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Wolves invade Seattle, bring home a win

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , , on November 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Whether shooting three-balls or eating burgers, Ryan Blouin is all business. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Sammy Hagar couldn’t drive 55, but Brad Sherman can win 55.

The former Van Halen lead man had a problem with the speed limit, while the Coupeville High School varsity boys’ basketball coach kept his squad humming along Wednesday night.

Taking control early in Seattle, and never relenting during a physical, chippy battle with The Bush School, the Wolves wrapped up a 42-35 victory.

The non-conference win, its second straight against a 1A school, lifts CHS to 2-0 on the season and hands Sherman his 55th career win.

Now, the prairie roundball sage gets to come home, for a moment at least, to lead his team into battle with Toledo Saturday.

The Riverhawks (1-0) will be playing back-to-back games on an Island-hopping adventure, visiting Friday Harbor a day before arriving in Cow Town for a 4:45 tip.

The Wolves stayed undefeated Wednesday by playing stellar defense, sharing the ball on offense, and not spending all night complaining to the refs like the fairly whiny Blazers.

Maybe they just make ’em tougher in Coupeville.

That was shown early, as Wolf big man William Davidson, who got banged up in warmups, had the coaches slap some tape on there, then told his mentors to go and sit down, cause “Big Sexy” needed to go to work.

Corralling a rebound while fending off three players — one for each arm, and his leg aimed at someone else’s fanny — the prairie legend went right back up for a bucket to tie the game at 2-2.

While Ryan Blouin put the Wolves ahead for good by draining a gorgeous three-ball shortly thereafter, Bush went all soft (and whiny) as soon as Davidson flexed.

Once up, Coupeville took it right at the Blazers, with Logan Downes ripping the ball away and hurtling downcourt for layups on back-to-back plays.

The Wolves were savages on defense, drawing three charging fouls in the first quarter alone and picking off enough passes to make Gary Payton proud.

2-0 and lookin’ for more.

Coupeville’s superior toughness continued to shine brightly in the second quarter, as Cole White got smacked in the face, potentially drawing blood while the three refs combined to call zero fouls on the play.

Shrugging if off, the lanky one left the court for a brief second, then came flying back into battle, a glint of danger in his eyes.

CHS pushed the lead out to 18-4, with Blouin netting a trio of three-balls in the first half, before Bush made its one comeback push.

The hosts missed a ton of shots from close range, skipped a bunch of free throws off the rim, but somehow got hot from behind the three-point line.

That helped Bush close the gap to 21-18 at the half, but there was no break in Coupeville’s swagger.

White drilled his own three-ball to open the third quarter, with Nick Guay sucking in the defense, then alertly kicking the ball out to his fellow senior for the open shot.

From there the Wolves kept the lead around 10 the rest of the game, with the Battlin’ Bronec Brothers (Hunter and Hurlee) crashing the boards and White winning a wild battle for control of the ball while sprawled on the floor.

Up 32-23 heading into the fourth, Coupeville got a game-icing three ball from Downes late, while White rampaged from one side of the court to the other, netting three buckets in the final minutes.

The Wolves put three players in double digits, with Downes (14), Blouin (11), and White (11) combining to score 36 of Coupeville’s 42 points.

Guay chipped in with three, Davidson had his highlight reel bucket, and Hunter Bronec made sweet music while dropping a free throw through the net.

For the second straight game, Downes moves up another rung on the CHS career scoring chart.

His 14 points gives him 823 and pushes him past ’70s legend Corey Cross (811) for 13th on a list which began in 1917.

White also hits a numerical sweet spot, reaching 222 and counting for his run on the hardwood.

Sherman put nine players on the floor in Seattle, with Quinten Simpson-Pilgrim, Hurlee Bronec, and Aiden O’Neill also earning minutes.

It was the varsity basketball debut for O’Neill, who has already earned two letters on the gridiron.

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Wolf JV bashes Bush

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , on November 29, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Davin Houston (left) and Aiden O’Neill (center) had big games Wednesday in Seattle. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

It was close for a hot second.

OK, maybe two seconds.

And then the Coupeville High School JV boys’ basketball squad flipped a switch, lit the jets, and ran their hosts off the floor while playing Wednesday night at The Bush School in Seattle.

