Kacie Kiel | Coupeville Sports

Posts Tagged ‘Kacie Kiel’

“Never take one moment for granted!!”

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged Basketball, Chimacum, CHS Wolves, Julia Myers, Kacie Kiel, Senior Night on February 7, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Kacie Kiel — the K is for Killer! (John Fisken photos)

Serious. Always so serious.

Julia Myers

Wynter Thorne

Monica Vidoni

Madeline Strasburg

Hailey Hammer

Kiel is mobbed by her fan club.

Chimacum seniors Kiersten Snyder (2) and Makenzie Richey join the festivities.

Julia Myers is wise beyond her years.

In her farewell letter to family, friends, fans and teammates Friday night, the Coupeville High School senior wrote the following:

My advice for upcoming players would be to never take one moment for granted. Go out on the court every day and give it all you can because you never know a true value of a moment until it is a memory.

Having overcome two surgeries to return to the hardwood, Myers was pluck and grit personified.

“Elbows,” like her five fellow seniors, earned every memory.

As they walked off their home court for the final time, 8-0 in league and the first Wolf hoops team to put a championship banner on the gym wall since 2002, there were tears.

There were smiles.

There was a family.

Myers, Monica Vidoni, Hailey Hammer, Kacie Kiel, Wynter Thorne and Madeline Strasburg, like any group of athletes, had good moments together and bad moments.

Every family has its fights, but there is not a one among them who wouldn’t have gone to the mat for her sisters if someone else dared to pick on them.

They endured and they triumphed by being wonderful people on, and off, the court.

They are talented athletes, the best core group the Wolves have had since the glory days of the late ’90s and early 2000’s.

But, like that group, they are also amazing young women in all facets of their lives.

That we got to witness a brief slice of their awesomeness, to share in their struggles and their successes, is a blessing.

It’s not over yet.

One more road game, one more win for league perfection. Then, the playoffs and a date with destiny.

Give ’em the rock and sit back. Enjoy the ride and appreciate what you are seeing.

Six young women who have grown before our eyes from tentative freshmen to confident seniors, while never losing their love of life, or each other.

What’s next?

In the words of Kacie “Killer” Kiel — “Now watch me DUNK IT!!”

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One final time, with feeling!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged Basketball, CHS Wolves, Kacie Kiel, Madeline Strasburg, Makana Stone, seniors on February 6, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Senior Kacie Kiel (right) embraces Makana Stone during the post-game celebration. (Amy King photos)

The best basketball team this school has seen in years.

It wasn’t the prettiest win of the season, but, frankly, who cares?

Long after the particulars of Friday night are forgotten, what will loom large is this — a splendid six-pack of seniors who wore the red and black with great pride exited the Coupeville High School gym heads high (even when a rival player slapped one of them in the face during post-game handshakes), winners to the end.

Riding a season-best 27-point performance from junior Makana Stone, the Wolves crunched visiting Chimacum 53-38 to nab their sixth straight win and improve to 14-5 overall, 8-0 in Olympic League play.

There is much of the season left to go — a regular season finale at Klahowya Monday, then it’s on to the playoffs — but this night was the final time Kacie Kiel, Madeline Strasburg, Monica Vidoni, Hailey Hammer, Julia Myers and Wynter Thorne would play in front of their home fans.

Senior Nights are tricky things, full of emotion. Teams can come out sky high or awash in tears.

Playing a team they had routed twice already, the Wolves struggled a bit to find a groove.

But, they were also good enough when it mattered that the occasional shakiness, while not good for Wolf coach David King’s mental health, wasn’t fatal.

Chimacum hit a three-pointer to open the second quarter, cutting Coupeville’s tenuous lead to 14-12.

Instead of panicking, the Wolves put together their best run of the night, a 12-0 surge that all but sealed the deal.

It began with a bang as Kiel drilled a jumper after Stone snatched a rebound and fed her the ball, then Coupeville essentially pulled off a six-point play.

Once again proving the hype is real, Strasburg morphed into her Maddie Big Time alter ego.

Picking the pocket of a Chimacum player, she then ran down the hapless Cowboy, using her shoulder to knock her rival a good five feet as she crashed hard to the basket.

When she was rightfully rewarded with two free throws, as the defender was clearly moving, the Chimacum coach about swallowed his tongue, turning bright red as he let loose at the refs.

Now, it’s true the reffing crew at this affair was frankly God awful all night, but, this time, they were correct (and also a bit touchy, as they levied a technical on the hyperventilating Cowboy head man).

After Strasburg dropped in all four of her free throws (two for the foul, two for the T), Coupeville retained the ball, with Stone absolutely blowing up her defender to cap a six-point surge in about 1.4 seconds.

From that point on, two trends developed.

One, the refs would get worse and worse and … wait for it … worse.

At one point the game’s worst ref spent 20 seconds laughing and pointing to an acquaintance in the crowd, then turned and immediately called a foul on a play HE DIDN’T EVEN SEE.

