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Posts Tagged ‘Hawthorne Wolfe’

Hawk gets historical

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , on February 7, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville PA announcer Moose Moran loves calling big plays for Wolf stars like Mason Grove and Hawthorne Wolfe. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Wolfe is on pace to be the first (or maybe second) CHS boy to score at least 400 career varsity points by the end of their sophomore season.

It’s maybe the best start in program history.

As he heads into a loser-out home playoff game Saturday, Hawthorne Wolfe is setting the nets afire.

With 397 points and counting, the Coupeville High School sophomore has tallied arguably more points at this stage of his varsity career than any other Wolf boys basketball player ever.

At least when it comes to numbers I can 100% stand behind.

There is one reason to pump the brakes, at least a bit.

Wolfe is definitely one of three CHS hoops stars to top 300 points by the end of their sophomore year, with the other two being Mike Criscuola (368) and Mike Bagby (359).

But, when it comes to Criscoula, who played in the ’50s, when 8th graders were eligible for the high school varsity team, his numbers may never be truly complete.

The yearbook for his first season includes him in the team photo — “Big Mike,” rockin’ glasses and a barrel chest, is already a man among boys, even at that early moment — but does not include him on the team’s scoring list.

Which, based on stories told by people from his time period, is a crock.

But all I have to go on is what I have to go on, and newspaper stories of the time are also no help with recreating Criscuola’s 8th grade scoring totals.

So, we’ll toss an asterisk in there and plow ahead.

Either way, Wolfe is chasing legends while helping bring a buzz to the CHS gym.

He’s rattled the rims for 239 points through 18 games as a sophomore, just off senior Mason Grove, who’s singed the nets for 245 points.

Toss in 158 as a freshman, when he led the team in scoring, and Wolfe is a three-ball away from becoming just the 59th Coupeville boy to crack the 400-point club across 103 seasons.

Nothing is guaranteed, and injuries, transfers, and life have all left their mark on the program’s career scoring list.

I mean, Joe Whitney could have been the GOAT, but achieved that status in Lynden, not Coupeville, after transferring before his senior season.

Things happen.

That said, Wolfe, who sits at #59 on the career scoring chart heading into Saturday’s bout with Mount Baker, is set up to make a run at all the records.

Grove, a three-ball assassin from way back, is a hair ahead of him at #57 with 405 points, but, as a senior, time is no longer on his side.

Stay healthy, stay focused, keep working, remain confident, but not driven by ego, hold on to the joy that comes from the game.

Do that, and Hawk and fellow sophomore sensation Xavier Murdy (89 career points and counting) can captivate Wolf Nation over the next two seasons.

If you look at the 31 Wolves who cracked 600 points, almost to a man, their scoring totals went up as juniors and seniors.

From that group, Wade Ellsworth and Rich Morris didn’t score their first varsity point at CHS until their junior season, while Gavin Keohane only had three points exiting his sophomore year.

Six other Wolves also didn’t get their first varsity point until their junior seasons, yet still topped 400 for their careers.

Then there’s Jack Elzinga, who sits with Criscuola, Tom Sahli, and Jerry Zylstra, as ’50s stars whose full numbers may never be finalized.

“The Zinger” tossed in 646 points across his last two years, which puts him #25 all-time.

But, he also played varsity ball as a sophomore during the 1953-54 season, and stats from that campaign seem lost to time, which hurts both him and Zylstra, a teammate on that squad.

Plus, to be fair to the immortals who trod the hardwood in the ’70s, including Jeff Stone (tied for #1), Randy Keefe (#3), and Bill Jarrell (#12), they never had the chance to play four years like Wolfe and Murdy will.

Back then, thanks to Coupeville having a junior high and not a middle school, 9th graders weren’t eligible to play for the high school team.

Life, um, finds a way … to mess with everyone’s prep hoops career.

But we roll on.

