Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Boys Basketball’

Downes 11 points away from joining exclusive club

Posted in Basketball, tagged , , , , on January 3, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Logan Downes eyeballs history. (Andrew Williams photo)

We are all witnesses.

As 2024 begins to play out, Coupeville High School is deep into its 107th season of boys’ basketball and its 50th campaign for the girls.

My detective work has unearthed 658 Wolves — 414 boys and 244 girls — who have scored at least one point in a varsity hoops game.

Now, the real number is certainly higher, as the reality is there are many male players from early decades, such as the 1920’s and 1930’s, whose point totals are lost to history (and discarded score sheets).

On the girl’s side of things, other than having absolutely no stats from season #1 in 1974, we’re sitting much better.

But the reality is, with a much slower pace of play back in the (really) old school days, no one from Altus Custer or Banky Fisher’s eras would have amassed enough points to scale the school’s career scoring chart.

There is one intriguing outlier in the form of Tom Sahli, the only Coupeville grad to go on to face hoops immortal Elgin Baylor on the hardwood.

He rattled the rims for 719 points across his junior and senior seasons at CHS, but we’re missing his sophomore year (1951-1952), so may never know if he cracked the 1,000-point club.

But we do know that there are nine Wolves — five boys and four girls — who made it to four digits during their time repping the red and black (or red and white in an earlier time).

That list:

Brianne King — (1549) — (1999-2003)
Zenovia Barron — (1270) — (1994-1998)
Makana Stone — (1158) — (2012-2016)
Jeff Stone — (1137) — (1967-1970)
Mike Bagby — (1137) — (2002-2006)
Randy Keefe — (1088) — (1973-1976)
Megan Smith — (1042) — (2006-2010)
Mike Criscuola — (1031) — (1956-1960)
Jeff Rhubottom — (1012) — (1975-1978)

And we do know current CHS senior Logan Downes is just 11 points away from making it a 10-person club.

Angie and Ralph’s youngest son has torched the nets for 211 points across Coupeville’s first nine games this season, averaging 23.4 a night, so the chances the milestone moment arrives this Friday in Darrington are high.

If not, the Wolves welcome Auburn Adventist Academy to Cow Town this coming Monday, Jan. 8 in their next game.

Now, nothing is guaranteed, and not every player gets to the round numbers, no matter how talented.

Jason Bagby, a terror on the floor, finished with 499, a rimmed-out free throw shy of 500.

Amanda Fabrizi, one of the more deadly shooters in school history, finished with 299. A ref gives her credit for a three-ball on a shot where her toe touched the line and it’s 3-0-0.

Even those who reach the round numbers often get shorted.

Hawthorne Wolfe dropped in a three-ball at the state tourney on the final shot of his prep career, giving him exactly 800 points.

But a pandemic cost him a season’s worth of games across two seasons and kept him from making a run at the CHS boys’ career scoring record of 1,137 points.

So now here comes Logan Downes, who played alongside Wolfe for two seasons, making his own bid for hoops immortality.

Remember those earlier numbers.

There are 658 Wolves who we know have scored in a varsity game, and Downes would be just the 10th to top 1,000 points.

In doing so he would push the percentage of CHS players to achieve said feat to … 0.0151975683890578.

That’s historical and that’s absolutely worth celebrating.

Read Full Post »

WIAA ranks seemingly non-existent boys’ hoops team #1

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , on January 3, 2024| Leave a Comment »

You too can be the #1 ranked team in the land, without actually playing the games.

When the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association releases its RPI rankings, it wants us to take them seriously.

And they do have an impact on more than just starting arguments.

When the state playoffs roll around, the RPI rankings are one of the things taken into consideration when teams are seeded for the big dance.

Playing deep on the road as a lower seed or getting to travel just down the street as a top-level seed, matters.

Just ask Coupeville High School boys’ basketball, which, two years ago, qualified for state while boasting a 16-0 mark, yet was sent 214 miles away to Battle Ground, while Kalama traveled just 25 for the state tourney opener.

RPI ranking likely dinged the Wolves, who still showed up and showed out, pushing the defending state champs to the final seconds in a five-point loss.

