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Posts Tagged ‘Klahowya’

Grind it out!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , , on January 29, 2017| Leave a Comment »

(John Fisken photo)

   David King has the Coupeville girls flying high at 13-3, winners of nine straight. (John Fisken photo)

No quit in these Wolves.

Overcoming fatigue, a short-turnaround and the danger of overlooking a cellar-dwelling team they had just drilled four days prior, the Coupeville High School girls’ basketball squad took care of business Saturday afternoon.

Playing methodically, and turning up their vaunted defense to a higher level in the second half, the Wolves romped past visiting Klahowya 37-19 to pull within a win of completing their third straight undefeated league season.

Now sitting at 8-0 in Olympic League play, 13-3 overall, Coupeville has won nine straight.

The Wolves have a unique home-and-away non-conference series with Sequim Monday and Thursday, then close the regular season at home Feb. 4 against Port Townsend, where they will make a bid to improve to 27-0 all-time in Olympic League play.

After that comes the playoffs, which don’t start until Feb. 14.

Coupeville, as a #1 seed, will begin in the double-elimination portion of districts, needing two wins to return to the state tourney.

Saturday, the Wolves were playing their second game in less than 24 hours, having knocked off Chimacum Friday night.

Many of the Wolves were back in the gym at 8:15 Saturday to coach and ref youth basketball, before taking the floor for an early 12:30 tip-off.

Fatigue seemed to catch up to CHS in the early going, as it weathered crisp shooting from Klahowya’s Amber Bumbalough and held just a 9-7 lead after the first quarter.

“The first quarter was a struggle,” said Wolf coach David King. “Many of our jump shots were short (tired legs); we just didn’t have the lift needed in the legs, even though the mind told us differently.

“What kept us in the quarter was our offensive rebounds and put backs.”

Things began to take a turn for the better in the second, as Coupeville shied away from long jumpers and attacked the basket en route to a 12-6 advantage.

Despite being up 21-13 at the break, the Wolves rallied together as a team in the locker room, pledging to put the game away.

“The great thing at halftime was the whole team wasn’t satisfied with our halftime lead or our effort,” King said. “They knew we could play better in the second half.”

And they did, using a 14-2 surge in the third to take the last bit of fight out of Klahowya.

Key was going to a press on defense, which triggered a number of easy buckets off of turnovers.

The Wolves were quick to back each other up on defense, something which brought a smile to their coach’s face.

Whether it was Lindsey Roberts alertly moving to pick up a player after a teammate slipped, or Tiffany Briscoe sliding over to shut-down Roberts original rival, the Wolves were firing as a group, five players working as one.

That carried over to the offensive end, where several players stepped up to have one of their better shooting performances of the season.

Junior Mikayla Elfrank pumped in a game-high 11, while speedy Kalia Littlejohn knocked down eight and Roberts banked in seven.

Briscoe (3), Mia Littlejohn (3), Kailey Kellner (3) and Sarah Wright (2) rounded out the offensive attack.

“Every game we have players stepping in and up to help with the scoring,” King said.

Roberts also hauled down 10 boards, while Lauren Grove added four rebounds and three steals. Both Littlejohn sisters doled out three assists apiece.

While he would like to work on cleaning up some areas (free throws and minimizing turnovers), King likes the grit he sees from his players.

“This team never quits,” he said. “Never thinks they are out of a game if down or if our lead starts to shrink.

“They are unflappable! They refuse to lose.”

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Once, twice, three times a champ!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , , on January 24, 2017| Leave a Comment »

(John Fisken photo)

   Mia Littlejohn (left) and Tiffany Briscoe are league champs, again. (John Fisken photo)

Our league, yesterday, today, tomorrow.

There ain’t ever been a dynasty in the 1A Olympic League like the one being crafted by the Coupeville High School girls varsity basketball program.

Playing at home for the first time in 45 days Tuesday, the Wolves jumped out to a 13-2 lead after one quarter than strolled home with a 41-26 victory over visiting Klahowya.

The win, Coupeville’s 24th without a loss in the three-year history of the conference, clinches a third-straight league title for the Wolves.

Now sitting at 6-0 in league, 11-3 overall, CHS is on a seven-game winning streak and hasn’t tasted defeat since Dec. 16.

Coupeville, which has five regular season games left, will open the playoffs Feb. 14 against a yet-to-be-decided foe at Bellarmine Prep High School.

With the league title, the Wolves have automatically qualified for the double-elimination portion of districts and will need to win twice to punch their ticket to state for a second straight year.

To see the playoff bracket, pop over to: http://www.olympicleague.com/tournament.php?tournament_id=2187&sport=12

CHS girls’ hoops joins Klahowya girls’ soccer as the only 1A Olympic League programs to have won three straight league titles, but the Wolves 24-0 mark betters the Eagles booters, who are 20-0 in league play all-time.