So, with all that in mind, a look at how many points every player still ahead of Wolfe on the career chart scored through their sophomore season:

 

Jeff Stone — 176 of 1137
Mike Bagby — 359 of 1137
Randy Keefe — 293 of 1088
Jeff Rhubottom — 228 of 1012
Mike Criscuola — 368(?) of 979(?) (*Missing 8th grade stats*)
Bill Riley — 160 of 934
Pete Petrov — 201 of 917
Brad Sherman — 203 of 874
Denny Clark — 185 of 869
Arik Garthwaite — 285 of 867
Bill Jarrell — 83 of 855
Hunter Smith — 133 of 847
Corey Cross — 215 of 811
Barry Brown — 221 of 769
Hunter Hammer — 212 of 755
Steve Whitney — 180 of 730
Dan Neider — 143 of 729
Chris Good — 64 of 688
Gavin Keohane — 3 of 677
Virgil Roehl — 192 of 674
Foster Faris — 95 of 668
Pat Bennett — 207 of 659
Wade Ellsworth — 0 of 659
Jason McFadyen — 122 of 654
Jack Elzinga — ? of 646(?) (*Missing sophomore stats*)
Rich Morris — 0 of 637
Kramer O’Keefe — 186 of 636
Wiley Hesselgrave — 142 of 632
John O’Grady — 188 of 611
Greg White — 212 of 604
Joe Whitney — 213 of 601
Brian Miller — 157 of 597
Mike Syreen — 193 of 594
Gabe McMurray — 2 of 592
Pat Clark — 12 of 583
Randy Duggan — 0 of 552
Roy Marti — 16 of 551
Jim Syreen — 176 of 550
Marc Bissett — 41 of 549
Denny Zylstra — 16 of 538
Brad Miller — 66 of 526
Gary Faris — 86 of 524
JJ Marti — 156 of 520
Cody Peters — 0 of 518
David Lortz — 31 of 502
Jason Bagby — 18 of 499
Pat O’Grady — 12 of 472
Sean Dillon — 11 of 469
Frank Marti — 64 of 462
Gary Hammons — 11 of 443
Del O’Shell — 0 of 440
Tony Ford — 76 of 432
Caleb Powell — 113 of 421
Ben Biskovich — 0 of 407
Casey Clark — 0 of 407
Nick Sellgren — 0 of 406
Mason Grove — 51 of 405
Jerry Zylstra — ? of 405(?) (*Missing sophomore stats*)

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Playoffs, here they come

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , , on February 1, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Mason Grove knocked down 21 points Friday as Coupeville won on Senior Night and punched its playoff ticket. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

Hawthorne Wolfe added 18 points, including four free throws in the final moments to clinch the win.

Playoffs? We’re talking about the playoffs.

Rallying from an eight-point second-half deficit on Senior Night Friday, the Coupeville High School varsity boys basketball squad beat visiting Granite Falls 75-72.

With the win, the Wolves, who honored 11 seniors in pre-game ceremonies, improve to 2-6 in North Sound Conference play, 6-11 overall.

They also clinch a postseason berth, and will play their regular-season finale next Tuesday, Feb. 4, to decide if they are the #4 or #5 seed from their league.

Beat Sultan on its home floor, and Coupeville is #4 and opens the double-elimination district playoffs Feb. 10 on the road against Lynden Christian (13-4), the #1 seed from the Northwest Conference.

Lose Tuesday to the Turks, and the Wolves host Mount Baker (5-13), the #4 seed from the NWC, Feb. 8 in a loser-out game.

However the rumble with Sultan plays out, Friday’s win gives the CHS hoops stars a huge boost.

“It was a big win for our seniors on Senior Night, and we responded really well after halftime,” said Coupeville coach Brad Sherman. “I’m really proud of how hard they played to get that W.”

The game was decided under the bright lights of the fourth quarter, a time when the Wolves got points from six different players and refused to crack under pressure.

Holding a 54-51 lead entering the final frame, with that advantage thanks to Mason Grove rifling home a three-ball to end the third quarter, CHS was still on edge.

It had nothing to worry about, however, as one Wolf after another came through in crunch time, turning back a scrappy Tiger squad which knew it would be eliminated from playoff contention with a loss.

The teams traded blows, but Coupeville never gave back the lead in the fourth.