For one brief moment, the Wolves trailed 6-5 in the early going, and then, wham, bam, go put some ice on your dome, as CHS romped to a 54-20 victory.

The non-conference win, coming against a 1A foe, lifts Coupeville’s JV to 1-1 on the season.

The Wolf young guns will largely be fans this Saturday when their varsity counterparts host Toledo — though a couple of guys will swing up to join the #1 team — not returning to action as a team until Dec. 9, when they travel to Sultan.

Thanks to Toledo not having a second unit, new JV coaches Craig Anderson and Jon Roberts will coach their first five games on the road.

Which just gives them, and their team, a chance to use the out of town run to get everything in sync before they make their home debut.

Wednesday night the Wolves struck first, with Aiden O’Neill going coast to coast to get the scoreboard up and going, before Bush crawled back into the game.

The host Blazers only held the advantage for about the length of time needed for Coupeville to bring the ball up court once, however.

Jack Porter pulled off a three-point play the hard way, banging his way inside for a bucket and free throw, and the Wolves were off to the races.

Up 11-6 at the first break, CHS poured it on in the second frame, stretching its advantage out to 27-10 by the half.

O’Neill was a fireball, picking off passes, careening in for buckets, and teaming up with Landon Roberts to pile up a ton of assists.

If Bush had any grand plans to mount a comeback, those plans died on the white board.

Jack and Johnny Porter were twin terrors on the boards in the third quarter, while Camden Glover pounded the ball down low.

The best scoring play may have come when freshman Davin Houston made off with a steal and hit Roberts in stride for the breakaway bucket.

The fourth quarter was nothing but good times, as Coupeville romped to a 14-0 run across the final eight minutes.

Capping things off was a three-ball from O’Neill, the ball launching from the parking lot and splashing home for an emphatic exclamation point to the game.

For their part, Coupeville’s coaching duo, who moved up from the middle school program to helm the JV, celebrated their first high school win with a couple small nods to each other.

“We got off to a good start, played tough D, and shared the ball as allowed,” Jon Roberts said.

“Got some playing time in with a few who didn’t get much or any at Mt Baker. Good win for the squad.”

Jack Porter paced the Wolves with a game-high 14 points, while Johnny Porter threw down 11 in support.

O’Neill (9), Jayden McManus (6), Houston (6), Glover (4), Roberts (2), and Riley Lawless (2) joined the offensive attack, with Sage Arends also seeing floor time.

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Tough foe, feisty response

Posted in Boys Basketball, Middle School, tagged , , , , , on November 28, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Diesel Eck lets a free throw fly. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Learn, live, move on to the next challenge.

Facing off with one of the better hoops’ programs in the Cascade League Tuesday, the Coupeville Middle School boys’ basketball teams spent much of the afternoon playing catch-up.

And while the Wolves couldn’t beat visiting Northshore Christian Academy, they did find some strong moments to build upon.

How the day played out:

 

Level 1:

NSC dominated play in the early going, before Coupeville showed improvement once the running clock kicked in during a 41-9 loss.

The visitors spent much of the first half slashing inside for easy buckets, building a 30-0 lead to start things.

Coupeville finally got on the board when Nick Laska elevated and drained a three-ball on the final scoring play of the half.

Immediately afterward, teammate Kamden Ratcliff pulled off the defensive play of the game, winning a battle on the floor for a ball.

In doing so, he took the NSC player to the floor, hard, went up and over him while still holding onto the ball, and showcased some major grit which bodes well for the future.

While the clock madly ticked away after the break, Coupeville held its own in the third quarter, with Carson Grove muscling his way in for back-to-back buckets and Laska turning an offensive rebound into a basket.

For the game, Laska finished with five points, while Grove popped for four.

Calvin Kappes, Ratcliff, Chayse Van Velkinburgh, Khanor Jump, Jackson Sollars, Nathan Niewald, and Liam Lawson also saw action for Alex Evans’ crew.

 

Lincoln Wagner elevates on defense.

 

Level 2:

The sequel played out a lot like the first game, with Coupeville falling behind big early, showing some solid fight in the latter stages, and losing 40-12.

