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Posts Tagged ‘King’s’

Big effort, but bigger foe

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , on January 30, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Mollie Bailey slapped home a pair of buckets Tuesday as the Coupeville JV girls tangled with powerful King’s. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

It was a brawl, then it was a blowout.

The Coupeville High School JV girls basketball squad stood tall for nine minutes Tuesday, pushing visiting King’s to the brink.

Then, the Knights remembered they have a roster stocked full of AAU vets with dreams of playing college ball, and they reverted to form, exploding on separate runs of 15-0, 20-0, and 12-0.

What was a 10-9 CHS lead after Morgan Stevens rained down a fall-away jumper to open the second quarter turned into a 58-23 King’s win, and you can’t say it wasn’t expected.

The Knights second squad is a shiny 11-4 this season, having lost only to 3A and 4A schools and one of the state’s premier 1A schools, Cashmere.

But, while the Wolves fell to 4-3 in North Sound Conference play, 8-7 overall, heading into their season finale Friday at Granite Falls, they made some inroads.

The 23 points is the most the King’s JV has surrendered to a conference foe this season, and is a solid nine-point improvement from the first time the schools met, a 49-14 Knights win.

Coupeville came out aggressively Tuesday, using inspired rebounding from Ja’Kenya Hoskins to force King’s to up its game.

Early buckets from Mollie Bailey, off a sweet feed from Anya Leavell, and Hoskins, off of an offensive rebound, staked the Wolves to a 4-2 lead, the first of four positive scores for CHS.

Izzy Wells drained a put-back after snagging a rebound to make it 6-5, Abby Mulholland twirled in a jumper off a pass from Audrianna Shaw to put Coupeville up 8-7, then Stevens netted her bucket off a Leavell set-up pass.

The action was crisp, the Wolves were scrambling for loose balls and caroms, and anything seemed possible.

And then death came from above.

King’s dropped in a trio of three-balls, part of the seven it would hit in the game, and, in the blink of an eye, a 15-0 run had changed everything.

Mulholland did her best to get the Wolves back into the flow, netting back-to-back jumpers, with the second bucket coming of yet another superb pass from Leavell, but King’s wasn’t having it.

Scoring the final eight points of the half, then 24 of the first 26 after the break, the visitors put the game far out of reach.

From the final three minutes of the second quarter until the last half of the fourth, Coupeville could only hit one single, solitary shot, though it was a beautiful, crowd-pleasing jumper from hard-working freshman Alana Mihill.

While the rim was unforgiving, the Wolves never stopped working, and they garnered some respect from their foes at the end, closing the game on a 7-2 surge.

Wells went off for five of her team-high seven points during that part of the game, while Bailey added an artful layup.

Mulholland tossed in six points to back Wells, with Bailey (4), Mihill (2), Stevens (2), and Hoskins (2) also scoring.

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Sage Downes just torched the joint

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , , on January 22, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Sage Downes went for 19 Tuesday, including hitting one of the better buzzer-beaters seen in the CHS gym. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

There were 98 points scored, but the final three will be the ones remembered.

Capping a splendid one-man shooting show in a losing cause against a powerhouse foe Tuesday, Sage Downes went from on-fire shooter to professional arsonist in the flick of a wrist.

And while his shot for the ages, and his 19 points, weren’t enough to save the Coupeville High School JV boys basketball squad against visiting King’s, you would never know it from the crowd reaction.

Sure, the scoreboard showed a 58-40 advantage for the Knights at the final buzzer, but what happened a millisecond ahead of said buzzer is what we’re here to talk about.

Charging up court, the clock running out on him, Downes, about a billion miles away from the basket, had no time and no chance.

But he had a shot.

Flipping the basketball high in the air, just as he neared the half-court line, while jammed tight against the scorer’s table, Downes arced a rainbow.

And promptly found the bucket of gold waiting underneath it.

His shot dropped from somewhere high up in the rafters, splashing home for a miracle three-ball which should have been worth four or five points for creativity, derring-do and how-the-heck-did-that-go-in.