Jump forward to 2024, and CHS, which is 7-2 on the current season, sits #10 in the WIAA’s RPI rankings for 2B teams as of Wednesday morning.

Like it? Sure.

Trust it? Eh…

That’s because on the same day, the RPI currently has a boys’ basketball team ranked #1 in 1B which doesn’t seem to actually exist.

At least not this season.

For pushing three weeks now, the WIAA has listed Pacific Christian Academy, a small private school out of Federal Way, as being a perfect 1-0, boasting a 79-65 win on Dec. 15 over South Eugene High School.

A victory the Eagles never collected, as a little research shows that the team bringing home the W that night was actually Pacifica Christian/Orange County out of Newport Beach, California.

That squad is 10-8.

So, someone got two schools with similar names mixed up. Easy to do.

We’ll just go check and see how our Pacific Christian team, the one located in Washington state, is doing and … they don’t seem to have an active team this year.

At all.

The Eagles have a girls’ basketball team listed, with a three-game schedule, but that team hasn’t played a contest yet.

The boys’ hoops program? Not listed at all on the school’s website when you click through on the link offered by the WIAA.

There’s volleyball, girls’ basketball, and boys and girls track and field and that’s it.

Now, Pacific Christian (the one here in Washington) is a small school, academically strong, and likely doing its best to create opportunities for its student/athletes. No disrespect meant to the Eagles.

But the bigger question remains — how keenly is the WIAA monitoring its own rankings when it lets stuff like this linger for three weeks?

While most 1B boys’ basketball teams have played between 8-10 games, only two of 76 — Pacific Christian Academy and Chief Kitsap Academy — are listed with just one result.

CKA lost that game, legitimately it appears, 59-28 to Crosspoint, and is ranked dead last in the RPI.

Did no one think to question why #2 ranked Cusick sits at 8-0 and #3 Lummi Nation at 8-1, while the supposed top dogs sat quiet?

Was no one going to notice this until the state seeding committee sat down in February to do its business, and then, after a lot of back-patting and grazing through the fancy sandwiches provided to fuel all the hard work, suddenly noticed a fly in the ointment?

“Um, guys, gals, where is our #1 team? It didn’t qualify for state?? What do you mean it doesn’t exist???”

So, WIAA bigwigs, maybe step away from the cucumber sandwiches and get back to your number-crunching.

Because for now, it sure sounds like teams such as Coupeville could improve their RPI rankings by simply not playing any games.

And where’s the fun in that?

 

UPDATE: Three weeks with a sham #1, but two hours after this article hit the internet, Cusick — a real team playing real games — has been elevated to the top of the 1B rankings, where it always belonged.

Read Full Post »

Our computer overlords can’t agree

Posted in Basketball, tagged , , , , on January 2, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville High School Principal Geoff Kappes anxiously awaits the next round of computerized basketball rankings. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

I trust the baby more than the bureaucrats.

As we head into the new year, the Coupeville High School boys’ basketball team sits at a spiffy 7-2, with its losses coming against always-tough non-conference foes Toledo and Kittitas.

But different computers view the Wolves in different ways.

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, whose wheezing ‘n huffing computer recently had a team ranked #1 with a 1-0 record for a win it didn’t actually own, puts Brad Sherman’s squad at #11 among 2B schools.

Evans Rankings, however, is the gold standard for numbers crunchers in the state — especially now that the heir to the throne, wee whippersnapper Carter, has arrived to keep an eagle eye on things — and it places the Wolves at #9.

Both sites have undefeated Lake Roosevelt atop the standings at the moment.

Read Full Post »

Attack as a team, reignite the dream

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , on December 22, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Wolf ace Logan Downes is escorted to the bus by his security detail. “No autographs! I said Mr. Downes will NOT be signing autographs today!!” (Angie Downes photo)

Simmer down, Beavis.

Less than a day after seeing things go sideways against Kittitas, the Coupeville High School varsity boys’ basketball team reasserted itself as a hoops squad with strong postseason potential.

