A dapper Landon Roberts hangs out with the woman who taught him how to play the game, mom Sherry.
“Incredibly proud of this group of guys.”
Former Wolf hoops legend Hunter Smith capped his run as Coupeville High School JV boys’ basketball coach by guiding his squad to a seventh-straight victory.
Using a 15-0 fourth quarter run to seal the deal on a 46-26 win over visiting Friday Harbor, the Wolves get to 8-3 on the season.
While Coupeville’s young guns still have three games left on their schedule, Smith, a 2018 CHS grad in his third season working the sideline, is heading off to start fire academy.
Jon Roberts and Craig Anderson will step in to take his place for the final two weeks of the campaign.
Hunter Smith (with clipboard) spreads hoops wisdom. (Sherry Bonacci photo)
Playing a final time for the dude who scored 847 varsity points during his own CHS school days, the Wolves jumped out to a quick 13-4 lead at the first break Friday.
Five different Coupeville players scored in the opening frame, with Landon Roberts rippling the net on a three-ball.
Friday Harbor proved resilient, though, cutting the deficit down to 23-20 at the half, and were still hanging around at 31-26 heading into the fourth.
That was when Smith unleashed his pack, which swarmed the Wolverines, not allowing them to score a single point in the fourth quarter.
Malachi Somes splashed home a pair of three-balls in the final frame, with Hunter Bronec adding five points, and Coupeville closed the night on a rampage.
Eight Wolves scored, with Somes topping the chart with 10 points.
He had plenty of help, with Hurlee Bronec (8), Hunter Bronec (7), Jack Porter (6), Roberts (5), AidenO’Neill (5), Johnny Porter (3), and Camden Glover (2) also scoring.
Yohannon Sandles and Carson Field rounded out the Wolf roster, with everyone on the floor bringing the heat.
Jermiah Copeland looks for an open man. (Chloe Marzocca photo)
They bounced back in a big way.
Coming off a tough road loss at Mount Vernon Christian, the Coupeville High School varsity boys’ basketball team rebounded to drill host Concrete Tuesday.
Capping a four-game road trip, the Wolves won for the eighth time in their last 10 games, demolishing the Lions 75-22.
With 10 different players scoring, including sophomore Hunter Bronec tossing in his first varsity bucket, CHS gets to 3-2 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 10-6 overall.
Up next is a return home, for the first time in two weeks, and a rumble with Friday Harbor Jan. 27.
That Friday-night tilt has major playoff implications, as Coupeville tries to move a step closer to clinching District 1’s top seed for the bi-district tourney.
Two of three 2B schools from the NWL punch playoff tickets, with the games between the trio of teams the deciding factor.
Coupeville is 1-0 in that saucy round-robin dance, La Conner 1-1, and Friday Harbor 0-1 with the Wolves hosting the Braves Feb. 7, then traveling to Friday Harbor Feb. 10 for the regular season finale.
Tuesday’s battle in the town Leonardo Di Caprio and Robert De Niro made infamous in This Boy’s Life was a romp from start to finish, save for one brief spell in the first quarter.
Jumping out to a 9-0 lead, Coupeville didn’t let Concrete score until the 4:40 mark of the opening frame, only to see the Lions then slap home seven unanswered points.
If they were fazed, the Wolves didn’t show it, merely going right back to work.
Nick Guay stopped the brief bleeding with a layup off of a lob from Alex Murdy, then the Wolf junior came back around to cap a 13-2 run by firing a full court pass to a sprinting Murdy, who beat the buzzer by a step.
Up 22-9 at the first break, Coupeville continued to push its lead out, combining three-balls from Ryan Blouin and Logan Downes with hard-fought buckets in the paint courtesy Jonathan Valenzuela and Cole White.
The halftime advantage was 41-17, though it could have been bigger.
Guay bounded high, snagged an offensive board and drilled the put-back jumper at the buzzer, only to have hometown refs wave off his highlight reel play, claiming it left his fingers too late.
Not that Coupeville needed the extra bucket, as it broke Concrete’s spirit in the third quarter, rolling up a 27-0 advantage across eight frantic minutes.