Two, every time the Cowboys started to make a push, the Wolves would pull it together long enough to blunt any runs.

Mia Littlejohn made off with a dandy steal where she kept the ball alive by hitting it off the ref in her way (the crowd roars!), Julia Myers dropped some severe side eye as Chimacum’s interior players got progressively nastier with their elbows and Stone was her usual awe-inspiring self.

She finished with 15 rebounds, three assists, three steals and four explosive blocks to go with her scoring bonanza, before exiting with two minutes to play.

Kiel added eight points and three assists, Strasburg pumped in seven points and made off with four steals and Myers dropped in six while snatching nine boards.

Vidoni (2), McKenzie Bailey (1), Littlejohn (1) and Hammer (1) rounded out the scoring, with Hammer also hauling in eight rebounds and thunking a Cowboy in the face nice and solidly on a blocked shot attempt.

Her smile as the ref whistled her for the foul was worth the price of admission.

It is moments like that which will be remembered, and these Wolves, the seniors and their young running mates, have provided Coupeville fans with a ton of them.

From here on out, Killer and Elbows and Maddie Big Time and the whole electrifying crew will take their high-wire act on the road for the remainder of the season.

As they go, Wolf Nation, as one, says simply, “Thank you.”

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Big highs, big lows!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged Basketball, CHS Wolves, David King, Kacie Kiel, Makana Stone on January 18, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Since returning from an injury, Madeline Strasburg has been on a scoring tear. (John Fisken photo)

The first quarter was a killer.

With three-point bombs falling from every angle at a horrifying rate, the Coupeville High School girls’ basketball team found itself in a huge hole at Mount Vernon Christian Saturday.

The Hurricanes dropped six treys on the Wolves, including three straight from the same player, building a 24-11 lead.

Then, Coupeville clamped down on the outside shooters, charged back to tie the game in the fourth quarter and had a chance to win, only to have a huge disparity at the free throw line kill their final hope.

By the time the non-conference tilt came to an end, the Wolves were on the short end of a 50-46 score.

The loss dropped CHS to 8-5 on the season.

Four times this season the Wolves have won back-to-back games, but have yet to get that elusive third straight win and really kick-start a winning streak.

Coupeville will get a huge opportunity to do just that, or more, as they play their final seven games against their Olympic League rivals.

The Wolves are 2-0 in league play, while Port Townsend, Klahowya and Chimacum (which comes to Whidbey Jan. 21 to kick things off) are a combined 4-31 this season.

But, even as CHS dreams of netting a championship banner — which would be the first for any Wolf team in any sport since 2002 — the reality is this is a team fond of playing like they’re on a roller-coaster.

One moment screaming joyfully at the top, the next wildly out of control and plunging into the pits of despair.

“We need to understand that other teams are coming to play a full game and this is something we will emphasis moving forward,” Wolf coach David King said. “Our goal is to make districts, get through district play and move on to state. For this to happen, we need to correct some things.

“Teams will not roll over and just let us come out and win,” he added. “We need to get tougher mentally and continue to show the fight and positive energy we had for the final three quarters.”

Over the final 24 minutes, Coupeville outscored MVC 35-26, while holding them to just one additional three-pointer, eventually charging back to tie the game at the end of the third quarter.

Led by Makana Stone and her quick hands, the Wolves became a steal-happy team in the second half, setting up numerous breakaway layups.

With the score knotted up at 41 midway through the fourth, foul trouble finally took its toll on Coupeville, however, putting a crimp in the comeback hopes.

The Wolves lost two key post players, Julia Myers and Hailey Hammer, who both fouled out in the quarter.

Given a chance to parade to the foul line, the Hurricanes drained 12 of 16 free throws in the final quarter to ice the game.

Coupeville had its fair chance at the line, as well, but left too many points unrecorded, hitting on just 9 of 25 from the charity stripe during the game.

“Another good sign was attacking the basket and getting to the free throw line,” King said. “Now it’s knocking them down when we have the opportunity.”

Trailing by five, the Wolves made one final run with Madeline Strasburg nailing a three-point shot to slice the lead.

Coupeville went for the steal on the in-bounds play, but couldn’t get it and had to foul one final time. With just four ticks on the clock, the MVC shooter drained both attempts to seal the victory.

Stone paced the Wolves with 16 points, 12 rebounds, six steals and three assists while Strasburg pumped in 10 to go with her three assists and three steals.

Kacie Kiel and Myers both popped for eight, Hammer banged home three and Wynter Thorne slid a free throw through the twine to round out the scoring.

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One shooter to rule them all!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged Basketball, CHS Wolves, free throws, fundraisers, Kacie Kiel, Wynter Thorne on January 2, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Wynter Thorne is always dangerous, regardless of where and when she’s shooting. (John Fisken photos)

David King: “You will make your free throws. All of them!!”

Two seconds to play. Two free throws to win the game.

Who do you want at the line?

