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Jacobi Pacquette-Pilgrim (John Fisken photos)

   Jacobi Pacquette-Pilgrim lines up a free throw during a game this past winter. (John Fisken photos)

"All your rebounds are mine!!"

“All your rebounds are mine!!”

Screw the basket supports in tight, just in case.

As he prepares to make the leap up to high school ball, Jacobi Pacquette-Pilgrim has set his sights on (eventually) playing above the rim.

The long, lanky hoop star, who will be a freshman at CHS in the fall, wants to one day go where few Wolves have gone, at least on a consistent basis.

“My goal as a freshman is to dunk a volleyball, and, by my senior year, dunk consistently,” Pacquette-Pilgrim said.

While playing for CMS, he was the team’s primary weapon in the paint, and, while he plans to play football as well, it’s hoops which earns his highest praise.

“Basketball, because I just have a passion for it that you can’t explain,” Pacquette-Pilgrim said. “I enjoy putting in the work and seeing the results.”

While he has raw talent for days, he’s also aware he won’t be able to just get by on that all the time, especially as the competition increases.

So, he listens to his coaches, and lets them guide him along the path.

“I think my strength as an athlete is that I have stuff that you can’t teach, but I could work on the fundamentals,” Pacquette-Pilgrim said. “Coach (Ryan) King has been the biggest impact on me.

“With both football and basketball he has showed me how to put in the work and he has pushed me to my goals.”

When he’s not working in the arena, Pacquette-Pilgrim enjoys collecting shoes and making music. A big fan of “Good Burger,” he has little problem picking a favorite class … sort of.

“My favorite class is lunch,” he said with a laugh. “If that doesn’t count, than it would be PE.”

Ask him for a favorite song, and he goes old school.

“It would always be “Smooth Criminal” by MJ!”

Cue the music, toss Pacquette-Pilgrim a basketball and let him go to work. The future is going to be a high-flying one.

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JV players listen intently to Wolf coach David King during a timeout. (Amy King photos)

  JV players listen intently to Wolf coach David King during a timeout. (Amy King photos)

Shark Bait

Each group of players have marked their room this week.

team

Still standing (even if some of them are sitting).

crossword

   Senior Kailey Kellner (left) leads her group as they work on a basketball crossword during a team competition.

Big, Bad Wolves

The Big, Bad Wolves get extra credit for their animal-drawing skills.

outside

King takes his pep talk outside, proving the sun still shines outside the gym.

t-shirt

The team’s extremely snazzy camp t-shirt.

Pray for David King.

The Coupeville High School girls’ basketball coach is down in Ocean Shores for four days, one lone man adrift in a sea of 20 women.

Wife/assistant coach/team photographer Amy King and 19 Wolf hoops stars are his companions, as Coupeville takes part in their annual summer hoops camp.

Long hours are the norm, with Coupeville playing between 16-18 games this year.

Having an unusually large number of players making the commitment this time, the surging Wolves, two-time defending 1A Olympic League champs, are fielding both a varsity and JV squad.

Each team opened with two games Monday, another three Tuesday, play twice Wednesday (with some time set aside to hit the beach) and then close Thursday with at least one and possibly two more games.

With tons of teams in play, the earliest start time has been 7 AM, and the latest midnight, though (so far) the Wolves have not gone earlier than 8 AM or later than 10 PM.

Toss in injuries — two CHS players have gone down, one after having her head landed on, another with a tweaked finger, though both were able to return later — and the coaches are busy bees.

“It’s long days,” said David King,who plans to sleep for a month upon returning home. “Other than that, we are all surviving.”

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Gavin

  Gavin Knoblich, well-dressed man about town. (Photos courtesy Mariah Knoblich)

"Hey, mom! Mom! MOM! Mom mommy mom mom mom!"

“Hey, mom! Mom! MOM! Mom mommy mom mom mom!”

Aaron Wright no longer anchors the line for the Coupeville High School football squad, but his impact lingers long after he hung up the uniform.

As Gavin Knoblich prepares for his freshman year at CHS, one which will kick off with him taking his own place on the gridiron, Wright’s words and actions spur him on.

Aaron, he set an example for me to push myself to be like,” Knoblich said. “He taught me how to do more than go through the motions.”