The crowd went bonkers, the Wolf bench flooded the floor and JV coach Chris Smith about jumped out of the gym, arms pumping like a madman unleashed.

And Downes?

A little grin, a little shrug, a little stare-down of his defender, and then he strolled away, the thought bubble above his head plainly saying, “I can do this every day, any day, baby.”

The shot capped a strong performance for Downes, and his teammates, as they took the best hay-makers King’s could fire, and didn’t break.

The Knights JV, while not having the towering height of their varsity counterparts, are an exceptionally speedy bunch, and they used their jets to bust open the game.

Mixing running layups with net-rustling three-balls of their own — King’s hit five of its six treys in the opening quarter — the visitors led almost from start to finish.

Coupeville actually got on the board first thanks to a pretty pull-up jumper from Xavier Murdy, but then the Knights went to work.

Despite eight points from Downes, including the first two of his five three-balls, the Wolves trailed 19-10 at the first break and couldn’t make up the deficit.

CHS had its moments in the second quarter, though, primarily a three-ball from Logan Martin and a resounding blocked shot from the ever-busy Downes, then played King’s almost even in the second half.

The Wolves closed the third quarter on a 12-5 run, with Downes banking in eight, but he got help.

Grady Rickner also rattled the rim on his own successful trey, while Tucker Hall put on a show doing all the small things which turn into bigger things.

Fighting on the boards, hitting free throws, and twice making great kick-out passes which translated into Wolf three-balls, Hall was the night’s unsung hero.

“Great, great game for Tucker,” Chris Smith said. “Love to see that!”

While Downes was the big man on offense with his 19, Coupeville got balanced scoring, netting points from seven of its 10 players.

Grady Rickner (5), Hall (4), Murdy (4), Martin (3), Daniel Olson (3), and Cody Roberts (2) all chipped in, while Chris Ruck, TJ Rickner and Miles Davidson also saw floor time.

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Rough start, better finish

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , on January 22, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Hawthorne Wolfe (far right) banked in nine points Tuesday, moving closer to being Coupeville’s highest-scoring freshman boy in 102 years. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

There were a couple highlights.

Now, they were few and far between, which is often what happens when you’re a team in rebuilding mode and your opponent firmly believes, and plays like, it can win a state title.

But they were there.

The scoreboard will tell you the King’s High School boys basketball squad stormed into Coupeville’s gym Tuesday and ran away with a 76-31 win.

Which is not a surprise.

The ninth-straight win for the Knights, it lifts them to 8-0 in North Sound Conference play, and, combined with South Whidbey’s loss to Sultan, clinches the league crown.

But rest assured King’s is thinking about more than a conference title.

At 14-4 overall, with losses only to 4A Glacier Peak, 2A schools Lynden and Lakewood and California power Corona del Mar, the Knights, a team who can start an entire five-man lineup of players 6-foot-5 or taller, wants the big banner.

Whether they can get past fellow 1A juggernaut Lynden Christian (17-0) and its star, University of Michigan recruit Cole Bajema, is a question for another day.

On this day, they looked big, quick, polished, reeking of basketball smarts and with few, if any, weak links.

Unlike previous years, they don’t necessarily have a superstar (though their 6’7 freshman is on his way), but when every single player on the roster can hurt you, badly, spreading scoring out isn’t a bad thing.

Coupeville, by contrast, is 1-6 in league play, 2-12 overall, and trying to hold off Granite Falls (0-7, 2-14) for the fifth, and final, NSC playoff spot.

Its leading scorer is a freshman, it lists only one player over 6’2, and it lost six of last year’s seven top scorers to graduation.

Things are a work in progress for CHS head coach Brad Sherman, and assistants Chris Smith and Scott Fox.

And yet, other than a first quarter where the film should be burned to protect the innocent, the Wolves stepped up and showed they can be competitive, can push good teams and go down swinging against great ones.

All we’ll say about the opening eight minutes is the Wolves looked unusually flustered, perhaps allowing a big name on the opposing jersey to put them off their game.