To get there, Coupeville hit the court aggressively Tuesday night.

After playing an unprecedented eight straight on the road (and going 7-1 against a mix of league and non-league foes), the Wolves might not have recognized their own gym, but they adapted quickly.

Kailey Kellner kicked the game off with a long three-ball from the left side, then, after a Klahowya bucket sliced the lead to one, it was all Wolves, all the time.

Six different players scored to stake Coupeville to a 13-2 lead after one quarter, with Kellner capping things with a running layup off of a nifty steal and set-up pass from Kalia Littlejohn.

The Wolves continued that trend, of teammates setting each other up, throughout the game.

Whether it was Lindsey Roberts snatching a rebound and dishing to Mia Littlejohn for a put-back, or Littlejohn returning the favor by leading a breakaway, then dropping the ball into Roberts waiting fingers at the very last second, CHS was a well-oiled unit for much of the game.

Wolf guards Lauren Grove and Mia Littlejohn were on top of their passing game, threading balls between bodies or sucking in defenders, then flipping the ball to waiting teammates like Allison Wenzel for easy buckets.

Coupeville stretched the lead out to 31-14 midway through the third quarter, before hitting its only true dry spell.

Three straight Klahowya buckets, two coming off of in-bounds passes, put a little starch in CHS coach David King’s collar, and the loss of defensive scrapper Kyla Briscoe (she emerged from a tussle with a broken nose) slowed the Wolf strut for a moment.

But just a moment, as Coupeville came out firing in the fourth, scoring the quarter’s first 10 points to put an exclamation point on things.

Kellner knocked down a runner off a pass from Grove, then stepped outside, way outside, to drain a pretty three-ball, before Mia Littlejohn twinned her, but in reverse order.

Her trey, which was launched from somewhere up around Deception Pass, came first, before Littlejohn dropped in a jumper off of a little stutter-step drive to cap things.

“Mia played one of her better games all year,” King said.

He also praised Wenzel (“Allison gave us some really good defense”), Roberts (“she has provided us with a strong rebounding presence out there all year”) and Coupeville’s ability to control the boards against the Eagles.

Roberts (11), Kellner (7) and Tiffany Briscoe (3) led the carom collection troops, as the Wolves repeatedly got second chances in the paint off of offensive boards.

Coupeville put eight of its 12 players in the scoring column, led by Kellner, who rained down a game-high 18, scoring in every quarter.

Mia Littlejohn (7), Roberts (6), Mikayla Elfrank (3), Wenzel (2), Tiffany Briscoe (2), Grove (2) and Kalia Littlejohn (1) rounded out the well-balanced attack.

Lauren Rose was a spark-plug on both sides of the ball, Kyla Briscoe was a ball-hawk (even while getting blasted across the face by a wayward elbow) and swing players Ema Smith and Sarah Wright brought hustle to the floor in the late-going.

After playing so much of their season on the road, the Wolves close with five of their final six on their home court.

They have two more games this week, with Chimacum (3:30 JV/5:00 varsity) in town Friday and Klahowya (12:30 varsity/2:00 JV) returning to Whidbey Saturday.

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Our spirit is strong, our game better!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , , , on January 24, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Brittany Powers was one of several Wolves who hit huge fourth-quarter shots Tuesday night. (John Fisken photo)

   Brittany Powers was one of several Wolves who hit huge fourth-quarter shots Tuesday night. (John Fisken photo)

Guts.

The Coupeville High School JV girls’ basketball squad does not back down, does not give in, does not believe it will lose.

And that’s why the Wolves won again Tuesday night.

Because, one player after another stepped into the spotlight, seized their moment and sent their family and friends home riding a wave of euphoria.

Scoring the game’s final six points, the Wolves upended visiting Klahowya 29-27 to remain undefeated in Olympic League play.

They sit at 4-0 (6-0 if you give them forfeits for the two times league foes cancelled due to lack of players) and 8-3 overall.

Playing at home for the first time in 45 days, the young Wolves saved their best for the finale.

Trailing 23-21 coming into the fourth, they got one high-pressure play after another, with every player on the floor stepping up at one point or another.

Brittany Powers got things started when she swished a long jumper from the left side to knot things back up, before Klahowya scored back-to-back buckets to take its biggest lead of the night.

Little did the Eagles know they would never score again.

Sarah Wright pulled Coupeville within a bucket, backing her foe down in the paint before whirling to drop in a softly-banked shot off the glass, then Ema Smith sacrificed her body for the good of the team.

Charging from one end of the court to the other, in a mad attempt to get ahead of the ball-handler, Smith somehow got between the basket and the hard-charging Eagle.