Returning to the floor at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, the Wolves put on a cold-blooded beatdown, thumping Cle Elum-Rosalyn 58-32 Friday morning.

This time, Coupeville’s shots stayed in the bucket, instead of bouncing out, and their defensive closeouts were superb.

With a season-high 14 players hitting the hardwood, and 10 of them scoring, the Wolves ran the Warriors off the court and now head into the Christmas break boasting a 7-2 record.

Brad Sherman’s squad, which handed their coach his 60th win at the helm of the Wolf program, doesn’t play again until Jan. 5.

That will be a road game at Darrington as Coupeville opens the chase for a Northwest 2B/1B League title.

The new year will also offer Logan Downes a chance to make history, as the senior is just 11 points away from becoming the sixth Wolf boy, and tenth CHS hoops star overall, to crack 1,000 points.

With 989 and counting, Angie and Ralph’s youngest trails just Jeff Rhubottom (1012), Mike Criscuola (1031), Randy Keefe (1088), Mike Bagby (1137), and Jeff Stone (1137) on the Coupeville career chart.

Downes fellow senior, point guard Cole White (284), is also chasing legends, needing just 10 points to crack the all-time top 100, a club where dad Greg (604) sits at #33.

One Wolf got an early start on the milestones, as Ryan Blouin used the final game of 2023 as the setting for scoring his 100th career point.

Alita’s lil’ brother, a noted three-ball terror, is the 196th Wolf boy to score triple digits in the 107-year history of CHS hoops.

Did hoops whisperer Randy Bottorff make it on the bus to come back to Whidbey? Someone go check this time! (Angie Downes photo)

Friday’s dismantling of Cle Elum was methodical, with Coupeville’s ballhawks attacking viciously on defense, getting out quickly on the break, and sharing the ball as the Warriors tried to keep up with each new incoming dagger.

The game was briefly tied at 2-2, but the Warriors never led, and the Wolves made sure their foes would spend much of the game stumbling backwards as bodies flew by them.

Downes slashed inside for a bucket off of a give-and-go, then rifled a three-ball through the net, the ball arcing like a rainbow, before splashing home.

Toss in an end-to-end run by the lanky White, and another three-ball — this one off the fingertips of sophomore Chase Anderson — and CHS was out to a 12-4 lead before Cle Elum’s fans could even begin to complain about the refs.

From there the Wolves pushed the advantage to 20-8 at the first break, with the Battlin’ Bronec Brothers, Hurlee and Hunter, winning their clash with Cle Elum’s imposing, but slow, center.

Perhaps the twins have a secret history of ballet, or perhaps they were just born with fast-moving toes.

Either way, the Bronecs, with some help from Zane Oldenstadt and William Davidson as the game progressed, shut the paint down and kept it shut down.

The scoring slowed a bit in the second quarter, but Coupeville suffered no letdowns, outscoring Cle Elum in every frame.

Anderson and Downes combined for all nine of their team’s points in the second, with the Wolves going up by as many as 17, then coasting in at the half with a 29-15 lead.

Showcasing his versatility, Downes, who was playing through a hurt hand, opened the third by launching a pair of full court passes to teammates who were off to the races.

“Someone get my security guy! This dude is touching my basketball.” (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

“Man, they get out fast!” was the muttered response of one chattery Cle Elum fan as White and Anderson pulled down the airborne missiles and slapped home layups.

Meanwhile, one of Brad Sherman’s young sons, rockin’ a vintage Cole White jersey from the “olden” days, excitedly bounced in his seat while eyeballing rival fans.

“He got you today! I’ll be back in a decade or so to make you cry again!!!”

Coupeville kept up its intensity, not allowing the Warriors to shave the lead down like Kittitas did a night earlier, while peppering the net with shot after shot, most of them successful.

Blouin netted a long three-ball, Nick Guay slid a silky jumper through the twines, and White converted another breakaway, this time on a pass from Anderson.

It was pick your poison time for Cle Elum, and every dose was fatal.

Up 45-22 after three, the Wolves never let the lead drop below 21 points, while getting floor time for everyone in uniform.

