Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Basketball’

Pluck a season out of time

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , , on November 20, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Jason McFadyen, shooting during an alumni game, made an auspicious debut for CHS basketball during the 1988-89 season. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

It was the season after THE season.

The 1987-1988 Coupeville High School boys basketball team finished 19-6, won 12 straight games at one point, and went to the state tourney.

Then, everyone graduated.

Well, not totally everyone, but close.

When the 1988-1989 hoops season rolled around, there were only three returning players from the 13 who had scored a season before.

Tony Ford, who was the #6 scorer for the state-bound team, was back for his senior year, while Chad Nixon and Jason Legat, who each banked home a single bucket in 87-88, were also still around.

While the latter duo only combined for 16 points in 88-89, Ford seized his opportunity and scored much of his team’s buckets during his final go-round.

In fact, his 276 points, which gave him 432 for his prep career, was more than the next three Wolves combined to score that season.

Sophomore Jason McFadyen rattled home his first 122 varsity points in 88-89, the start of a 654-point career which has him sitting at #24 all-time in Wolf boys history.

But he was the only other CHS player to top 70 points that season, as the new-look Wolves struggled at times on the offensive end of the floor.

So, why is this all important?

For several reasons — the biggest being I have the scorebook from that 88-89 season, followed by we’re in a pandemic that has shut down games for nine months, and I need stuff to write about.

Plus, in the middle of an otherwise so-so season, Ford delivered one of the great single-game performances in program history.

So, let’s flip open the book and go back to a time when Wolf coach Ron Bagby still prowled the sidelines.

 

Sultan 37, Coupeville 16

Game one didn’t get off to a great start, as the Wolves were blanked 12-0 through the first eight minutes.

Improbably, CHS actually was within striking distance after three quarters of play, using a defensive lockdown to carve the deficit (slightly) back to 19-10.

But it wasn’t to be, as Sultan nearly doubled its point total with an 18-point eruption in the final frame, with six players scoring.

Coupeville’s leading scorer on opening night? Dean Grasser with a fairly-quiet six points.

 

Lopez 51, Coupeville 34

An improvement, with the Wolves down just 19-16 at the half.

Lopez had three guys finish with double-digit scoring, though, and that trio combined to score 30 of their 45 after the break, busting things open.

Ford did his best to counter, dropping in 10 of his team-high 13 in the second half, but his teammates only combined for eight points during the same time frame.

 

La Conner 52, Coupeville 17

Yep, not much to say about this one.

 

Darrington 64, Coupeville 30

Well, Ford banged home 18 points, so there was that, but the Wolves fell to 0-4.

 

Coupeville 56, Concrete 44

Best game of the season, and the best half Ford played in a CHS uniform.

When the teams went to the break, Coupeville held a 22-15 advantage, with Jesse Smith and Wayne Hardie each having tallied four points.

After halftime, it was Ford time, as the lanky gunner went off for 22 of his 28 points down the stretch.

All of his scoring came off of old-school two-point buckets, as he missed the one and only free throw attempt he had that night, and Coupeville went without a three-point bomb for the fourth time in five games.

 

Orcas Island 54, Coupeville 38

This one was knotted 31-31 heading into the fourth quarter, then the roof caved in on the Wolves.

Seven different Orcas players scored during a 23-7 run across the final eight minutes, putting a damper on a 25-point performance from Ford.

Having ended the previous game on a tear, he picked right back up, notching 15 of those points in the first half.

 

Friday Harbor 57, Coupeville 39

Fun fact – McFadyen, who, remember, would finish as this team’s #2 scorer, didn’t get his first points until game #7 of the season.

This was his fourth appearance, and, like the other three games, the young gun played in just the fourth quarter.

But this time he went off, dropping a pair of three-balls en route to an eight-point quarter, making him Coupeville’s leading scorer for the night.

Entering this game, CHS had connected on just one three-point shot all season, but with McFadyen’s two-fer and a deep bomb by Frank Marti, things were changing.

At least a bit.

 

Coupeville 38, Crescent 36

McFadyen played in two quarters this time, but didn’t score.

Ford, after tallying nine points in the first quarter, was held to a single bucket over the next 24 minutes.

The Wolves went back to hitting no three-balls.

But, they still won, thanks to a 10-8 fourth-quarter edge in which Brandy Ambrose (4), Grasser (4), and John Zimmerman (2) came up big.

 

Foster 71, Coupeville 43

Ford tossed in 20, but the other team had four guys hit for double-digits.

 

Sultan 49, Coupeville 44

Not as close as it looks, as the Wolves needed a 17-6 run in the fourth to narrow things.