A strong player at the middle school level, Knoblich intends to be a three-sport athlete for the Wolves, playing football, basketball and baseball.

While he enjoys all three, spring will herald the return of his favorite pastime.

“Baseball (is my favorite), because it’s the first sport I took seriously,” Knoblich said. “And I found I had some athletic ability.”

He wants to make an impact right out of the gate (“I want to have a chance to be starting JV in any of my sports”), but knows there’s always room for growth.

“I enjoy the accomplishment of learning,” he said. “I like the time I spend with my friends working on something fun together.”

Knoblich loves to be in the thick of things, and fire up his teammates.

While that’s a huge plus, he also realizes he needs to know when to go loud and proud, and when to dial it back and keep a calm head.

“I’m always trying to think ahead. I’m always trying to be positive for my teammates,” he said. “My weakness is my composure – my inner voice in the back of my head.”

Helping him find his center is mom Mariah, who has a huge impact on his day-to-day life.

“My mom, she is always there to calm me,” Knoblich said. “She gets me where I need to go, and she always smiles for me.”

Whether it’s camping and hunting with his dad Clint or hanging out at the beach and riding dirt bikes with friends, he has a reliable support group.

Along with his mother, his grandparents step up big to help anchor things.

“My Grammy and Poppy. They make things so easy by always helping my mom,” Knoblich said. “Getting me places when my mom can’t, and they always have awesome dinners for us.”

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Mason Grove (right) meets the president of his fan club. (Mindy Grove photo)

Mason Grove (right) meets the president of his fan club. (Mindy Grove photo)

Grove

Grove, shakin’ ‘n bakin’ on the hardwood. (John Fisken photo)

There’s a little Steph Curry in Mason Grove.

During his days on the hardwood playing for Coupeville Middle School, Grove was a long-range sniper, capping his run at CMS with a 25-point explosion in a game at Sequim.

Now, he’ll take his skills to the next level, joining mega-talented older sister Lauren in high school this fall.

When he does, he plans to follow in her footsteps as a three-sport sensation, but with a twist to what sports he plays.

Grove will open with tennis in the fall — his goal will be to “play for the first time and be awesome at it!” — then shoot hoops in the winter.

The plan is to cap his freshman year with either baseball or track in the spring.

If he chooses the latter, he could help Lauren, a state meet veteran, christen the shiny new eight-lane track CHS is currently installing.

Whichever sport he picks in the spring, it’s the hardwood which captivates him the most, however.

“Basketball is my favorite because it is fast-paced and you are constantly moving,” he said. “And I love shooting threes!”

When he’s not dropping treys, Grove can often be found fishing or entertaining friends and family.

“I like to dance and be goofy or do anything at all to make people laugh,” he said.

Grove draws support from his family, both when in uniform and out.

“My mom and dad, they constantly push me to be better and encourage me,” he said. “My sister and little brother are OK, too.”

When he is competing, Grove draws on his natural talent to succeed, but is also aware he needs to put in the work if he wants to keep on improving.

“I think I have good hand/eye coordination and quick reflexes. And I’m good at timing,” he said. “As a freshman I plan on working on strength training and speed.”

Win or lose (and he plans on winning), Grove ultimately enjoys the life of an athlete because it is, in the end, enjoyable.

“You are always doing something and sports are fun!”

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Lindsey Roberts (Amy King photos)

Lindsey Roberts hangs out with the locals. (Amy King photos)

bench

Ready to claim the gym as their own.

huddle

The Wolf varsity listens to coach David King, part one.

King

And the round-ball guru has more wisdom for his young charges.

frosh

The freshmen are awake … sort of.

table

Powered by apples and ready to kick some fanny.

Roberts (left) and Kailey Kellner work on their beach bodies.

Roberts (left) and Kailey Kellner work on their beach bodies.

If it’s summer, it’s time to go to camp.

A whopping 19 players accompanied Coupeville High School girls’ basketball coaches David and Amy King to Ocean Shores this year and they’re knee deep in hoops.

With the Wolves fielding both a varsity and JV team at the annual hoops extravaganza, it’s four games a day (at least), with start times as early as 8 AM and as late as 10 PM.

As the two-time defending 1A Olympic League champs work on their game, Amy King and her camera are busy documenting the behind the scenes activity for us.

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