The Wolves attacked in waves, with Jacobi Pilgrim muscling his way inside for a key put-back off of an offensive rebound, and Grove sinking a trey which hit the rim, started to go down, popped back up, then flopped back through.

Coupeville hit the boards with great intensity, controlling the paint, and it paid off.

Sophomore sensation Xavier Murdy, who missed a huge chunk of the season recovering from a preseason injury, has been a jolt of lightning since his return, and Friday showcased all the different weapons he has at his disposal.

With the lead in doubt, X-Man came through with two epically big rebound put-backs, then he slid to the side and let some of his senior counterparts pen their part of the winning tale.

Gavin Knoblich, a grinder and a hustler who lives to do the down ‘n dirty work, netted a bucket down low, then put a perfect pass on to the fingertips of fellow big man Koa Davison as he rolled through the paint on his way to the promised land.

But, even with all that, the game wasn’t decided until sophomore Hawthorne Wolfe, who spent the days leading up to this game working relentlessly on his free throw shooting, iced things.

Tuning out the deafening screams of Granite’s JV players, who thought (wrongly) they could buffalo him, Joan McPherson’s grandson calmly, quietly, laid down the law, scoring Coupeville’s final five points from the line.

As each charity shot arced upwards, then splashed downwards, the Tiger faithful choked on their screams, while the Wolf faithful went progressively more bonkers for Wolfe (and his dead-eye shooting).

The final two times he strolled to the line, while being slapped and talked-up by a fired-up Grove, Wolfe sank both of his chances, pushing three-point leads out to five and erasing Granite’s chance to tie the game on a three-ball.

Trailing 75-70 with under 20 seconds to play, the Tigers ran headlong into a ferocious final defensive stand, and meekly surrendered, unable to do anything other than toss in a largely meaningless layup as the clock struck 0.9 seconds to play.

That set off a celebration for a CHS team deep in seniors, and a jam-packed gym which had come out to hail what might have been their final moments on their home hardwood.

Both teams had begun the game with fire in their bellies, and a deep desire to grab an early advantage.

Only problem is, both rims refused to accept any incoming shots for a very long time.

Three minutes and 18 seconds of scoreless ball later, Coupeville broke through on a pair of Grove free throws, then things got goin’.

Ulrik Wells popped for six points in the opening frame, hitting a pair of jumpers off nice feeds from Wolfe and Grove, packaged around a rebound put-back, and CHS went to the first break up 16-14.

After the teams played through five ties in the first frame, they tacked on two more (momentary) stalemates in the second quarter, the last at 26-26.

Grove airmailed a pair of three-balls to keep the Tigers jumpy, but a late mini-run by Granite helped the visitors carry a 40-34 lead to the halftime locker room.

The margin stretched out to eight early in the third quarter, but then Coupeville’s gunners, a Three Musketeers trio made up of young upstarts Murdy and Wolfe, plus grizzled old-timer Grove, went to work.

X coaxed a three-ball through the net to start the comeback, while Hawk ripped off back-to-back treys, the first tying the game at 44-44, the second shoving Coupeville back into the lead.

While there would be one more tie after Wolfe’s second bomb, at 51-51 right before Grove dropped a punctuation mark at the end of the third, CHS never trailed again.

Granite kept coming, kept fighting, but Coupeville had an answer each time, whether it was Wells rejecting a shot into the rafters, or Davison imploring his teammates to keep their intensity sky-high during a timeout.

As his team celebrated with their parents, fellow students, and fans, Sherman was able to gaze at the scorebook and enjoy an especially well-balanced scoring performance.

Grove popped for a game-high 21, while Wolfe rattled the rims for 18, and Murdy banked in 17.

Davison (9), Wells (6), Pilgrim (2), and Knoblich (2) also scored, with Sean Toomey-Stout yanking down endless rebounds, Jered Brown running the point with precision, and Jean Lund-Olsen giving the Wolves a jolt of electricity in the early going while making his first start.

With sophomores Murdy and Wolfe the only non-seniors on the varsity roster, Sherman also honored Chris Cernick, Tucker Hall, and Chris Ruck during opening ceremonies.