That included the varsity debut of Landon Roberts, the second appearance with the top team for Aiden O’Neill, and Mikey Robinett’s first bucket of the season.

That basket came off of an offensive rebound, as the Wolf senior outwrestled two Warriors in a wild free-for-all as the clock roared down to 0:00.

It capped the most-balanced offensive attack of the season, with Anderson popping for a season-best 17 points to earn top honors.

Downes tossed in 16, White rippled the nets for six, and Blouin got the scorekeeper to write a five next to his name in the book.

Hurlee Bronec (4), Quinten Simpson-Pilgrim (2), Robinett (2), Hunter Bronec (2), Oldenstadt (2), and Guay (2) also scored, with Davidson, O’Neill, Roberts, and Timothy Nitta earning floor time.

Read Full Post »

Stellar start, foul finale

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , on December 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Chase Anderson cracked the 100-point club Thursday in Ellensburg. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

This was a nasty plot twist.

More along the lines of The Village than say, The Usual Suspects or Psycho.

The reveals at the end of those latter two classic films add to the power of what came before, while the answer to the mystery in M. Night Shyamalan’s 2004 fart-fest rightfully earned more grimaces than standing ovations.

And, while we’re here to talk basketball and not films, the end result of the Coupeville High School varsity boys’ game against Kittitas Thursday was its own straight-up flop.

The Wolves hit the floor at Central Washington University boasting a stellar 6-1 record, with their foes coming in at 1-6.

Cue the romp, as Coupeville roared out to a 15-0 lead … then gave it all back and more.

Despite holding the Coyotes scoreless for six-plus minutes to open the game, the Wolves eventually lost 63-54.

The best news? The Wolves turn around immediately and play Cle Elum-Roslyn Friday morning at 11:00 AM.

Short memories. Rain down revenge. All that jazz.

Of course, to do so, the Wolves will need to get back their shot-making ability, which all but deserted them over the game’s final 12 minutes.

Even having had its lead chipped away at, Coupeville was still up 33-25 midway through the third quarter.

Hunter Bronec had just scored on a superb give-and-go play, coming on the heels of buckets from Ryan Blouin and Logan Downes, and the Wolves, while cracking, weren’t breaking.

Then they rolled snake eyes.

Kittitas, mixing three-balls from the corners with deadly precision on its mid-range jumpers, closed the third quarter on an 18-2 tear that changed the entire flow of the game.

From eight up to eight down, and everything was spinning for the Wolves.

It didn’t get much better from there, as the Coyotes had a counter for everything Coupeville did in the final frame.

CHS got the deficit back down to four points at 58-54, after Cole White ripped a ball loose in the backcourt and fed Nick Guay for a bucket, but Kittitas hit five of six at the free throw line to seal the improbable win.

It was a stinky end to a game which started with so much potential.

Ryan Blouin buried a three-ball from the top of the arc to open things, and the Wolves couldn’t be stopped in the early going.

All five Coupeville starters recorded a bucket in the opening frame, with many of them set up by steals or blocked shots.

Hunter Bronec owned the paint, rejecting three shots — two on the same possession — while Blouin and Downes ripped off sparkling set-up passes to teammates running untouched and unruffled by too-slow Kittitas defenders.

The Coyotes finally scored at the 1:44 mark of the first quarter, on a three-point play the hard way, then got a huge chunk of their future points via three-balls.

Coupeville didn’t hit another trey after Blouin’s game opener, while Kittitas rang up eight daggers across the rest of the evening.

Downes paced the Wolves with a team-high 17, but was poked, prodded, kneed, and elbowed every time he came close to touching the ball.

His primary support came from White, who poured in 14, and Hunter Bronec, who slapped home eight points.

Chase Anderson (6), Blouin (5), William Davidson (2), and Guay (2) also scored, with Zane Oldenstadt, Timothy Nitta, Quinten Simpson-Pilgrim, and Hurlee Bronec also seeing floor time.

Not to be lost in the moment, Anderson achieved a personal milestone, joining the 100-point club with a fourth-quarter jumper.

The Wolf sophomore heads into Friday’s game with Cle Elum with 101 points and counting for his varsity career.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »