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Posts Tagged ‘bi-districts’

Net crew notches historical win

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , on November 7, 2024| Leave a Comment »

15-0 and rolling! (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Halfway to state, all the way to history.

Playing on its home court for the final time in 2024, the Coupeville High School varsity volleyball squad opened the two-night bi-district tourney with a vengeance Thursday.

Obliterating visiting La Conner 25-12, 25-10, 25-14, the Wolves get to 15-0, establishing a program record for most wins in a single season.

The previous mark of 14 was jointly held by the 2004 and 2019 CHS teams.

Also, fast fact — out of 385 high schools playing volleyball in the state of Washington, Coupeville is one of just eight still undefeated as of Nov. 7.

The others are Curtis, Wenatchee, and Kennedy Catholic in 4A, White River in 3A, Chelan (with former Wolf Grace Roberts) in 1A, Adna in 2B, and Oakesdale in 1B.

Anyway, back to the main story.

Now, the Wolves advance to the bi-district championship match Saturday at La Conner High School, where they will face Orcas Island (12-8), a school they have swept in straight sets twice this season.

Win that 4:00 PM match and Coupeville collects a trophy and heads to the state tourney for a second straight year and third time under coach Cory Whitmore.

Lose, and the Wolves return to the floor at 8:00 PM to play the survivor of a 6:00 PM match between La Conner (10-9) and Auburn Adventist Academy (4-12).

The late rumble will decide the second team from the District 1/2 tourney to earn a berth at state.

You can see the bracket here:

https://www.wpanetwork.com/wiaa/brackets/tournament.php?act=view&tournament_id=4487

Bi-Districts began Thursday with action in Coupeville and Auburn, with the top-seeded Wolves being joined by District 1’s #3 team, La Conner, and District 2’s #3 squad, Forest Ridge.

The Braves made quick work of the Ravens, winning a loser-out match 25-8, 25-6, 25-6, before losing for the third time this season to the rampaging Wolves.

Coupeville, which features seven seniors, came out on fire and never relented.

“I want this one!” said Wolf setter Katie Marti during pre-game warmups, and whether she meant the one assist she needed to reach 1,000 for her career, or the win, the exuberant one achieved both goals.

Back-to-back kills from heavy hitters Lyla Stuurmans and Mia Farris staked the Wolves to a 2-1 lead in the opening set, and the rout was on.

Mia Farris and her proud mama.

Farris, who recorded a double-double (14 kills, 10 digs) in her final volleyball match on her home floor, was a wild woman unleashed, lashing winners from all angles.

“You’re gonna miss us later,” “Mia the Magnificent” wistfully told CHS assistant coach Ashley Menges during the post-match celebration, before both women agreed to put off any sustained tears for a later day.

While the Coupeville seniors will practice, but not play, in their own gym from this point on, there’s still much road volleyball left.

But before they left the comfort of their own digs, the Wolves wowed their fervent fans one more time.

They closed the first set on an absolute heater, with Marti flipping a winner between Brave defenders, followed by Stuurmans and Farris walloping the stuffing out of the ball.

Lyla Stuurmans elevates and destroys.

Set #2 was even more brutal, with junior Teagan Calkins stepping into the fray and slicin’ and dicin’ La Conner’s best defensive efforts.

Spraying kills before storming away to celebrate, “The Red Dragon” led a team-wide effort to use and abuse the Braves.

Whether it was Madison McMillan popping a nasty winner from the corner, Jada Heaton rising up to heroically deny La Conner at the net, or steady senior Taylor Brotemarkle and fab frosh Tenley Stuurmans digging balls off the ground, everything was clicking.

Chloe Marzocca and Dakota Strong joined the fun parade in the third set, with the former patrolling the backline and the latter springing off the bench to deliver her second match-ending kill of the season.

Lyla Stuurmans, who was a blocking machine at the net, denied the La Conner hitters again and again, while also getting a tip winner on a play set up by a sensational running save by Marti.

Whether piling up stats or making the unsung hustle plays, Christi Messner’s favorite child earned praise from her coach. And she wasn’t the only one.

“Katie had a great game tonight,” said Wolf spiker guru Cory Whitmore. “She was focused and communicated really well.

“Mia was on fire as well, very fluid and always in the moment.

“We protected the net, and our defense was very solid all night,” Whitmore added. “Our serving was tougher, and all the girls contributed in their roles and were on the same page.

“I’m very proud of them.”

 

Thursday stats:

Taylor Brotemarkle — 2 digs, 1 assist
Teagan Calkins — 11 kills, 3 digs, 2 aces
Mia Farris — 14 kills, 10 digs, 1 ace
Jada Heaton — 2 kills, 1 dig
Katie Marti — 2 kills, 2 digs, 30 assists, 6 aces
Madison McMillan — 4 kills, 12 digs, 1 assist, 3 aces
Dakota Strong — 1 kill
Lyla Stuurmans — 5 kills, 5 digs, 1 assist, 4 solo blocks
Tenley Stuurmans — 6 digs, 1 assist

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Tourney time for spikers

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , on November 6, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Madison McMillan rises up to deliver a mighty mash. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Two days, three locations, six teams, two tickets to the state championships.

The District 1/2 volleyball tournament kicks off Thursday night in Coupeville and Auburn, then wraps up Saturday at La Conner.

The first night features three schools playing at each location, with a loser-out match followed by the winner of that rumble squaring off with a #1 seed.

In Coupeville, that means Forest Ridge and La Conner clash at 3:30 PM, while the top-seeded Wolves meet the survivor at 5:30ish.

Win or lose Thursday, CHS advances to Saturday, ultimately needing two wins total at bi-districts to earn a return trip to the 2B state tourney, set for Nov. 13-14 at the Yakima SunDome.

Cory Whitmore lays out the game plan to the Wolves.

 

You can see the bi-district bracket here:

https://www.wpanetwork.com/wiaa/brackets/tournament.php?act=view&tournament_id=4487

 

And what of admission, you ask?

It’s the playoffs, so expect to pay more.

Adults and student’s w/o ASB — $8
Students w/ASB — $6
Children (ages 6-12) and Senior Citizens — $6
Children (0-5) — FREE

 

Tickets can be bought on GoFan (or with cash in person):

https://gofan.co/event/1985521?schoolId=WA86277

 

The teams:

 

Auburn Adventist Academy:

Season record: 4-11

Seed: #1 from District 2

WIAA RPI rank: #43

Sets W/L: 17-34

Coach: Lina Aiolupotea

Seniors: Not available

Mascot: Falcons

 

Coupeville:

Season record: 14-0

Seed: #1 from District 1

WIAA RPI rank: #2

Sets W/L: 42-4

Coach: Cory Whitmore

Seniors: Taylor Brotemarkle, Mia Farris, Jada Heaton, Katie Marti, Chloe Marzocca, Madison McMillan, Lyla Stuurmans

Mascot: Wolves

 

Forest Ridge:

Season record: 1-10

Seed: #2 from District 2

WIAA RPI rank: #52

Sets W/L: 4-30

Coach: Not available

Seniors: Not available

Mascot: Ravens

 

La Conner:

Season record: 9-8

Seed: #3 from District 1

WIAA RPI rank: #23

Sets W/L: 35-31

Coach: Pam Keller

Seniors: Addison Wigal

Mascot: Braves

 

Mount Vernon Christian:

Season record: 8-8

Seed: #4 from District 1

WIAA RPI rank: #22

Sets W/L: 33-29

Coach: Tim Boonstra

Seniors: Emerson Hoksbergen, Natalie Zastoupil

Mascot: Hurricanes

 

Orcas Island:

Season record: 10-8

Seed: #2 from District 1

WIAA RPI rank: #20

Sets W/L: 32-30

Coach: Mallory Balcomb

Seniors: Morgan Anderson, Ava Ashcraft, Maria Burns, Lili Malo, Alexandria Sanders, Molina Stone

Mascot: Vikings

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Young guns scrap to the final batter

Posted in Softball, tagged , , , , , on May 18, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Part of a Wolf softball squad which went 14-5 and can return everyone next spring. (Michelle Armstrong photo)

Coupeville won the battle, but Toledo won the war.

A very-young Wolf softball squad played the first inning to precision Saturday night at Fort Borst Park in Centralia.

Unfortunately, the winner-to-state, loser-out playoff game went a full seven frames, and the Riverhawks rebounded from a 3-0 deficit to eventually claim an 11-4 victory.

With the win, Toledo, which is 19-6 after going 3-2 in the District 1/4 tourney, is off to the big dance.