Planting herself squarely in the oncoming path of a runaway freight train, she held her ground and got promptly run over.

A little dazed and confused, Smith happily peeled herself off the hardwood as the ref emphatically whistled an offensive foul on Klahowya, giving CHS the ball and a chance to tie with the clock ticking under a minute.

The Wolves took advantage, beating the Eagle press and putting the ball in Ashlie Shank’s hands.

Playing on the day her dad (Coupeville Superintendent Dr. Jim Shank) was celebrating his birthday, the youngest member of the clan drilled a soft jumper to knot things back up at 27-27.

Re-enter Smith, who got in the middle of a scramble for a loose ball — having been the one to knock the ball free in the first place — and recovered it while being blasted to the floor again.

Bouncing down court, the ever-giddy one grabbed the ball from the ref, and with no fanfare or wasted time, swished both of her free throws to give the Wolves a lead they would not relinquish.

Coupeville had started the game strongly, with Maya Toomey-Stout draining an eye-popping three-ball from the corner that she banked off the glass.

With Shank on a rampage — she dropped six of her team-high nine in the opening quarter — the Wolves ran to an early lead, then built on it later with strong inside play.

Nicole Lester dropped in a pair of buckets to fuel an 8-0 run in the second quarter, the first coming off of a rebound, the second on a picture-perfect play where she relentlessly backed down her defender in the paint.

The Wolves spread out their scoring, with seven of 11 players scratching their names in the scoring column.

Shank had four steals to go with her nine points, while Toomey-Stout rattled home five points and Lester and Wright banked in four apiece.

Powers (3), Ema Smith (2) and Avalon Renninger (2) rounded out the scoring, while Scout Smith ran the point and the three-headed beast of Maddy Hilkey, Tia Wurzrainer and Emma Mathusek harassed the Eagles on defense.

Lester led the Wolves on the boards, collecting seven caroms.

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Road warriors hit the jackpot!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , on December 14, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Ema Smith (John Fisken photo)

   Ema Smith racked up four points, six boards, three steals and three blocks in a road win Tuesday night. (John Fisken photo)

Amy King

   CHS coach Amy King (center) gives her troops their marching orders. (David King photo)

Hannah Davidson’s swan song was a gem.

Playing in her final game as a Wolf before a move to California, the Coupeville High School freshman powered her JV girls’ basketball squad to a huge road win Tuesday night.

Davidson dropped in 10 points, snatched 15 rebounds, rejected a pair of shots and capped things by crashing hard to the floor in pursuit of a loose ball in the final seconds of a 26-17 victory against host Klahowya.

“Hannah gave her teammates every thing she had,” CHS coach Amy King said. “A lot of great memories.”

The win, Coupeville’s third straight, lifts the Wolves to 3-1 overall, 1-0 in 1A Olympic League play.

To get there, CHS had to overcome a long trip to Silverdale, a late start (the JV played second) and a shorter roster than normal.

Maya Toomey-Stout and Brittany Powers were out, while Nicole Lester is fighting through a hurt ankle.

But, after a very slow start — Coupeville trailed 4-1 after a less-than-explosive first quarter — the Wolves found their groove and brought the Eagles crashing down.

An 11-2 advantage in the second quarter gave CHS the lead, while an 11-6 Wolf run in the third sealed Klahowya’s fate.

“We started off very slow. They got shots off, we got a little lost and just slower feet than normal,” King said. “Second quarter hit and things changed.”

Scout Smith finally broke the seal on the hoop late in the first, notching a free throw, then the fireworks exploded during the next eight minutes.

Employing their “Powerhouse Group” of big bangers Davidson, Ema Smith and swing player Sarah Wright, the Wolves “really riled things up.”

“Between the three, we got a much needed boost,” King said. “The defense was more dynamic and louder, the offense moved better and we were able to hit the posts on some great passes.”

Ashlie Shank and Maddy Hilkey joined the trio on the floor, and that lineup, which switched from a zone defense to man-to-man, lit up the scoreboard.

“It was the magical change,” King said. “We had a lot more shots go up, they got less rebounds – on the press break, we moved the ball up the floor much better and controlled.”

The game also became much more physical, on both sides of the ball, but especially on Klahowya’s.

“This quarter became the first of high fouls,” King said. “We were getting hit, hugged, knocked down and arms slapped while shooting.

“At one point, Hannah had a Klahowya defender around her neck,” she added. “Hannah, Ema and Sarah seemed to have  a contest going to see who could get the most free throws as we shot 15 in that quarter alone.”

Coupeville responded by clamping down on defense, with Tia Wurzrainer and Emma Mathusek stepping in to put considerable pressure on the Eagle ball-handlers.

With three Klahowya players fouling out in the fourth quarter and the clock ticking down (Coupeville had to leave by 7 PM to catch a ferry), the final stages of the game “seemed to take forever.”