With King’s shredding Coupeville’s last nerve with its press, the Knights threw down easy bucket after easier bucket en route to a 31-1 advantage at the first break.

It was ugly, plain and simple.

But, after that, Sherman seemed to get through to his players, to remind them this was nothing new, that they had played King’s before and could have some success if they did what they knew had worked.

While there was no great comeback brewing, the Wolves did stay much more competitive after that, only being outscored 21-13 in the second quarter.

Jered Brown, who accounted for Coupeville’s lone point in the first quarter, opened the second with a jumper and that helped ignite the offense.

The Wolves tossed in a trio of three-balls in the quarter, two from Mason Grove and a third by Gavin Knoblich, while Ulrik Wells stroked a sweet pull-up jumper which cleared the outstretched fingertips of one of King’s big bangers.

The second half belonged to freshman Hawthorne Wolfe, who bounced and skidded around for all nine of his points after the break.

A swooping layup came on a play where he cut through a forest of tree toppers jammed in the lane, followed by a three-ball and then a layup off a strong feed from Grove.

Grove and Wolfe, who are listed in the program at 5’8 and 5’7, respectively, also showed grit, each ripping a rebound away from much-taller foes, then going back up for the second-chance bucket.

With the clock moving quickly, and King’s coach carping he “just wanted to catch the ferry,” Coupeville fans got a couple of nice moments near the end.

The normally unflappable Knights botched a couple of dunk attempts, drawing raspberries from the Wolf faithful, before CHS freshman Xavier Murdy put a cap on things.

Wolfe found him on the right side with about two ticks to play, and X-Man promptly drilled the bottom of the net out on a long three-ball, recording the first varsity score of his career.

Just 303 more points and he’ll catch uncle Allen Black for the family scoring title.

Wolfe’s nine gives him a team-best 134 on the season, pulling him a sliver away from passing Mike Bagby (137) to become the highest-scoring freshman boy in 102 years of CHS basketball.

Grove rattled the rims for eight, Brown banked in six, Knoblich and Murdy netted three apiece, and Wells rounded out the scoring with his bucket.

Jacobi Pilgrim, Dane Lucero, Jean Lund-Olsen, Sean Toomey-Stout, and Daniel Olson also got a chance to go toe-to-toe with King’s, as Sherman ran all 11 active players onto the court.

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Rough re-entry for Wolf basketball

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , on January 4, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Gavin Knoblich knocked down six points Friday as Coupeville basketball returned to the floor after a 12-day holiday break. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

The “Showdown in Shoreline” was decidedly one-sided.

None of the Coupeville High School basketball teams have played in 12 days, and their welcome-back present Friday was a road match-up with powerhouse King’s.

It did not go especially well on the scoreboard.

By the time things were done and the bus was headed back to Whidbey, the Wolves had absorbed five losses in as many games.

But, every game is a lesson and tomorrow is another day, as they say.

How things played out:

 

Girls varsity:

The game was a showdown for sole possession of first-place in the North Sound Conference, but one team was a little more oiled-up.

King’s, a tall, athletic team led by all-universe freshman Jada Wynn, was coming off four wins in four games at a holiday tournament in California, and the Knights jumped out to a 15-0 lead Friday en route to a 50-17 win.

With the loss, the Wolves (2-1 in league play, 4-6 overall) slip into a second-place tie with Cedar Park Christian (2-1, 5-5), a game back of King’s (3-0, 8-3).

Coupeville travels to Bothell Tuesday, giving it a prime shot to bounce back and knock CPC down a rung.

While the final score was lopsided, CHS coach David King liked chunks of what he witnessed.

“We came into the game ready to compete,” he said. “Our defensive effort was present all game; in the second quarter we caused a 30-second violation and Lindsey (Roberts) also had a highlight-reel block.

“We did a lot of good things on defense, still have some things to correct,” he added. “But, it’s things we can correct.”

Trailing 15-0 at the first break, the Wolves came back and put together a solid effort in the second quarter, holding King’s to just a 16-10 advantage.