Murdy was wheelin’ and dealin’, firing beautiful set-up passes to his teammates, with seven different Wolves tallying points in the frame.
Leading 68-17 headed into the fourth, Coupeville coach Brad Sherman, who had been liberally substituting all night, gave his support players a chance to own the quarter.
Hunter Bronec is in a hurry to get somewhere. (Chloe Marzocca photo)
Jermiah Copeland splashed home his first three-ball as a Wolf, banking the ball off the glass while doing so, while both Bronec brothers, Hunter and Hurlee, got extensive floor time.
With Coupeville’s starters playing limited minutes, the scoring sheet was super-balanced.
Downes led the way with a game-high 20, while Murdy banked in 14, and White snapped the net for 10.
Dominic Coffman (7), Valenzuela (7), Blouin (5), Copeland (5), Guay (3), Hunter Bronec (2), and Zane Oldenstadt (2) also scored, with William Davidson and Quinten Simpson-Pilgrim pounding the boards.
Cole White rained down jumpers Friday night. (Andrew Williams photo)
A bump in the road.
Friday night’s loss at Mount Vernon Christian stings, but it’s not fatal for the Coupeville High School varsity boys’ basketball team.
Facing a Hurricane team which seemed unable to miss all night, the Wolves fell 73-53, snapping a four-game winning streak.
For the moment, the loss drops Coupeville to 2-2 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 9-6 overall.
But the silver lining is MVC is a 1B school, and the Wolves rep a 2B program.
So, while the Hurricanes earned a split in the team’s two-game series, this is the last time the squads will play this season.
Coupeville, which won the first time the schools squared off, still controls its own playoff destiny, as only its games against fellow 2B rivals La Conner and Friday Harbor decide who makes it to the postseason.
With one matchup against the Braves, and two against the Wolverines still ahead on the schedule, the Wolves head to Concrete Tuesday to face a 3-11 Lions team.
For CHS coach Brad Sherman and his team, basketball offers the reprieve of not having to wait long for the next game.
A day off Sunday, a day of practice Monday, and then back to the hardwood.
Coupeville didn’t play all that badly against MVC, matching them with five three-balls and getting big performances from its role players.
Problem is, the Hurricanes just had one of those nights when everything they threw up in the air seemed to catch the rim just right.
Once the Wolves were trailing, they would slice a bit here, a bit there, only to see MVC deliver yet another dagger in front of its home fans.
With Cole White popping for a quick five points in the early going, Coupeville led 11-9 heading towards the first break.
Then the Hurricane(s) hit and hit hard.
Using a 6-0 run to claim a 15-11 lead at the first break, MVC stretched its advantage out to 36-24 by halftime.
The Hurricanes clamped down on Coupeville’s leading scorers, Logan Downes and Alex Murdy, but the Wolves got help from the bench.
Nick Guay tossed in three buckets during the second quarter, while Zane Oldenstadt, normally a defense-first big man, connected on back-to-back jumpers to give CHS a fighting chance.
Zane Oldenstadt (far right) played strongly on both ends of the floor against Mount Vernon Christian. (Delanie Lewis photo)
Coupeville got the lead down to seven at 45-38 late in the third quarter on a White pullup jumper, but the ‘Canes responded immediately.
Same thing in the final frame, as the Wolves cut a 12-point deficit to eight, only to have MVC go on an 8-0 run.
Another late Hurricane surge, this one 9-0, made the final score seem like more of a blowout than the game really was.
White paced the Wolves with a varsity career-high 15-point performance, while Guay tossed in 13, and Downes added 12.
Alex Murdy (7), Oldenstadt (4), and Dominic Coffman (2) also scored, with Jonathan Valenzuela, William Davidson, Chase Anderson, and Ryan Blouin seeing floor time.
Liam Millenaar led MVC with 23 points, with Billy DeJong knocking down 18 in support.
Coupeville senior Jonathan Valenzuela overcame an eye injury Wednesday, hitting a buzzer beater to upend La Conner on its home floor. (Morgan White photo)
Did he call glass?
For that matter, how clearly could he even see the glass?