While the focus was rightfully on the win and the approaching departure of the seniors, stat fans can also take a moment to note that Coupeville’s leading scorers, Wolfe and Grove, continue to climb the career scoring list.

After entering the night #64 and #68 all-time, respectively, for a program in its 103rd season, they exited the court as #59 and #61.

Separated by just seven points (Wolfe has 389, Grove 382), the duo leapfrogged former CHS greats such as JD Wilcox, Chad Gale, and Mike Millenbach.

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“Just a really strong team win!”

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , on January 26, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Hawthorne Wolfe dropped 21 points Saturday as Coupeville ran Port Townsend off the floor. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

It was exactly what Brad Sherman was looking for from his team.

Ending a long, tough week with an explosion of joy, the Coupeville High School boys varsity basketball squad put together one of its best games of the season Saturday night.

Playing for the fourth time in six days, the Wolves picked up 57 points from their Three Musketeers, played inspired second-half defense, and cruised past visiting Port Townsend 79-66.

The non-conference win snaps a five-game losing skid for Coupeville and lifts it to 5-10 on the season heading into the stretch run.

The Wolves, who are fighting for one of the final two playoff spots from the North Sound Conference, have three regular season games left on the schedule.

After back-to-back home games against South Whidbey (Jan. 28) and Granite Falls (Jan. 31), CHS travels to Sultan Feb. 4.

If the Wolves can replicate how they played Saturday, they’ll punch that postseason ticket.

Facing off with a RedHawks team which has given it major trouble in recent years, Coupeville came out firing on all cylinders.

The Wolves got balanced scoring, with sophomores Xavier Murdy and Hawthorne Wolfe dropping in 22 and 21 points respectively, while senior gunner Mason Grove added 14.

But it was the team’s play on the other end of the floor which brought the biggest smile to Sherman’s face.

“Defensively, it was a really great night for us,” the CHS coach said. “The kids responded in a big way after a tough week, and played with a lot of scrappiness and energy.”

Coming off a week in which they had to face hot-shooting Cedar Park Christian twice, wrapped around a rumble with state title contender King’s, Saturday’s match-up was Coupeville’s best shot at garnering a win.

Achieving one of Sherman’s top goals — playing four solid quarters, with no letdowns — the Wolves went toe-to-toe with Port Townsend from the opening tip.

RedHawk senior Noa Montoya played out of his mind in the game’s first eight minutes, banging home 16 of his game-high 27 points, while hitting one eye-popping shot after another.

But, as good as he was in the early going, Coupeville slowed Port Townsend’s main man after the first break, mainly by making him work like a devil to get his shot off.

The Wolves responded to Montoya’s hail of shots by spreading out the offensive love, with five different players rattling home a bucket in the opening frame.

Wolfe, Grove, and Gavin Knoblich all nailed three-balls, with Wolfe’s trey being set up by a sizzlin’ cross-court pass from Grove which threaded its way between multiple defenders on its journey.

Coupeville pulled within a single point twice in the second quarter, but couldn’t seem to get over the hump, eventually falling behind 40-33.

Enter Ulrik Wells, and key the comeback music.

The CHS big man pulled off a three-point play the hard way, banking in a short runner, then adding a free throw, and the fire was lit.

Back-to-back shiver-inducing plays from a rampaging Murdy — a three-ball on the move, then a steal and breakaway bucket — really kicked things into gear, and Coupeville closed the half on a 13-0 run.

Even with top rebounder Sean Toomey-Stout sidelined with first-half foul trouble, the Wolves crashed the boards hard, with Koa Davison capping things with a put-back off of an offensive board he ripped free from a rival’s hands.

The joy ride continued into the third quarter, with Murdy popping another trey, then slipping a pair of free throws through the twines.

With 18 straight points on the board and their biggest lead at 51-40, the Wolves looked golden.

Then, they stumbled for a second or two.

Montoya slipped away from his defender for a blink of an eye, arcing a three-ball to pay dirt, and Port Townsend was suddenly off on its own 13-0 tear, reclaiming the lead and the momentum.

To which the Wolves said, not today, my man, not today.