Meanwhile, Coupeville, which was required to pop in at the very tail end of another district’s tourney, instead of being fully rewarded for being the #1 team from their own area, finishes 14-5.

The Wolves, who regularly started three 8th graders and two freshmen this season, and have no seniors, can return everyone on their roster.

And, even in defeat, they fought until the final batter, showcasing the hustle and grit which defines Kevin McGranahan’s diamond program.

Saturday’s game pitted a Toledo team which was playing its third game of the day against a Coupeville squad which hadn’t played in a week.

For an inning, at least, the fresher team looked sharper.

Wolf hurler Adeline Maynes, one of those 8th graders, mowed through the Riverhawks in the top of the first, picking up two strikeouts and a groundout to fellow middle school classmate Sydney Van Dyke.

Hefting their bats for the first time since they carved up South Whidbey in the regular season finale May 10, the Wolves immediately stung Toledo.

Taylor Brotemarkle gets medieval on the softball. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Haylee Armstrong took the first pitch she saw and ripped it into left field for a single, before Mia Farris clobbered a double in the same direction.

With two runners on and nobody out, Taylor Brotemarkle lofted a precision sac fly to plate the game’s first run, before Madison McMillan went nuclear.

Punching a hole in the dark, foreboding clouds which hung over the field, the junior third baseman cleared the fences with a two-run tater, and Coupeville was up 3-0 just four batters in.

And then the batting display turned off. Big time.

After McMillan’s epic blast, the Wolves went two complete rotations through the lineup — a full 18 batters — before getting another hit.

Van Dyke, Danica Strong, and Brotemarkle eked out walks during that dry spell, but with no base knocks, there were no more runs for a very long time.

It wasn’t until two batters into the bottom of the sixth that Coupeville finally broke the hitless skid, with sophomore catcher Teagan Calkins mashing a fences-clearing home run of her own.

Teagan Calkins goes yard. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Capri Anter accounted for the Wolves final hit, cracking a long single into an opening in the outfield defense in the seventh inning.

But that was it for CHS, as it started with three hits in the first four batters but finished with just five base knocks and three walks total.

That 3-0 lead held up for a bit, with Toledo scratching out a run in the second, then sliding ahead 4-3 thanks to several well-placed hits in the top of the third.

The deficit was still just a run well into the fifth, but that was when the Riverhawks found their groove, peppering the ball around the field and plating six runs to turn a nailbiter into a bit of a runaway.

One final tally in the sixth made it 11 unanswered runs for Toledo, before Calkins walloped her final moon ball of the season to get one back for Coupeville.

“The Red Dragon” then ended her second high school diamond campaign by gunning down a runner trying, and failing, to steal second base, as the Wolves refused to go meekly into the stormy night.

While the loss brings a close to the season, Coupeville’s young guns can exit heads held high.

They went undefeated in Northwest 2B/1B League play, reclaimed their conference crown from Friday Harbor, and held their own against a tough non-league schedule.

Wins against Onalaska, Nooksack Valley, and Sultan were big, and a two-game sweep of next-door neighbor South Whidbey especially sweet.

And, as mentioned, EVERYONE on the roster can come back.

The “core four” — current juniors Farris, Brotemarkle, Jada Heaton, and McMillan — will be seniors next spring, while their younger teammates achieved success early and can continue to grow.

The pitching staff of Maynes, Armstrong, and Anter have four, three, and three seasons remaining respectively, a particular bright spot for one of Coupeville’s most-successful programs year-in, year-out.

Haylee Armstrong fires BB’s. (Claire Kalwies-Anderson photo)

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CHS diamond men punch (another) state ticket

Posted in Baseball, tagged , , , , , on May 11, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Johnny Porter and friends are headed to the state tourney for the second-straight season. (Parker Hammons photo)

As a head coach, Steve Hilborn only knows how to do one thing — take his team to the state tourney.

The Coupeville High School diamond guru made it two-for-two Saturday, guiding the Wolf baseball squad to a Bi-District title and a return trip to the big dance.

Last year, in Hilborn’s first year as head coach, CHS played two games at state, including capturing the program’s first win at the tourney since 1987.

This time around, fresh off a 12-2 drubbing of Friday Harbor at Lakewood High School, the Wolves will carry a seven-game winning streak with them when they hit the road.

It’s the first time CHS baseball has gone to state in back-to-back years since 1990-1991.

Loser-out first round games in the 12-team 2B state tourney go down this coming Tuesday, May 14.

Coupeville, now 11-8 on the season, will find out its foe and the location and start time Sunday when the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association seeds the field.

Run the win streak to eight and the Wolves advance to the state quarterfinals May 18.

Coupeville High School baseball coach Steve Hilborn (grey hoodie, far right) has taken the Wolves to state in both of his first two seasons. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

For the moment, however, the Wolves can bask in the glow of adding another plaque to the Wall of Fame in the CHS gym.

Saturday’s District 1/2 tourney was a three-team affair, with Friday Harbor, the #3 seed, eliminating #2 seed Northwest Christian (Lacey) 9-2 in the opener.

That sent the Wolverines into a winner-take-all affair with their Northwest 2B/1B League rivals, and, for a hot second, Coupeville got set back on its heels.

Friday Harbor scratched out a run in the top of the first, and another in the second, staking itself to a 2-0 lead.

CHS put two runners aboard in the bottom of the first, thanks to a Peyton Caveness single and Coop Cooper getting plunked by a pitch, but neither runner could make it home.

That problem got fixed in the second frame, when the Wolves made their move.

Jack Porter belted a one-out triple to center — the first of a pair of three-baggers on the day — before Wolf pitcher Seth Woollet rapped an RBI single to cut the deficit to 2-1.

Easton Green pinch-ran for his pitcher and promptly stole second, keeping the defense jittery.

Add in a walk to Landon Roberts, and then Coupeville struck, tying the game on a Chase Anderson RBI double to left, before taking the lead for good thanks to a sac fly from Cole White.

Friday Harbor escaped the inning before serious damage could be done, but the game was essentially over at that point.

Seth Woollet, scoring in an earlier game, came up big with his bat and arm Saturday. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Woollet had found his groove on the mound, retiring 11 of the last 12 hitters he faced, and once the Coupeville bats were awake, they got good and loud.

The Wolves busted the game open with an 11-batter, seven-run third inning, pushing the lead all the way out to 10-2 thanks to four hits, two walks, and a pair of Friday Harbor errors.

At one point six straight CHS batters reached base, with Camden Glover and Jack Porter connecting on back-to-back extra-base hits to fuel the fire.

Glover doubled, while Porter tripled, with balls erupting off of bats and sailing off into the wild blue yonder, coming back down to Earth way out in centerfield.

Another sac fly from the precision-minded White made life even sweeter, while two runs came flying in when Friday Harbor botched a ball hit by Cooper.

Coupeville took a brief hiatus from scoring in the fourth, before ending the game early with two more runs in the fifth, invoking the 10-run mercy rule.

Four batters, four hits, with Anderson, White, Caveness, and Cooper rapping base knocks, and the deed was done.

Now, it’s time to wait for the WIAA to decide Coupeville’s next foe, and then a team which has stormed back from a 4-8 start to the season will play on, chasing that state glory.

 

Saturday stats:

Chase Anderson — One double, one single, one walk
Peyton Caveness — Two singles
Coop Cooper — One single, one walk
Camden Glover — One double
Jack Porter — Two triples
Johnny Porter — One single
Landon Roberts — Two walks
Cole White — One single
Seth Woollet — Two singles, one walk

Your District 1/2 champs. (Photo courtesy Jeff Porter)

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District tourney finale moves to La Conner

Posted in Basketball, tagged , , , , , on February 16, 2024| Leave a Comment »

“We hate to see you go, but we love to watch you walk away!” (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Coupeville’s support crew gets an early weekend.

The final two games of the District 1/2 basketball tournament — neither of which features a Wolf team — have been moved from the CHS gym to La Conner High School.

The change was made “to accommodate Auburn Adventist’s religious requirements, as well as the limitation of the Friday Harbor ferry options,” said tourney director Willie Smith.

With the change in locale, La Conner will provide its people to handle scorebooks, locker rooms, and such.

The games, which are loser-out, winner-to-state affairs Saturday night, feature the Auburn Adventist Academy girls “hosting” Friday Harbor at 6:00 PM, followed by the La Conner boys hosting AAA at 7:45.

The Coupeville boys and La Conner girls, having won Bi-District title games earlier in the week, have already clinched their tickets to the state tourney.

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