Playing with his right eye partially closed off after an early game injury which twice sent him to the sidelines, Coupeville High School gunner Jonathan Valenzuela hit one of the biggest buckets in program history Wednesday night.
Hauling in a cross-court pass from freshman Chase Anderson, the Wolf senior banked in a buzzer-beating three-ball from WAY behind the arc, lifting the Wolves to a stunning 57-56 win over host La Conner.
The shot capped a wild game which featured two Coupeville starters fouling out, the Braves clanging 16 free throws, and massive mood swings.
The fourth-straight win for the Wolves, and seventh in their last eight games, it lifts CHS to 2-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 9-5 overall.
It also keeps Coupeville’s record perfect against fellow 2B schools at 4-0, and flawless in games played off of Whidbey Island, with Brad Sherman’s squad 6-0 when away from the misty isle.
The victory could also have huge repercussions on playoff seeding, with two of three 2B schools in the NWL making the playoffs, and the top seed from that trio hosting its opening bi-district game.
Wednesday’s win leaves Coupeville at 1-0 in the three-team tango, with a home rematch against La Conner Feb. 7 and two bouts with Friday Harbor still ahead.
The Wolverines, struggling at 1-10 on the season, visit Whidbey Jan. 27, then host Coupeville Feb. 10 in the regular-season finale.
La Conner beat Friday Harbor in their first meeting, so the Braves are 1-1 in the seeding chase, with the Wolverines at 0-1.
Those teams play a second time Feb. 3.
For now, thanks to Anderson and Valenzuela’s magic, and a lot of small hustle plays which loomed large in a titanic rumble, Coupeville controls its own destiny.
To get to that point, the Wolves had to overcome the loss of sparkplug Dominic Coffman and leading scorer Logan Downes, who both picked up a fifth foul in a game where CHS was whistled for 23 fouls to just 15 for the home team.
Having overcome a 10-point deficit thanks to a torrid run late in the third quarter, Coupeville was clinging to a 47-44 lead when Downes was sent to the bench with six minutes to play.
With the Wolf junior averaging 25 points a game, the Wolves had to find their offense someplace else in the stretch run, and they did.
Cole White snapped the net on a short jumper, before Alex Murdy buried a three-ball from the top of the arc, and CHS looked golden, up 52-44.
The good times didn’t last, however, as La Conner closed the game on a 12-2 surge across almost all of the final five minutes.
Murdy knocked down Coupeville’s lone bucket in that stretch, converting a highlight-reel run through a pack of Braves, and the final two of his team-high 17 points proved to be huge.
But La Conner was trying to write its own miracle finish, and almost pulled it off, capping an 8-0 run when Braden Thomas sank a short jumper to stake the Braves to a 56-54 lead.
That left four ticks on the clock, the home fans were losing their minds, and everything, and I mean everything, had to go right for Coupeville to pen a Hoosiers-style finale.
So, that’s exactly what happened.
Wolf big man William Davidson alertly called a timeout on the inbounds play, moving the ball from the backcourt to halfcourt.
That put the ball in the hands of Anderson, a stone-cold killer who rarely betrays his youth in the heat of the moment.
The fab frosh had ended the third quarter with a fairly sensational buzzer beater of his own, banking in a runner from the left side to cap a 10-0 Wolf spurt.
That earned high praise from his fellow players and Coupeville fans, who chanted “He’s a freshman!” over and over during the ensuing break in action.
Chase Anderson, seen here in an earlier game, came up huge against the Braves. (Chloe Marzocca photo)
A quarter later, Anderson found himself handed the ball on the sideline, and, as his teammates broke, “The Magic Man” made the absolute perfect entry pass.
Murdy went flying by, sucking defenders with him, which allowed Valenzuela to pop open on the other side of the court.
Anderson, showing off the powerful throwing arm which marks him as Coupeville’s likely starting quarterback once Downes departs the gridiron, launched the ball and dropped it on a dime.
Valenzuela, his right eye bandaged, puffy, and still marked by blood after being roughed up by the Braves during an early-game scrum, never hesitated.
