’s more about surviving than thriving.

Whenever Coupeville Middle School faces off with Stevens, the Wolves find themselves in a deep hole from the start.

Their foe is a fairly ginormous institution which feeds 2A Port Angeles High School (which has a student body four times the size of Coupeville High School).

With a much larger base of students to draw from, Stevens has a decided advantage, and it generally shows on the scoreboard.

Thursday was no different, as Coupeville put up a strong fight in its home finale, but dropped both games.

The Wolf 7th graders stayed within single digits for much of the first half, put together a stellar third quarter, but still fell 63-40.

Meanwhile, across the hall, the CMS 8th graders suffered through a cold-shooting first quarter and never recovered, losing 65-33.

The losses drop the Wolves to 5-4 and 2-7 respectively headed into their final game of the season, a rescheduled road contest at Sequim next Thursday.

Coupeville’s 8th graders fell behind 16-2 after the opening eight minutes and spent the rest of the game playing catch-up.

Jake Mitten poured in 14 of his team-high 16 in the middle two quarters, while Sage Downes knocked down eight points.

Daniel Olson (5) and Dakota Eck (4) rounded out the scoring attack, while Ben Smith and Alex Jimenez also saw floor time.

The Wolf 7th graders got on the board first in their game, with Xavier Murdy pounding home a rebound, and they stayed close in the early going.

Murdy, who was relentless on the boards, knocked down seven points in the early going, capping it with a layup off of a crisp pass from Logan Martin, and CMS was within six at the break, 18-12.

Stevens ability to run in five fresh players at a time began to wear on Coupeville after that, though.

A 12-4 run to end the half sent the Wolves into the locker room trailing by 13, and they were never able to fully recover.

The closest Coupeville got after that was 10, after a gorgeous three-ball from the left side off of Cody Roberts fingertips late in the third quarter.

Stevens blunted the charge, however, taking advantage of crisp passes and quick cuts to ring up a series of buckets in the paint.

Two bright spots for CMS came in the late going, as Connor Barton and Aiden Burdge pulled off sweet moves that left Stevens gobsmacked.

Barton shot up the middle, peeled off three defenders and knocked down a bucket while being hammered, then added the ensuing free throw for three the hard way.

Burdge upped the difficulty factor, charging into the fray and banking a ball high off the glass after getting it off barely over his defender’s outstretched arms.

Coupeville got points from seven of the 12 players to see action, with Caleb Meyer (11), Barton (8) and Murdy (8) leading the way.

Roberts (5), Grady Rickner (4), Martin (2) and Burdge (2) also tallied points, while Hawthorne Wolfe, Logan Wertz, Jonathan Carroll, Gabe Shaw and Tony Garcia also hit the floor.

To see more photos from the game (purchases fund college scholarships for CHS student/athletes) pop over to:

http://www.johnsphotos.net/Sports/20162017-Coupeville-BB/MS-BBB/20170119-vs-Stevens/

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