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Posts Tagged ‘Basketball’

Hoops on the horizon!!

Posted in Boys Basketball, Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , , on October 14, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Lauren Grove (left) and Lindsey Roberts (John Fisken photo)

   Lauren Grove (left) and Lindsey Roberts will both be back to help power the Wolf girls’ hoops squad. (John Fisken photos)

Gabe Wynn is one of two possible varsity returners for the Wolf boys, along with Hunter Smith.

   Gabe Wynn is one of two possible varsity returners for the Wolf boys, along with Hunter Smith.

It’s never too early to talk about basketball.

While the start of the high school hoops season is still a month away — the first day of practice is Nov. 14 — you can get a jump-start by printing out and laminating the Wolf high school schedules.

Now, there’s always the chance things will get tweaked between now and then, but with CHS Athletic Director Willie Smith humming along these days, the schedules seem pretty set in stone.

A few things we can look forward to:

A lot of road games, with only 17 of 40 at home in 2016-2017.

The Wolf boys get nine home dates, while the girls will grace the CHS gym eight times.

But, both teams have full 20-game schedules, the first time that’s happened in several seasons.

The Coupeville girls, who are coming off their first trip to state in a decade, return to Friday Harbor on the first weekend of the season to defend their title at the Tip-Off Classic.

And while they will have a run of six straight road games at one point — combined with winter break, they don’t play at home between Dec. 11-Jan. 9 — they break more than even on 1A Olympic League games, with five of nine in town.

The boys, despite having one more home game total, actually have one less home game in league play, hitting the road for five of their nine conference bouts.

Finally, if you’re hoping for some doubleheader action, again, get used to hitting the road, as the Wolves have only a single two-for-one special on the home docket.

That comes Saturday, Dec. 10, when South Whidbey comes to Cow Town for a night of Island rivalry.

The schedules as they sit today:

* = Olympic League games. Times listed are for varsity.

GIRLS:

Sat-Nov. 26 @ Sedro-Woolley Jamboree (5:00 PM)
Tue-Nov. 29 @ Blaine (7:00)
Fri/Sat. Dec. 2-3 @ Friday Harbor Tip-Off Classic
Wed-Dec. 7 Chimacum (*) (5:00)
Fri-Dec. 9 Klahowya (*) (3:30)
Sat-Dec. 10 South Whidbey (7:00)
Tues-Dec. 13 @ Klahowya (*) (3:45)
Fri-Dec. 16 @ Bellevue Christian (6:30)
Tues-Dec. 20 @ Concrete (7:00)
Friday-Dec. 30 @ Orcas Island (1:30)
Tues-Jan. 3 @ Port Townsend (*) (6:00)
Fri-Jan. 6 @ Chimacum (*) (6:00)
Tues-Jan. 10 Sequim (5:00)
Fri-Jan. 13 @ Mount Vernon Christian (7:45)
Tues-Jan. 17 North Mason (7:00)
Fri-Jan. 20 @ Port Townsend (*) (6:00)
Tues-Jan. 24 Klahowya (*) (3:30)
Fri-Jan. 27 Chimacum (*) (5:00)
Thur-Feb. 2 @ Sequim (5:15)
Sat-Feb. 4 Port Townsend (*) (5:00) — SENIOR NIGHT

BOYS:

Tues-Nov. 29 Blaine (7:00)
Fri-Dec. 2 Sultan (7:00)
Wed-Dec. 7 @ Chimacum (*) (6:00)
Fri-Dec. 9 @ Klahowya (*) (3:45)
Sat-Dec. 10 South Whidbey (5:15)
Tues-Dec. 13 Klahowya (*) (3:30)
Fri-Dec. 16 @ Bellevue Christian (8:00)
Sat-Dec. 17 Vashon Island (6:00)
Tues-Dec. 20 @ Concrete (5:15)
Fri-Dec. 30 @ Orcas Island (3:00)
Tues-Jan. 3 Port Townsend (*) (5:00)
Fri-Jan. 6 Chimacum (*) (5:00)
Tues-Jan. 10 @ Sequim (5:15)
Fri-Jan. 13 @ Mount Vernon Christian (6:15)
Tues-Jan. 17 @ North Mason (7:00)
Fri-Jan. 20 Port Townsend (*) (5:00)
Tues-Jan. 24 @Klahowya (*) (3:45)
Fri-Jan. 27 @ Chimacum (*) (6:00)
Thur-Feb. 2 Sequim (5:00) — SENIOR NIGHT
Sat-Feb. 4 @ Port Townsend (*) (6:00)

To stay up to date, check out:

School district site: http://coupeville.tandem.co/

Olympic League site: http://olympicleague.com/

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Shoot like a pro!!