Ball on his fingers, ball flies far away, ball banks home, Wolf faithful lose their collective minds and storm the floor.
Jimmy Chitwood would be proud.
Valenzuela’s bomb capped a rough-and-tumble affair which La Conner controlled for much of the first half.
The Braves, behind a rampaging Isaiah Price, who scored 22 of his game-high 29 in the opening 16 minutes, led 17-13 at the first break, then pushed the lead to double digits twice in the second quarter.
The final time came at 36-26, but Coupeville didn’t break.
Instead, just as they did in their previous game against Neah Bay — another one-point win, just without the buzzer beater — the Wolves clawed back, cutting the lead right before halftime.
Valenzuela and Coffman each hit a free throw, off of the same foul, as Valenzuela, blood dripping down his face, was sent to the sideline after converting the first of what was supposed to be two charity shots.
Anderson closed the half by burying a three-ball, with Murdy snagging an offensive rebound and kicking it out to the young gunner.
The third quarter raised the intensity, with Murdy rejecting a La Conner shot, and Coffman and Cole White drawing offensive charges on the Braves.
Still trailing 42-35 midway through the third, Coupeville reclaimed the lead by scoring the final 10 points of the period, with Valenzuela, White, Nick Guay, and Anderson rattling the rim on successful shots.
That set up the fourth quarter fireworks, with the final result leaving CHS coach Brad Sherman mentally exhausted, but happy.
Winning back-to-back games by a point will do that for a guy.
“Wow! These guys never quit,” Sherman said. “A lot of guys stepped up tonight.
“La Conner is a tough team,” he added. “Really big to leave with a win – specially to do it that way!”
With Downes saddled with rare foul trouble, Coupeville spread its offense among multiple players.
Murdy led the way with 17, reaching an even 350 for his high school career, while Downes banked in 16 of his own in limited minutes.
That was still enough to lift him to 564 career points, and he moves from #44 to #39 on the all-time CHS boys’ career scoring chart for a program launched 106 years ago.
With his work against La Conner, Downes passes old-school Wolf hoops stars Marc Bissett (549), Jim Syreen (550), Roy Marti (551), and Randy Duggan (552).
Anderson (9), Valenzuela (8), White (4), Guay (2), and Coffman (1) also scored Wednesday, with Zane Oldenstadt, Ryan Blouin, and Davidson seeing floor time.
Riding high after back-to-back thriller wins, Coupeville faces one of its biggest tests Friday, when it travels to Mount Vernon Christian to face a 12-5 squad.
The Wolves beat the Hurricanes 44-39 the first time around, but that game was a “non-league” game against a league foe.
Friday’s matchup, however, counts in the NWL standings.
Aiden O’Neill makes his move. (Chloe Marzocca photo)
They may never lose again.
Getting buckets from nine players Wednesday, the Coupeville High School JV boys’ basketball team roared past host La Conner, winning 51-30.
The fifth straight victory for the young Wolves, it lifts them to 2-0 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 6-3 overall.
Hunter Smith’s squad built an early lead against the Braves, before blowing things wide open with a dramatic third-quarter run.
Up 14-11 at the first break, Coupeville stretched the margin to 29-19 by the half, while saving its best for right after halftime.
Jack Porter and Aiden O’Neill both popped for five points in the third frame, including a three-ball apiece, as CHS torched La Conner 14-0.
From there, the Wolves strolled in for the win, running their road record to a pristine 4-0 on the season.
With Coupeville’s next game involving a bus trip to Mount Vernon Christian Friday, that bodes well for the young guns.
Landon Roberts prepares to break a defender in half. (Delanie Lewis photo)
O’Neill paced the Wolves at La Conner, splashing home a pair of three-balls en route to a game-high 10 points.
Hunter Bronec (8), Malachi Somes (7), Jack Porter (7), Chase Anderson (6), Landon Roberts (4), Johnny Porter (4), Hurlee Bronec (3), and Camden Glover (2) also scored, with Carson Field and Yohannon Sandles seeing floor time.
Somes, Hunter Bronec, and Jack Porter all connected on three-balls, joining O’Neill in the long-distance club.
Coupeville Sports 