Grove made the net whisper sweet nothings with an elegant trey from the top, Davison netted a free throw, then Wolfe let the lightning erupt from his fingertips.

Scoring Coupeville’s final 10 points of the quarter, which set off his boisterous fan section comprised of autograph-seeking middle school hoops stars, Wolfe staked CHS to a lead it would never lose.

Putting the exclamation point on things in the fourth, Coupeville pulled off another 9-0 run, with all the buckets fueled by ferocious defensive stops.

Jered Brown, harassing the Port Townsend ballhandler every step of the way, bumped him, poked the ball loose, then yanked the orb back off the floor and shot down court for a game-icing layup.

Not to be outdone, Toomey-Stout corralled a madly-skipping loose ball, twirled, and drained a three-ball a moment later, driving the final stake through Port Townsend’s collective heart.

On the sideline, Sherman nodded, a hoops guru happy to see his plans play out as drawn up.

“Just a really, really strong team win, which should give us the momentum we need for those final league games,” he said.

All nine Wolves who hit the floor scored Saturday, with Murdy’s 22 a career-best for him at the varsity level.

Along with Wolfe (21) and Grove (14), CHS got points out of Davison (6), Knoblich (5), Toomey-Stout (3), Brown (3), Wells (3), and Jacobi Pilgrim (2).

The 79 points are a season-high for the Wolves, topping the 77 they notched against Orcas Island, and, with their performances, Wolfe and Grove continue to assault the CHS boys hoops career scoring chart.

With 366 points and counting, Wolfe jumped from a tie for #71 to sole possession of #67 on a list which encompasses 103 seasons, while Grove, with 341 points, rises from #81 to #74.

Among the former greats the duo passed Saturday were Glenn Losey, Ethan Spark, Aaron Trumbull, and Robin Larson.

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Torch the nets, fill up the scorebooks

Posted in Basketball, tagged , , , , on January 22, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Daniel Olson is one of five Wolves to have topped 100 points this season. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

The triple digit club grows.

A couple of games back we were sitting with two Coupeville High School players having cracked 100 points on the season.

Now, it’s five, with Scout Smith, Sage Downes, and Daniel Olson joining Hawthorne Wolfe and Mason Grove.

And it’s almost six, as Grady Rickner is one thin free throw away from jumping from 99 to 100.

With two open days before the Wolves return to action Friday, here’s a look at where everyone sits across Coupeville’s five hoops teams:

 

Girls Varsity
(12 games):

Scout Smith – 114
Chelsea Prescott – 85
Maddie Georges – 51
Avalon Renninger – 51
Hannah Davidson – 48
Izzy Wells – 30
Carolyn Lhamon – 15
Tia Wurzrainer – 13
Kylie Van Velkinburgh – 10
Anya Leavell – 8
Audrianna Shaw – 6
Mollie Bailey – 4
Nezi Keiper – 2

 

Boys Varsity
(13 games):

Hawthorne Wolfe – 177
Mason Grove – 161
Sean Toomey-Stout – 90
Jacobi Pilgrim – 56
Ulrik Wells – 49
Jered Brown – 47
Koa Davison – 45
Gavin Knoblich – 38
Xavier Murdy – 16
Jean Lund-Olsen – 10
Tucker Hall – 6
Daniel Olson – 2

 

Girls JV
(10 games):

Gwen Gustafson – 65
Alita Blouin – 58
Ryanne Knoblich – 49
Ella Colwell – 41
Abby Mulholland – 22
Savana Allen – 16
Jessenia Camarena – 16
Natalie Castano – 9
Audrianna Shaw – 8
Morgan Stevens – 7
Anya Leavell – 4
Heidi Meyers – 3
Kylie Van Velkinburgh – 3
Mollie Bailey – 2
Samantha Streitler – 2

 

Boys JV
(12 games):

Sage Downes – 109
Daniel Olson – 105
Grady Rickner – 99
Logan Martin – 70
Alex Murdy – 54
Cody Roberts – 41
Xavier Murdy – 33
Alex Jimenez – 26
Miles Davidson – 19
TJ Rickner – 18
Chris Cernick – 16
Andrew Aparicio – 10
Chris Ruck – 7