Khanor Jump was the lone Wolf to score through the first three quarters, racking up eight points on a pair of buckets where he rolled hard to the hoop, and a handful of free throws.

He also rejected an NSC shot, while Treyshawn Stewart picked up a block of his own, but in a much louder way.

Losing control of the ball, he chased down the would-be thief, went airborne, and spiked the kid’s shot attempt off the back wall.

It was a thing of raw beauty, danger and anger mixed together, and proof Stewart has as much promise as any player currently wearing a CMS uniform.

Diesel Eck slipped a free throw through the net early in the fourth quarter to break Jump’s streak of scoring all of Coupeville’s points, before Stewart resurfaced.

Launching a three-ball from deep, he made the net sing a sweet song, his trey hitting pay dirt and causing the Wolf fans to scream loudly.

Though, to be honest, the middle school girls in attendance were plenty loud all game long, upholding a proud tradition of CMS hoops fans peeling the paint off the gym walls with their vocal renditions.

In addition to the three Wolves who scored, Jayden Little, River Simpson, Trent Thule, Jonah Weyl, Aiden Wheat, Johnathan Jacobsen, Xander Beaman, Maverick Walling, Lincoln Wagner, Deacon Frost, Jacob Lujan, and Mario Martinez also saw floor time.

 

Wolf ace Aiden Wheat keeps a watchful eye on the pesky paparazzi.

 

Level 3:

NSC is the only school in the league to field just two teams, and not three, preventing Wolf fans from sitting on the rock-hard CMS bleachers for another hour.

Call it a win for our fannies.

 

Up next:

Coupeville hosts Sultan Thursday, with tipoff at 3:15 PM.

Level 3 plays first, followed by Level 2, with Level 1 capping things.

After that, the Wolves travel to South Whidbey Dec. 4, host that same foe Dec. 11, then travel to Lakewood Dec. 13 for the finale.

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Frantic finish, welcome win

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , , on November 28, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Wolf seniors Quinten Simpson-Pilgrim (left) and Cole White are cold-blooded killers on the hardwood. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

They keep this up, they’re going to turn their coach’s beard white.

We’re only one game into a new season, and already the Coupeville High School varsity boys’ basketball squad has a thriller and a chiller in the book.

Good thing is it turned out alright in the end, as the Wolves frittered away a 14-point lead late at Mount Baker Monday but came up with a series of huge gut-check plays in the waning moments to snatch back a 58-52 win.

Now someone go and check on Brad Sherman’s stubble before CHS gets back on the bus Wednesday to go play The Bush School in Seattle.

Monday’s rumble was controlled by Coupeville most of the way, before things got frantic late.

Down by 14 early in the second half, and still trailing by 10 in the fourth quarter, Mount Baker went on an 11-0 run to claim the lead at 50-49 with a fraction over three minutes to play.

That gave the Mountaineers their first advantage since way back at 10-9 and could have fractured the Wolves.

Except a team which features nine seniors, several of whom won a league title and went to state as sophomores, seems to be pretty battle-tested and not prone to flinching.

Instead, Coupeville responded with a three-minute master class in being the kind of closers Alec Baldwin loved in Glengarry Glen Ross.

While that’s probably not a movie reference many of the current Wolves will get, we can keep it simple and say it means this — be a killer.

And Sherman’s hoops assassins were.

Quinten Simpson-Pilgrim came off the bench, literally pushed onto the floor by his coach, and immediately hauled down a key rebound in the middle of a scrum.

Cole White, the wiry guard who has a huge Facebook following thanks to mom Morgan’s live broadcasts, made off with a steal and drew a HUGE foul on his foe, nimbly crashing hard to the floor while absorbing pain to get the call on an offensive charge.

And then there was Nick Guay, who hadn’t scored, drilling the bottom of the net out on a three-ball from the left corner to immediately put Coupeville back in front at 52-50.

Mount Baker slid one more layup through the net to knot things up, before the Wolves iced them the rest of the way.

Logan Downes went coast to coast for a swooping layup to stake his squad to a lead it wouldn’t relinquish, before Downes and White closed out the game at the line.

The Mountaineers had two charity shots of their own in the waning seconds but loudly clanged both of them off the rim to the delight of the Wolf fan section, which was much more vocal than the locals.