Finally given the chance to play a full four quarters at the varsity level, McFadyen tossed in a team-high 17 points, including a pair of three-balls, while Ford was the perfect complement, banking home 16.

 

Watson-Groen 52, Coupeville 30

Down 17-4 at the first break, things didn’t get much better for the Wolves, who were led by Ford’s 15.

 

La Conner 59, Coupeville 31

Close first half, not so close second half.

Clinging to a 24-21 advantage at the break, La Conner went on a 35-10 run after that, negating another solid night by Ford, who filled the scorebook with 18 points.

 

Darrington 73, Coupeville 52

Trailing by 30 after three, the Wolves closed strongly with a 22-13 advantage in the final quarter.

McFadyen hit for 17, Ford 16, and, after nailing just seven three-balls on the season, Coupeville netted six in one game here.

Five of them came off of the fingertips of their hot-shooting sophomore stud.

 

Coupeville 50, Concrete 43

Back in the win column in what must have been a wild one.

Up by seven heading into the fourth, the Wolves frittered the entire lead away, then redeemed themselves in overtime.

Tied 43-43 at the end of regulation, CHS held its hosts scoreless in the extra frame, making the long bus trip home with Bagby more pleasant than it might have been with a total collapse.

McFadyen, Marti, and Ford combined for Coupeville’s final seven points, with Ford topping all scorers on the night with 18.

 

Orcas Island 54, Coupeville 47

The first time these teams met, it was tied after three quarters. This time CHS was up by a bucket headed into the fourth.

But, once again, the Wolves fell short against Orcas, despite 18 (with four treys) from McFadyen.

 

Coupeville 49, Lopez 43

Revenge, as the Wolves avenged an earlier loss to Lopez by suddenly becoming fourth-quarter aces.

Down 35-34 on the road, CHS closed on a 15-8 tear, with McFadyen scoring seven of his game-high 18 in the final frame.

He got help from Hardie (4), Marti (2), and Ford (2) down the stretch, with Ford once again busting double digits with a 15-point night.

 

Friday Harbor 67, Coupeville 41

The visitors got points from all 11 players on their roster and pulled away early.

One bright spot for Coupeville came when Sean Dillon connected on his first varsity three-ball, a precursor of what was to come as he rattled home 469 career points as a Wolf, putting him #48 in program history.

 

Watson-Groen 67, Coupeville 54

Ford pumped in 24, his third-best total on the season, and McFadyen singed the nets for three more treys, but the visitors led from start to finish.

Leading the way for Watson-Groen was Brad Francisco, who torched the joint for 26, the most scored by any Wolf rival that season.

 

And thus the campaign ended, with 4-14 a step back after a trip to state.

But, the path for future success was set.

During the 89-90 season, six Wolves scored 100 or more points, the first time the program reached that mark in a decade.

The next season, the 90-91 team had four players top 200, with a fifth missing by just six points.

McFadyen led the Wolves in scoring both those seasons, while Marti, Dillon, and Ben Biskovich, who joined the varsity in 89-90, all topped 400 career points.

 

Varsity scoring totals for the 88-89 season:

Tony Ford – 276
Jason McFadyen – 122
Dean Grasser – 68
Frank Marti – 64
Brandy Ambrose – 54
Wayne Hardie – 35
John Zimmerman – 34
Jesse Smith – 18
Chad Nixon – 14
Sean Dillon – 11
Ed Cook – 6
Duane Score – 6
Jason Legat – 2

Read Full Post »

Prep sports pushed back

Posted in Everything changes, tagged , , , , on November 18, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville gunner Ty Hamilton splashes home a jumper. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Basketball is not cancelled, just postponed.

Again.

After meeting Tuesday, the Executive Board of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association announced its latest adjustment to the 2020-2021 athletic schedule.

With COVID-19 cases spiking statewide, and Governor Jay Inslee having recently issued restrictions which include athletes not practicing inside for at least the next four weeks, a December 28 start for basketball became more unlikely.

The WIAA confirmed that, opting to delay the start of hoops season to Feb. 1, 2021.

At that point, it will be almost a year since a Coupeville High School team in any sport has played a game.

The last time a CHS squad faced off with a rival school came Feb. 11, 2020, when the Wolf girls basketball squad lost a home playoff game to Meridian.

The pandemic kicked into high gear shortly afterwards, with spring sports cancelled in 2019, and fall sports postponed in recent months.

The plan is still to have three complete sports seasons for the 2020-2021 school year, if positive COVID-19 case numbers drop.

Under the latest plan, each season will last seven weeks and end with a “regional culminating event” in place of state tournaments.

Traditional winter sports, which for Coupeville is basketball, will start February 1 and end March 20.