I’m going to go with Wynter Thorne.

The Coupeville High School senior is the go-to foul shooter for the Wolves, at least in practice, after draining 26 consecutive shots at one point en route to capturing her team’s recent free throw shooting fundraiser.

Overall, Thorne hit 78 of 100 from the charity stripe, edging Kacie Kiel (76) and Makana Stone (75) for the title.

Kiel hit 15 consecutive shots at one point, while Stone and McKenzie Bailey banged home 12 straight. Others with solid streaks included Tiffany Briscoe (8), Skyler Lawrence (7) and Lauren Rose (7).

Bailey (66), Kailey Kellner (64), Briscoe (63) and Rose (58) rounded out the top overall finishers, with 12 of 17 Wolves netting 50% or better from the line.

Coupeville’s players combined to drain 938 free throws in the three-day event, which operated as a fundraiser for the program. Players got donations in two ways — a set fee for each made shot or a total sum regardless of how many shots were made.

With the Wolf varsity (6-3) and JV (5-3) both off to strong starts, the chance to fine-tune their free throw shooting can’t hurt in the long run.

“Many of the girls commented they did better than they thought they would and it became a fun competition between players on top of it being a great fundraiser for the program,” said CHS coach David King.

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Bend, but don’t break!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged Basketball, CHS Wolves, Kacie Kiel, Maddie Big Time, Makana Stone, Vashon Island on December 29, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Wolf freshman Mia Littlejohn drilled a huge second-half three-point bomb Monday. (John Fisken photos)

Makana Stone, seen here in an earlier game, scored a team-high 15.

Bouncing back from a 10-day break and spurred on by the emotional return of Maddie Big Time, the Coupeville High School girls’ basketball squad led from opening tip to final buzzer Monday night.

The resulting 44-37 non-conference win over visiting Vashon Island was the fourth victory in the last five games for the Wolves and lifted them to 6-3 on the season.

And, while it wasn’t a flawless game, it did capture Coupeville at its grittiest.

Three times the Pirates pulled to within a single point, before launching one final, furious 10-2 fourth quarter run, and, every time, the Wolves blunted their charge with big plays.

None might have been bigger than a dead-eye jumper from the team’s lone freshman.

Clinging to a 27-26 lead late in the third, Coupeville pushed hard to open things back up.

The aforementioned Maddie Big Time, senior Madeline Strasburg, back in the lineup after missing seven games with an injury, drove the ball hard at the hoop on a breakaway.

Her shot, taken under pressure, rolled off the rim at the last second, but Strasburg followed her ball and tipped it to Mia Littlejohn.

Trailing the play on the right side, Littlejohn took the second chance and made it count, pump-faking her defender off her feet before softly drilling the three-ball to stretch the lead back out.

That play ended up kicking off an 11-1 run that went from the final minute of the third deep into the fourth.

After not getting the lead out past eight all game, CHS suddenly found itself with its largest bulge at 38-27 when Wynter Thorne knocked down a driving jumper.

But Vashon, which hit five treys of its own, surged right back.

Coupeville put together an electrifying basket when Kacie Kiel kicked the ball half the length of the court to Strasburg, who spun under her defender and dropped it to an airborne Makana Stone, who rolled it off her fingertips for two.

Unfortunately, the Pirates put together a 10-point surge of their own around that lone Coupeville bucket, with back-to-back threes cutting the lead to 40-37.

But that’s where the bend, but don’t break, rule came into effect one final, convincing time.

Running the final two minutes off the clock, the Wolves put the game away with a give-and-go bucket from Strasburg and a put-back off a rebound from Stone, who out-jumped the Vashon defenders by a good five inches.

The rebound capped a stellar all-around effort for the Coupeville junior, who poured in a game-high 15 while setting up teammates with a string of precision passes.

Kiel, in particular, benefited, draining three straight jumpers in the first quarter as Coupeville bolted out to an 8-0 lead.

Vashon hit back-to-back three point bombs to get close, before Stone used a three-possession run to lay down the law.

First she threw down a short jumper, then spun and hit Monica Vidoni with the set-up for an inside bucket, before taking a steal the length of the court for a spinning layup.

The Wolves, who hadn’t played since a win at Orcas Island Dec. 19, had fresh legs and were enthusiastic, which helped balance out a couple of stretches of poor shot selection.

Strasburg, who had been operating as a vocal, if unpaid, second assistant coach since going down in the season opener against South Whidbey, was a jolt of energy.

She pumped in eight, tying Kiel for second-best, but her hustle and heart, including several times where she slammed to the floor in pursuit of loose balls, gives an already solid team the touch of danger it missed with her sidelined.

Littlejohn drained five in support of the big three, while Thorne (4), Vidoni (2) and Julia Myers (2) all chipped in.

Hailey Hammer pounded away underneath, collecting rebounds and one “ooh”-worthy rejection on a Vashon player, while McKenzie Bailey gave the Wolves a spark off the bench.

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