The second frame was a battle of the stars, with Wynn tossing in nine of her game-high 17, while Roberts answered with seven of her team-best nine.

Another bagel job in the third (11-0) hurt, but Coupeville closed strongly, edged just 8-7 in the fourth quarter.

David King praised his team, which fought through any rustiness and showed admirable chippiness.

“The starters led us the whole game with their energy and never-quit attitude,” he said. “Our reserves gave us some great minutes all game long, as well.

“Avalon (Renninger) was aggressive on both ends of the court, while Tia (Wurzrainer) brought us a good spark on the defensive end,” King added.

“Nicole (Laxton) is establishing herself as a very good rebounder; I never like losing, but this game showed me we will compete with the very good teams and can and will get better.”

The nine points for Roberts pushes her career total to 399, leaving her a free-throw shy of becoming the 24th Wolf girl to top 400.

Renninger knocked down four points in support, Ema Smith swished a three-ball and Scout Smith slipped a free-throw through the net to top off the scoring effort.

Hannah Davidson hauled in five boards for CHS, while Chelsea Prescott and Ja’Kenya Hoskins also saw floor time.

 

Boys varsity:

King’s rained down 11 three-balls, with seven different players netting a trey, as it cruised in with a 76-23 win.

The loss drops the Wolves to 0-2 in league play, 1-8 overall.

They currently sit fifth in the six-team conference, a half-game up on Granite Falls (0-3, 2-9), which they host Tuesday night.

Coupeville couldn’t get much to drop in the opening quarter Friday, digging a 16-2 hole it couldn’t recover from.

The Wolves best performance came in the second frame, when they went for almost half of their points on the night, dropping in 11 of 23.

Gavin Knoblich paced CHS with four in the quarter, finishing in a tie with Hawthorne Wolfe for top scoring honors with six for the game.

Wolfe netted both of Coupeville’s three-balls, hitting one in the second and another in the fourth.

Jered Brown (4), Jacobi Pilgrim (2), Mason Grove (2), Sean Toomey-Stout (2) and Ulrik Wells (1) also scored, while Dane Lucero chipped in with rebounding and hustle.

King’s, which sits atop the league at 3-0, a half-game up on South Whidbey (2-0), got points from all 12 of the players on its roster, with Tyler Linhardt leading the way with 19.

 

Girls JV:

Facing a team which shot (and made) a lot of three-balls, Coupeville fell 49-14.

The Wolf young guns fall to 2-1 in league play, 4-5 overall, heading into a JV-only match-up Monday at Oak Harbor.

While her team went scoreless in the first quarter, falling behind 12-0, CHS coach Amy King liked that her squad never fell to pieces.

“Everyone kept working,” she said. “We got a number of shots up that just didn’t fall.

“We worked to slow them down and give no uncontested layups, and we accomplished that,” King added. “It’s about heart, not paying attention to the score, and being a team.

The Wolves finally broke through on the scoreboard when Anya Leavell went coast-to-coast for a bucket after snatching a rebound on the defensive end of the floor.

Leavell added a three-ball to account for a team-high five points, while Izzy Wells knocked down four, Audrianna Shaw drilled a trey and Kiara Contreras popped for two to round out the scoring.

The bucket from Contreras was set up by a “sweet offensive rebound and dish” from teammate Abby Mulholland.

Wells paced the Wolves with nine rebounds and two assists, while Ja’Kenya Hoskins rejected a pair of Knights shots.

Lily Leedy, Morgan Stevens, Kylie Van Velkinburgh, Alana Mihill and Mollie Bailey all saw floor time to round out the active roster.

 

Boys JV:

The first three quarters were brutal, but Coupeville rebounded to win the fourth-quarter battle in a 63-19 loss.

The Wolves slip to 0-2 in league play, 4-5 overall.

Trailing 50-3 after going scoreless in the first and third quarters, CHS closed the game with a 16-13 surge across the final eight minutes.

With six different players scoring in the fourth, the Wolves held off a Knights team which kept its top scorer on the floor in the final quarter, providing a nice finish to a rough night.