After that, traditional fall sports (football, volleyball, cross country, boys tennis, girls and boys soccer) will go from March 15 to May 1.

Football teams, which have to have more practices than other sports before playing, will start March 8.

The traditional spring sports (softball, track and field, baseball, girls tennis) will close the school year, with practices beginning April 26 and the season ending June 12.

Once we hit those start dates, the ability to play will be decided by whether counties are reaching goals set by state health officials.

To play basketball, which, like football, is considered a “high risk” sport, schools have to be in counties that have less than 25 new cases per 100,000 people in a 14-day period, and less than 5% positive cases overall.

Also, 50% of schools in a WIAA region (by classification) must be eligible to participate in league games.

That means at least four of eight schools in the revamped Northwest 1B/2B League will have to be ready to go for basketball to begin.

With another delay to the start of actual play, the WIAA also voted Tuesday to extend the open coaching window to January 23.

That window, which has been extended twice now, allows coaches to work with student/athletes and have practices.

CHS, under the guidance of Athletic Director Willie Smith, has been holding carefully-monitored workouts for most of its sports programs.

Read Full Post »

Blimey, she’s good!

Posted in Basketball, tagged , , , , on November 16, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville grad Makana Stone went off in her basketball debut in England. (Photo property Loughborough University)

Hoops queen of two countries.

Coupeville grad Makana Stone, coming off a Hall of Fame-worthy basketball career at Whitman College, made her hardwood debut in England and immediately wowed the locals.

Playing for Loughborough University, the former Wolf threw down an 18-point, 25-rebound, three-assist, three-steal game, leading her squad to a victory.

That performance earned her Women’s National Basketball League Player of the Week honors.

Stone, who is in England to pursue a Master’s in Exercise Physiology, plays for the Loughborough Riders, who held off the Reading Rockets 64-61 Saturday afternoon.

The Riders built a 35-27 lead heading into halftime, then coasted home for the season-opening win.

Throwing down major heat in merry ol’ England is just the latest accomplishment for Stone.

During her time in Coupeville, she was a two-time Athlete of the Year at CHS while playing soccer, basketball, and track and field.

While earning a B.A. in Biology at Whitman, Stone also earned league MVP, All-Region and All-American honors for her play on the basketball court.

She and her fellow Blues from the Class of 2020 went to the NCAA tourney three times, won a league title, and captured more wins than any group in program history.

Oh, and Stone finished as the #5 scorer and #2 rebounder in school history.

While always getting her greatest joy from cheering on her teammates, handing out high-fives at a dizzying rate.

 

Read Full Post »

WIAA clarifies winter sports guidelines

Posted in Basketball, tagged , , , , on November 3, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Maddie Georges drives the ball up-court during Coupeville’s last basketball game, a playoff tilt in February. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

To basketball, or not to basketball, that is the question.

As we wade through the Age of Coronavirus, the current plan for prep sports is this:

Winter sports (basketball in Coupeville) would start the last week of December, with games kicking off in January.

Then, traditional fall sports (football, soccer, etc.) follow in March, with spring sports (softball, baseball, etc.) starting in May.

But…

Positive cases for COVID-19 are spiking throughout Washington state, including Island County, where there were 15 new documented cases between Oct. 30 and Nov. 2.

Deaths have not risen, with Island County sitting firm at 12, with 10 of those in long-term care facilities.

With that as a backdrop, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association Executive Board met Monday, where it approved “a process for determining the status of upcoming WIAA seasons during the 2020-21 school year.”

The decision was based on feedback from Athletic Directors across the state.

Monday’s plan states for a season to take place, “50 percent of schools in a WIAA region (by classification) must be eligible to participate in league games per the COVID metrics in Department of Health guidelines.”

That means at least four of eight schools in the revamped Northwest 1B/2B League will have to be ready to go for basketball to begin in December.

Along with football and wrestling, basketball is rated a “high-risk” sport by the state.

To play games, schools have to be in counties that have less than 25 new cases per 100,000 people in a 14-day period, and less than 5% positive cases overall.

NWL teams come from five different counties, and, as of Tuesday afternoon, two of eight schools would be eligible to play, with a third narrowly missing.

Friday Harbor and Orcas Island would be good to go, as San Juan County is at just 5.8 new cases over a 14-day period.

Chimacum narrowly misses, with Jefferson County at 25.1, while Coupeville has work to do, with Island County at 48.3.

Skagit County is at 57.3, making life tough for Concrete, La Conner, and Mount Vernon Christian, while Darrington is really hurting, with Snohomish County at 120.7.

But hey, at least no one in the league lives in Whitman County, which sits at 472.8.