 

Boys C-Team
(8 games):

Dominic Coffman – 42
Ty Hamilton – 34
Brayden Coatney – 20
Ben Smith – 17
Alex Wasik – 16
Coen Killian – 13
Nick Armstrong – 9
Chris Cernick – 6
Josh Upchurch – 5
Simon Shelley – 3
Andrew Aparicio – 2
Alex Murdy – 2
Caleb Sonntag – 2

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Nets pop, but not for Wolves

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

Jacobi Pilgrim fought hard Monday, but Coupeville’s varsity struggled against a hot-shooting Cedar Park Christian squad. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

It’s hard to win when the other team refuses to miss a shot.

Give Cedar Park Christian credit, cause they shot the lights out Monday, rattling home buckets from every direction imaginable as they roared past the Coupeville High School varsity boys basketball squad.

By the time the Eagles boarded the bus for the trip back to Bothell, they had an 87-44 win and Wolf coach Brad Sherman had a case of angina.

“They’re one of the harder teams to game plan for,” he said with a small shake of his head as he perused the scorebook. “They just have so many weapons that can beat you.”

The Eagles finished the night with five players having reached double digits in scoring, led by a game-high 21 from Justin Trout.

There were three-balls, yes, with CPC outgunning Coupeville 7-4 from behind the arc, but the visitors also knocked down mid-range jumpers in great, greasy gobs, and were nearly flawless on quick cuts to the hoop.

With the loss, the Wolves fall to 1-3 in North Sound Conference play, 4-8 overall, and things don’t necessarily get any easier.

Coupeville travels to Shoreline Tuesday to face league leader King’s, then gets a rematch with Cedar Park Friday in Bothell.

The Wolves wrap a busy week Saturday with a home non-conference matchup with Port Townsend.

Monday’s tilt was essentially over before the first quarter ended, as Cedar Park came out blazing, rolling to a 19-2 lead.

At that point CHS had just a Hawthorne Wolfe bucket to claim as its own, and while the basket came courtesy a nice runner in the paint, it wasn’t enough to stem the tide.

Coupeville got a small run going right before the break, with Koa Davison hitting a hook shot off of an offensive board, before Xavier Murdy got three points the hard way. Still, it trailed 21-7 at the first break.

The second quarter was the sweet spot for the Wolves, however.

Or, at least, semi-sweet.

Shots started dropping, with Mason Grove heating up from the outside, and Wolfe crashing hard to the hoop, but any real hopes of a rally were blunted by Cedar Park matching CHS shot for shot, and then some.

Grove was on fire, nailing four three-balls as he rang up 14 points in the frame, while his younger running partner slapped in seven points, but Coupeville was still outscored 26-21 in the quarter.

The Wolves pulled within 13 late in the second quarter, but Cedar Park closed the half with a fast five points, then went wild to open the third, ringing up 16 straight to put things way out of reach.

Coupeville continued to scrap down the stretch, but as long as the Eagles couldn’t miss, Wolf fans had to look to small moments to get their pleasure.

One came in the fourth, when Jacobi Pilgrim banked home a bucket while being banged in the face, then added a free throw to complete a three-point play.

Grove finished with a team-high 16 points, while Wolfe singed the nets for 12.

Both CHS sharpshooters continue to charge up the school’s career scoring chart, with Wolfe bouncing from #86 all-time to a tie with Brad Brown and Charlie Tessaro for #78.

The sophomore guard has 328 career points, while Grove, a senior, joined the 300-point club Monday, and now sits at #90 with 307 points.

Murdy pumped in five points Monday to back up the dynamic duo, while Davison (4), Pilgrim (3), Gavin Knoblich (2), and Jered Brown (2) also scored.

Rounding out the active roster were Jean Lund-Olsen, Sean Toomey-Stout, and Daniel Olson, who all saw floor time.

Toomey-Stout was hobbled all night by refs with super-quick whistles, but when the guys in the stripes let him play, the ever-springy one was his usual ferocious self on the boards.

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