Posted in Basketball, tagged , , , , on October 11, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Mia Littlejohn

   Wolf gunner Mia Littlejohn attended a previous clinic and came away impressed. (John Fisken photo)

basketball

All your pertinent details.

Coupeville High School girls’ basketball coach David King is joining with King’s HS round-ball guru Dan Taylor to bring an innovative shooting clinic to CHS in mid-Nov.

All the important details can be found in the flier above, from cost to time and place.

The flier can be picked up in the CHS office, and for those with questions, David King can be reached at 360-320-0574 or dking@coupeville.k12.wa.us.

But why this clinic, you ask? Because it works.

Several Wolf players went to a similar clinic run by Taylor in Seattle and returned to Whidbey as converts.

“The clinic in August helped me realize the right way to shoot the ball,” said CHS senior Kailey Kellner.

The players started in small groups, broken down by grade levels and walked through the steps (fingers, offhand, rhythm, eyes, sway and turn) to form the acronym FOREST.

A different drill stood for each letter, and, after putting the six steps together, the players put them together to perform the correct shooting form.

“After we practiced and felt comfortable, we all did reps of the form in the spot on the court that we perform well at,” Kellner said. “There were many different elements that brought this form all together, from off the dribble to a simple step in to catch and release a money shot.

“Once I got the form down and it felt right, the form and everything followed after that,” she added. “You know when it’s going on when you release the shot from your fingertips once you get this shot locked in.”

Junior point guard Mia Littlejohn agrees.

“The shooting clinic was very helpful,” she said. “Not only did it help us with our form, but it helps us learn the drills that we needed to know to help improve it on and off the court.

For example, F for finger teaches the players to have their middle finger in the middle of the ball, something Littlejohn wasn’t doing previously.

“I normally put my middle finger on the hole that you would use to pump the ball up,” she said.

While Kyla Briscoe was sidelined with a volleyball injury during the August camp, she still attended, along with Kellner, Littlejohn, Tiffany Briscoe and Kalia Littlejohn, intent on picking up pointers even if she couldn’t be on the floor.

“From an outsiders look on this clinic, I saw major changes in all the girl’s shots!,” Kyla Briscoe said. “The form this clinic taught us was very similar to the way our coach has been teaching us.

“I’m very excited to join in on this clinic this time around, because a lot of girls shots have been consistent to the way our coach has been reinforcing upon us,” she added. “I think this clinic will be good for the Coupeville basketball program as a whole, because we aren’t as strong as shooters as we should be.”

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Wolves nibbled, bite right back!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , , on October 2, 2016| Leave a Comment »

The CHS fall ball coaching brain trust is (l to r) Sherry Roberts, Aimee Bishop and Kyla Briscoe. (Amy King photos)

   The CHS fall ball coaching brain trust is (l to r) Sherry Roberts, Aimee Bishop and Kyla Briscoe. (Amy King photos)

Maddy Hilkey

Watch your digits around Granite Falls. Maddy Hilkey got bit in game two.

A little bit of sadness, then a whole lot of happiness.

That’s what Coupeville High School’s fall ball girls’ basketball squad experienced Sunday in Skagit County, as they split a pair of games with bigger schools.

After absorbing a 32-12 loss to 4A Mount Vernon, the Wolves rebounded with a fury in the nightcap, drilling 2A Granite Falls 36-14.

The split left Coupeville, one of the smallest 1A schools in the state, at 2-2 at the midway point of the fall ball season.

After a two-week break, the Wolves wrap things up with doubleheaders on Oct. 23 and 30.

CHS clicked in every aspect in game two Sunday, cutting down its turnovers, sharing the ball on offense and hitting the boards with a vengeance.

The Wolves roared out to a 17-5 lead at the half, then continued to stretch things out in the second half, with eight of 10 players scoring in the game.

Kailey Kellner popped for 12 to lead Coupeville, while Mikayla Elfrank and Mia Littlejohn chipped in with six apiece.

One big highlight was seeing freshman Avalon Renninger knock down her first fall ball bucket in the second half, getting a strong roar of approval from her older teammates.

The opening game wasn’t quite as thrilling, as difficulty breaking the press in the early going, and a cold shooting touch after the half conspired to hurt the Wolves.

While the halftime margin was just 12-5, Mt. Vernon got hot from the field after the break and refused to let Coupeville back in the game.

Littlejohn paced the Wolves with four points, five rebounds and four steals, while Kellner snared a team-high seven boards.

Tiffany Briscoe, Maddy Hilkey, Ema Smith, Lindsey Roberts, Lauren Grove and Kalia Littlejohn join Kellner, Elfrank, Renninger and Mia Littlejohn on the CHS squad, which is coached by Sherry Roberts, Aimee Bishop and Kyla Briscoe.