White opened the game, and the season, with a pullup jumper off a pass from William Davidson, then Downes and running mate Ryan Blouin traded buckets as Coupeville surged to a 20-12 lead at the first break.

Blouin was calm, composed, and a weapon of mass destruction.

He fired up a trio of three-balls in the first quarter, and netted all three, with the net barely rippling as each dagger sank through with a happy little sigh.

For his part, Downes worked his magic at the free throw line, accounting for five of his nine points while everyone else was standing still.

Once he got going, he was hard to stop, raining down 13 of Coupeville’s 15 points in the second quarter as the Wolves stretched their lead to 35-23.

Downes banged home his own trio of treys in the second frame, with the third one giving him exactly 800 career points, tying him with noted three-ball terror Hawthorne Wolfe.

The lone second quarter bucket not to come off of Downes fingertips came from Hunter Bronec, who banked in a layup off of a lob from Downes.

White was already busy on the defensive end, drawing an offensive charge to blunt a Baker fastbreak, while Zane Oldenstadt picked the pocket of a fellow big man for a crucial steal.

Coupeville looked like it would send the game into blowout territory after Davidson, channeling Hakeem Olajuwon for one play, snared a rebound and flipped the ball back up and in to kick off the second half.

Up 37-23, the Wolves were cruising in the yacht, only to hit some unexpected, choppy waters,

Mount Baker popped a pair of three-balls, turned up the heat a bit and closed back within four points late in the third quarter.

Well, actually within two, only to have the officials wave off a field goal due to offensive goaltending.

While the Mountaineers weren’t happy to lose the bucket, they barely complained, knowing and accepting that the botched play was so obvious even a pack of high school refs could see it.

White and Downes closed the third with a pair of free throws apiece, packaged around a steal from Simpson-Pilgrim, to push the lead out to 47-39.

A turnaround jumper from White to open the fourth put the lead back into double-digits, and you know where it goes from there.

Downes finished with a game-high 31 points, eventually passing Wolfe to move into 14th on the CHS boys’ basketball career scoring list.

With 809 and counting, he heads to Seattle just a bucket away from tying ’70s star Corey Cross (811) for 13th, with Hunter Smith (847) and Bill Jarrell (855) next up on the list after that.

White rippled the nets for 11 Monday, with Blouin (9), Guay (3), Davidson (2), and Bronec (2) rounding out the offensive attack.

Oldenstadt, Simpson-Pilgrim, and Hurlee Bronec also saw floor time, with Mikey Robinett, Timothy Nitta and Chase Anderson providing vocal support from the bench.

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JV boys rally late, fall just short

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , on November 27, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Camden Glover was unstoppable in the fourth quarter Monday night. (Jackie Saia photo)

Two more minutes, and it’s a different result.

Riding a torrid fourth quarter performance from sophomore sensation Camden Glover, the Coupeville High School JV boys’ basketball squad almost pulled out a road win against a tough foe in Monday’s season opener.

But the clock was merciless, and host Mount Baker held on to escape with a 45-41 non-conference victory.

The Wolves started strong, and finished even stronger, but were tripped up by a third quarter which saw them outscored 19-8.

That turned an 18-16 halftime advantage into a 35-26 deficit heading into the final frame, and it ultimately proved to be just a little too much for CHS to overcome.

Not that Glover didn’t try, pouring in 13 of his team-high 14 points over the game’s final eight minutes, including singing the nets on a pair of three-balls.

Coupeville spread its offense out in the first quarter, getting scoring from six different players to take a 14-13 lead into the first break.

Aiden O’Neill paced the Wolves with four points in the early going, but everyone was clicking.

After combining to score 27 points in the first frame, the two teams went into a defensive struggle in the second quarter, with CHS eking out a 4-3 advantage.

For the game, six of the seven Wolves to see the floor scratched their names in the scoring column, led by Glover’s 14.

Landon Roberts peppered the nets for eight, with O’Neill and Jack Porter both knocking down six points apiece.

Johnny Porter added four, while Riley Lawless banked in three, and Davin Houston came off the bench to provide an energy boost for the Wolves.

Coupeville’s JV returns to action Wednesday, when it travels to Seattle to face The Bush School.

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