“Time just slowed down,” King said. “That being said, we’re extremely happy for the win.”

Davidson paced the Wolves with a game-high 10 points, while Wright knocked down six and Ema Smith swished four.

Scout Smith (3), Avalon Renninger (2) and Lester (1) rounded out the scorers.

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“We won because of heart!!”

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , , on December 14, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Lauren Grove (John Fisken photo)

   Lauren Grove was one of several Wolves who stepped up Tuesday night to help CHS grit out a win at Klahowya. (John Fisken photo)

Who wants it more?

Tuesday night’s girls’ basketball tilt between Coupeville and Klahowya, featuring two teams under the weather, hinged on heart.

And, despite missing one starter and having another limited in her availability, the Wolves won on grit and determination, besting host Klahowya 35-25.

The win lifts Coupeville to 4-2 overall, 2-0 in 1A Olympic League play.

It’s the 20th consecutive win, without a loss, for the Wolves, since they joined the four-team league in 2014. That ties Klahowya girls’ soccer for the longest unbeaten streak among all league programs.

With three non-conference games up next on the schedule, plus Christmas break, the Wolves don’t face another league game until Jan. 3.

Tuesday night was one of the times on the winning streak where Coupeville truly had to find a different gear to stay flawless.

“We won because of heart!,” CHS coach David King said. “I agree 100% with Tiffany (Briscoe). “Not only was it heart, but we gutted out a very slow-paced game and were determined to make enough plays to win.”

The Wolf round-ball guru discounted the travel time (“We have been on a bus much longer than a game in Silverdale”) and the muted Eagle crowd (“I do know their gym is very quiet. That still isn’t an excuse for our play”), though he did acknowledge his squad is a bit banged up.

Tiffany Briscoe sat out the game because of a leg injury (and not, as mom Amy stated, that “she’s out until she cleans her room”), while point guard Mia Littlejohn fought through illness.

“It’s that time of the year, and players need to dig deep and figure out a way to get a win,” King said. “Mia has been one that it’s really taken a toll on.

“She gave everything she had tonight in limited minutes along with Lindsey (Roberts) and a few others.”

With starters down, King looked to his bench to provide a boost, and it did.

“Others have the opportunity to step up,” he said. “Kalia (Littlejohn) is a spark plug for us when she’s on the court. Tonight was no different.

“With our starters coming out in slow motion, Kalia helped bring our energy level up.”

A sluggish first quarter ended in a 7-7 tie, before the Wolves, behind the play of senior Kailey Kellner, stretched things out to 18-13 at the half.

Kalia Littlejohn, Lauren Grove and Charlotte Langille chipped in with buckets to back Kellner, who hit for five in the quarter.

For Langille, a transfer from New Hampshire, it was her first varsity bucket as a Wolf.

Even with the lead, Coupeville went to the locker room not satisfied, something King appreciated.

“The players knew we weren’t playing well in the half; turnovers and a lackluster offense contributed to our woes,” he said. “Going into the halftime break, Tiffany started it and the rest of the team contributed as well.

“When the coaches walked in, they were discussing our play and what we needed to do to play better,” King said. “This was a big step for them. Recognizing what needed to be fixed and what was working well.”

The Wolves immediately responded to the self-analysis, coming out aggressively on defense in the second half.

“We did a good job of getting deflections and keeping the pressure on Klahowya,” King said.

Mikayla Elfrank, who made off with a team-high four steals, was a dynamo, giving CHS several breakaways for game-changing layups, with all of her teammates jumping in on the chance to bang home a bucket.

“In this type of a game, you try and find any combination of players that will give energy, effort and a chance to win,” King said.

Allison Wenzel came off the bench to help fill the gap left by Briscoe’s absence, snatching six rebounds and giving her team a considerable boost.

She was one of five Wolves to haul in five or more boards — Elfrank led with 10, followed by Kellner (8), Wenzel, Kalia Littlejohn (5) and Roberts (5) — allowing Coupeville to hit a team goal.

“We have to rebound as a team,” King said. “Tonight, we accomplished that.”

Kellner paced CHS with a game-high 12 points, while Elfrank knocked down seven.

Kalia Littlejohn (4), Grove (3), Lauren Rose (2), Langille (2), Mia Littlejohn (2), Sarah Wright (2) and Kyla Briscoe (1) all chipped in, as well.

“I’m very happy with the win,” King said. “One thing I do know about this team and my teams in the past — they all have heart! No matter the situation, I know they are going to give everything they have to the team.

“We see glimpses of a team that can play tough defense and one that shares the ball to get teammates good looks,” he added. “It’s fun to watch when we are doing these things. The players are seeing things differently this year and that’s a great sign.”

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