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A day for record-bustin’ and cake-eatin’!!

Posted in Happy birthday, tagged , , , , , on September 30, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Hunter Downes: The hero we need now. (John Fisken photos)

Hunter Downes: The hero we need now. (John Fisken photos)

He is the chosen one, the savior.

Flinging balls from all angles, racking up yards in big bursts, his impish grin shining from beneath his helmet, Hunter Downes is ready to lead Wolf football back to a golden age.

Last Friday, the Coupeville High School junior picked apart Charles Wright’s secondary for 323 yards — a career-high — and with 599 yards through four games he’s on target for a 1,500-yard season.

If that holds, Downes would land in the upper echelon of CHS quarterbacks, not that far off of Ian Smith’s school single-season mark of 1,848 yards.

Which is impressive, certainly.

But as Downes celebrates his birthday today by leading the Wolves onto the gridiron to face Vashon Island (6 PM) in a league clash, the bigger deal is the dude is healthy.

An injury knocked him down early last season, costing him most of his sophomore campaign after he opened the year as Coupeville’s starting QB.

You always hate to see young stars lose chunks of their very-short prep careers to troubles of the body, and then boom, another injury dinged Downes during the early days of basketball season.

He managed to stay on his feet for an entire track season in the spring, which allowed mom Angie to take the bubble wrap off her oldest son (for a bit, at least) and, this year, so far, nothing but the perfect image of health.

Which is great, not only because Hunter is one of the more talented athletes in the red and black, but because he’s a great guy who deserves to be out there building his legend.

An easy-going dude who saunters through many of his off-the-field photos, he’s super-friendly, a positive role model for young athletes coming up behind him, and a hard-working ball of fire who will wreck people when competing.

Downes is setting the pace, and younger brothers Sage and Logan, both talented guys themselves, are following in his big footsteps.

Would I love to see him go out there and bust Gabe Eck’s single-game CHS passing record of 403 yards?

Absolutely.

No slight on the former Wolf gunslinger intended.

Just acknowledgement that Hunter has seized the day, put himself into position to excel with the guidance of the original gunslinger, legendary Wolf QB turned offensive coordinator Brad Sherman, and deserves to reap some honors.

But whether Downes notches records or not, my respect level for him will still be sky-high.

In the immortal words of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, “They think he’s a righteous dude.”

I agree.

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She’s kind of a big deal!!

Posted in Happy birthday, tagged , , , , , on September 29, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Mattea Miller (John Fisken photo)

Mattea Miller: Serene Superstar. (John Fisken photo)

Mattea Miller is serenity and strength intertwined in one remarkable young woman.

The Coupeville High School senior, who celebrates a birthday today, has been one of the best athletes we’ve been blessed to have in our town for the past four years.

Pick a sport, any sport, and Mattea can make a sizable impact, from soccer to basketball to track and field, and everything in between.

She is a hustler, a hard worker, a tenacious, never-say-die coach’s dream.

A deeply-committed, tremendously-supportive, rock-solid anchor for any squad, an ideal teammate.

Of both those things, there is no doubt.

But Mattea has always been about far more than just sports, and to talk about her as only an athlete would do her a great disservice.

Good athletes come and go, and we appreciate what they accomplish.

But, every so often, there is a true rarity such as Miss Miller, someone who in their own quiet way soars far above the crowd.

I can honestly say, in four years of high school sports, and middle school before that, I have never heard a single disparaging word said about her.

Which is rare in the hot house world of constantly roiling teen drama that is prep sports, where even the most likable person usually manages to tick off someone from time to time.

Idiots like myself, well, we’re just lucky not to have fans throw wadded-up hot dog wrappers at us some days…

Not Mattea, who always seems genuinely kind and caring to all around her (or hides her true serial killer nature really, really, extremely well.)

My impression of her has always been that this is a young woman who seems to always look for the good in others and is repaid in kind.

Or, at least I hope she is repaid.

I hope those around her realize what a wonderful human being she seems to be every day, and show her some appreciation.

Mattea is a superb athlete, talent mixed with drive, but she is a far better person, a brilliant, compassionate, strong young woman with a soaring soul, and that is so much more important.

On her cake day, the last one of her high school days, I hope she is surrounded by family and friends, and I hope she realizes how much her town and her fans think of her.

It has been an honor to write about you, Mattea, and I have no doubt there will be many more stories to tell as you head out to captivate the outside world.

Whatever you do, wherever you go after high school, there’s a whole new group of people about to discover what Coupeville already knows — you are the very definition of awesome.

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