Xavier Murdy paced Coupeville with six points, popping for five in the final frame, while Sage Downes (4), Daniel Olson (3), Cody Roberts (3), Tucker Hall (2) and Grady Rickner (1) also scored.

Gibby Marshall led King’s with 23, getting 11 of those in the fourth.

Coupeville’s active roster also included Chris Ruck, Logan Martin, TJ Rickner, and Miles Davidson, who all saw floor time.

 

Boys C-Team:

Coupeville came out extremely-cold and lost 60-3 to a very-efficient Knights squad.

The defeat drops the young Wolves to 0-1 in league play, 0-4 overall, the score-book was lost to the sands of time, and that’s pretty much all we’re going to say about that.

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No quit in young Wolves!!

Posted in Basketball, Middle School, tagged , , , , , , on November 29, 2018| Leave a Comment »

Cole White tossed in 11 points Thursday in a narrow loss to King’s. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

What’s a Dollar worth? About 19 points and a win, that’s what.

Sparked by the son of former UCLA great Cameron Dollar, King’s Junior High eked out some payback against Coupeville Middle School Thursday, avenging an early season boys basketball loss to the Wolves.

With Jalen Dollar, who wasn’t eligible the first time around, pouring in 19 of his team’s points, the Knights held off a scrappy CMS 7th grade varsity squad, escaping with a 28-25 win in Shoreline.

The elder Dollar played four seasons at UCLA, helping the Bruins win three Pac-10 crowns and a 1995 national title.

He was a major factor in the championship win, an 89-78 upset of defending champs Arkansas in a game played in front of 38,540 fans at Seattle’s Kingdome.

UCLA star Ed O’Bannon, who was the tourney’s Most Outstanding Player, threw down 30 points and snared 17 boards, but it was Cameron Dollar who was singled out for special praise by coach Jim Harrick afterwards.

Stepping in when starting point guard Tyus Edney went down with an injury in the first half, Dollar finished with a game-high eight assists and four steals.

After his playing days ended in ’97, the Bruin legend became a coach and has worked at seven different NCAA schools over the past 20 years. He’s currently an assistant at the University of Washington.

The loss drops Coupeville to 2-4 on the season, but Wolf coach Greg White and his players weren’t hanging their heads after going toe-to-toe with the big boys.

“Tough loss tonight, but the boys actually played their best game of the season,” he said. “They moved the ball well against a press.”

The Wolves hung tough all game, trailing by just a bucket at the half.

King’s used an 11-7 surge in the third quarter, with Dollar dropping a pair of three-balls, to put some room between the teams, only to see Coupeville put together an 8-5 run of its own in the fourth.

Cole White poured in a season-high 11 to pace the Wolves, while Logan Downes popped for nine and William Davidson slapped home five.

Ryan Blouin, Zane Oldenstadt, Nick Guay, Mikey Robinett, and Quinten Pilgrim also saw floor time for Coupeville.

 

7th grade JV:

The second unit didn’t generate a ton of offense, but played pretty well on defense in an 11-2 loss.

Robinett banked home Coupeville’s lone bucket, while Pilgrim, Justin Wilkinson, Alex Clark, Timothy Nitta, Andrew Williams, and Chris Villarreal were all in action for CMS during the two-quarter game.

 

8th grade varsity:

Mitchell Hall continues to captivate, but not even he was enough to quell a fierce Knights squad which stormed to a 51-22 win.

The loss drops the Wolves to 1-5.

Hall, who has come on strongly in the past few games, tossed in eight points to pace CMS, while Levi Pulliam knocked down a pair of buckets in support.

Dominic Coffman and Alex Wasik each added three, with Coffman drilling a trey, Alex Murdy and Kevin Partida had a basket apiece and Ty Hamilton, Josh Upchurch, and Jesse Wooten chipped in with hustle and hard work.

All three Coupeville teams return home for their next game, with Northshore Christian scheduled to travel to Whidbey Dec. 4.

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