The WIAA said if less than 50 percent of schools in a classification in a region are able to compete in a specific sport due to elevated cases, the Executive Board will “adjust the scheduled season in order to allow the chance for greater participation.”

That could mean moving up “low risk” sports such as cross country, while pushing back “high-risk” ones with the hope case numbers will come down as the traditional flu season fades.

Or not.

It’s all a mystery, and likely will remain so until the day things start, or shut down.

For basketball, the WIAA will send out a preliminary update Nov. 27 on where each region is, then make decisions on who can play between Dec. 4-11.

The first day of basketball practice is currently scheduled for Dec. 28.

Read Full Post »

Get those buckets, boys

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , on October 28, 2020| Leave a Comment »

CHS hoops star Jack Elzinga kept his hair short and the nets jumpin’.

Longer history, smaller inner circle.

Sorta.

While the Coupeville High School girls basketball program didn’t kick off until 1974-1975, the Wolf boys have been throwing up buckets since 1917.

And throwing away their stat sheets almost from day one.

As I’ve attempted to compile complete scoring stats for CHS basketball, the boys side of things has been far more frustrating.

With the Wolf girls, I have pretty on-target individual totals for every season except the inaugural one, which the local newspaper and the school yearbook both essentially ignored.

Now, the boys…

I can tell you Roy Armstrong dropped in a team-high 80 points during the 1924-1925 season, thanks to an incredibly-detailed (and thick!) yearbook.

Other than that, from 1917 — where I have come up with a complete roster, just no stats — to 1954, I have been able to track down individual scoring totals for just three other seasons.

Once we get to the 1954-1955 season, we’re golden though, as I’ve charted every season successfully from there up through 2019-2020.

So, it’s a start.

But, with so many stats lost to time, it appears we’ll never have a true CHS boys hoops scoring chart. Or, at least not one which can match the girls program.

What I do have are 391 players, from old-school beast Banky Fisher to new-school sniper Daniel Olson, who have scored at least one varsity point for the Wolves.

While seven different Coupeville girls have held their program’s individual career scoring record at some point, from Jill Whitney to current #1 Brianne King, I can only really vouch for five guys being atop their program’s mythical big board.

Even then, the first three guys I’m about to list don’t have complete career totals.

But anyway.

Until I can obtain more than the 1924-1925, 1926-1927, and 1939-1940 stat sheets, we might as well start with 1952-1953.

Tom Sahli went off for 310 points that season, so we’ll call him our first true, semi-verified career scoring champ.

Except, he also played in 1951-1952 and 1953-1954, two “missing” seasons, so who knows what his real totals are?

Not me.

In 1954-1955 Jack Elzinga erupted for 337 points, taking the title away (though maybe not), before adding 309 more points the next season to finish with 646.

Except, Elzinga also played on that 1953-1954 team with Sahli, so his totals are also off.

But anyway.

On to Mike Criscuola, who, according to our incomplete totals for his two big-name predecessors, “officially” became the school scoring champ after the 1958-1959 season.

Big Mike had racked up 674 points by then, before adding another 305 the next year as a senior to finish with 979.

Except, we know Criscuola, already the most-imposing player on the floor, played a fair amount as an 8th grader.

He’s right at the center of the team pic in the yearbook, but the point totals listed for the season omit his name.

There’s also questions about points from playoff games in later seasons being left off his season stats, so it’s not hard to believe Criscuola likely topped 1,000 points.

If we could get a time machine, go back and grab all five years of his stat sheets, it’s very possible he still is the real all-time CHS boys scoring champ.

Since we can’t, and barring someone finding a stash in an attic or basement, Criscoula handed the title off to Jeff Stone during the 1969-1970 season.

The sweet-shootin’ Stone rippled the nets for 644 points as a senior, almost 200 more than the next-best performance in school history — Jeff Rhubottom’s 459 in 1977-1978.

Having played three years, as freshmen weren’t eligible for varsity ball in the ’60s, Stone capped his prep career with 1,137 points.

That endured for 36 years, and still hasn’t fallen.

Given a chance to play a full four years, Mike Bagby did the nearly impossible, with his last point during the 2005-2006 season being the 364th of his senior campaign, and the 1,137th of his career.

The duo have remained atop the charts (with the old-school trio of Sahli, Elzinga, and Criscuola lurking in their rearview mirror) ever since, with little to worry about.

Hunter Smith made a nice run before graduating in 2018.

Ultimately, though, a lack of varsity playing time as a freshman, and a handful of later injuries, stopped him at #12 all-time, with 847 points.

Two seasons into his own career, Hawthorne Wolfe is already at #55, with 410 points, but the ongoing pandemic has put his junior season into question.

The chase goes on, for scoring records long-held and stat sheets long-buried.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »