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Posts Tagged ‘Klahowya’

Heartbreaking? Yes! Season-ending? Never!!

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , on December 13, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Aaron Trumbull splits the defenders for two of his team-high 13 Friday. (John Fisken photos)

Aaron Trumbull splits the defenders for two of his team-high 13 Friday. (John Fisken photos)

Freshman phenom Hunter Smith sparked the Wolf JV squad to its first win of the season.

Freshman phenom Hunter Smith sparked the Wolf JV squad to its first win of the season.

It was a tough one. No doubt.

But now the question becomes, what do you do with the anger and frustration. Do you use it to fuel you as you go forward, or does it kill your season?

Anthony Smith believes it will fuel his squad.

“The guys are mad, but it’s a good mad,” Smith said. “We go in, work hard and get back at it. We take the positives and learn from them.”

Playing their first-ever 1A Olympic League contest Friday night, Smith’s Coupeville High School boys’ basketball team came agonizingly close to a win. Emphasis on the agony.

Two missed free throws by the Wolves in a tie game with 17 seconds to play opened the door for visiting Klahowya to escape with a 57-55 win.

The Eagles (1-4 overall, 1-0 in league play) took advantage of the misses and scored a game-busting layup with less than two ticks on the clock. Coupeville (1-5, 0-1) had a final shot, but it fell short.

Now the Wolves will have a week of practice to fine-tune their fury and bring it to a positive boil before they travel to Orcas Island for a non-conference game Dec. 19.

CHS plays three straight non-league games before they meet Port Townsend in early Jan. for the second of their nine Olympic League games.

Friday, Coupeville went toe-to-toe with the Eagles, leading for much of the game.

Up by three at the half, they came out a bit flat in the third — a recurring trend for the Wolves — but Smith called on his reserves and they stepped up big time.

“I emptied the bench and they did their part,” Smith said. “They held things together and got us going again.”

The game was foul-strewn affair, with the teams combining to shoot 61 free throws. The one positive was that neither team had much to complain about, as both were punished fairly equally.

Klahowya hit 17 of 32 at the charity stripe, while Coupeville banged home 16 of 29.

Aaron Trumbull paced the Wolves with 13 points, while Dalton Martin poured in 10.

Joel Walstad (9), Ryan Griggs (5), Hesselgrave (4), Gabe Wynn (4), Matt Shank (4), Aaron Curtin (4) and Jared Helmstadter (2) rounded out the scoring.

It was the first varsity points for Helmstadter.

Griggs snagged six boards, while Martin pulled in three caroms, blocked three shots and made off with three steals.

JV wins first: Playing without coach Dustin Van Velkingburgh, who was on medical leave as he deals with heart issues, the young guns pulled off a 36-32 victory.

After the game, Smith and the players checked in with Coach V on speaker phone and relayed the positive news.

“It was a great one for the JV,” Smith said. “They worked hard and deserved it.”

Freshman Hunter Smith poured in 13, snagged six rebounds and made off with two assists to spark the win.

DeAndre Mitchell (9), Desmond Bell (4), Brian Shank (3), Dante Mitchell (3) and Ben Olson (2) also scored for the Wolves.

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History, one step at a time!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , , , on December 13, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Mia Littlejohn and the Wolves aree soaring. (John Fisken photos)

Mia Littlejohn and the Wolves are soaring. (John Fisken photos)

Kacie KIle

   Kacie Kiel, seen here in an earlier game, shows off the superb defense that sparks the Wolves.

The Coupeville High School girls’ basketball squad would love to be the team to break a school-wide 10-year dry spell and hang up the first new league championship banner on the gym wall since 2004.

With that in mind, the Wolves made a statement Friday, drilling the biggest school in the 1A Olympic League, Klahowya, 48-26 on their home court.

The first victory in any sport by a Coupeville team against the Eagles, it lifted the Wolves to 3-2 overall, 1-0 in league play.

CHS is the only team in the four-school league to have a win this season, with Klahowya, Port Townsend and Chimacum a combined 0-12.

With eight league games left to play — the Wolves face each rival three times — it’s too early to declare the banner a done deal, but it’s a nice start, especially since Coupeville won handily while having a bit of an off night.

“It wasn’t our best game on the season, but we fought through the sluggish play and girls not feeling well,” said Wolf coach David King. “We executed well enough on offense and slowed them down in the second half by going to a 3-2 zone.”

Coupeville jumped out to a 13-7 lead after one quarter, with Makana Stone dropping in six of her game-high 20 points in the opening moments.

The Wolves spread out the offense, as usual, with Kacie Kiel raining down three (“a perfectly executed play with the ball touching nothing but net”) and the duo of Hailey Hammer and Julia Myers both banging home a bucket.

CHS stretched the lead to ten, only to momentarily lose the momentum and allow Klahowya back in the game. A couple of quick buckets let the Eagles cut the halftime margin to five.

A defensive shift — the Wolves used a zone defense they hadn’t actually practiced — sparked things and Coupeville finally clicked in on the offensive side as well.

From that point on it was all Wolves, all the time, with Mia Littlejohn dropping in a 15-footer and Monica Vidoni taking a nice entry pass from Wynter Thorne and blowing past her defender for the bucket.

Izzy Severns, who led Klahowya to a state soccer title in the fall, did her best to keep the Eagles close, pouring in 16.

“She was all over the court disrupting our offense,” King said. “Next time we play them we will make the necessary adjustments and look to do a better job defensively on her.”

Even with several of his players fighting through illness, and starter Madeline Strasburg still out with an injury, King was pleased with the team-wide effort.

Eight of nine players scored, while the Wolves hauled down 35 boards.

Stone snagged 10 caroms, Hammer collected seven and Myers, Littlejohn and Vidoni hauled down four apiece.

Kiel ran the point superbly, handing out a team-high five assists.

While Stone was at the forefront of the scoring attack, Myers stepped up with a solid nine-point performance to back her. Always a scrapper, she impressed her coach with a “sweet drive from the right wing.”

“She caught the ball, assessed and then made a play,” King said. “She drove baseline, beat her defender and was able to get to the basket for a layup.

“Her game has elevated from last year and she is able to handle the ball off the dribble better,” he added. “This season’s version of Julia is a more confident player and it’s showing in her play.”

Kiel tossed in eight, Hammer swished four, Littlejohn popped for three and Vidoni and McKenzie Bailey chipped in with a bucket apiece.

Coupeville gets right back at it Saturday, hosting 2A Sequim in a non-conference bout. JV tips at 2 PM, varsity somewhere around 3:45ish.

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All hail the champs!!

Posted in Girls Soccer, tagged , , , , , , , on November 22, 2014| Leave a Comment »

State soccer champs Izzy Severns, McKenzie Cook and Emma Laurion.

State soccer champs (and Coupeville Sports interviewees) Izzy Severns, McKenzie Cook and Emma Laurion.

One season into the sports year and the brand-new 1A Olympic League has its first state champion.

The Klahowya High School girls’ soccer team nipped King’s 1-0 Saturday to wrap a 21-2 season and claim the second state title in program history.

The Eagles, who dropped to 1A this year and joined Coupeville, Port Townsend and Chimacum in the new league, won a 2A title in 1999.

Paced by the high-scoring duo of seniors McKenzie Cook (https://coupevillesports.com/2014/09/08/know-your-foe-klahowyas-mckenzie-cook/) and Izzy Severns (https://coupevillesports.com/2014/09/11/know-your-foe-klahowyas-izzy-severns/), Klahowya outscored its opponents 101-15.

The Eagles, who had 13 shutouts in their championship run, fell twice to Seattle Christian — 3-0 in the regular season and 1-0 at districts.

They avoided a third meeting when SC was upended 3-1 by Meridian in the first round of the state tourney.

Klahowya beat Coupeville 5-0 and 4-0 in the first two meetings ever between the schools.

The nine-goal differential was substantially less than what the Eagles inflicted on fellow league mates Port Townsend (15-0) and Chimacum (15-1).

Another Wolf foe from this season, Crosspoint Academy, also won a state title Saturday, capturing its second-straight 1B/2B title.

The private school, led by a hat trick from one-time Coupeville resident Emma Laurion (https://coupevillesports.com/2014/09/16/the-best-wolf-that-never-was/) stuffed Liberty Bell 5-1 for its 15th straight win.

The Warriors finished 16-2-1.

Crosspoint, which beat Coupeville 7-1, outscored its opponents 117-36, losing only to 3A Capital and 1A Charles Wright Academy.

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Standing strong!!

Posted in Girls Soccer, tagged , , , , on October 28, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Luvera

Ana Luvera charges into the fray. (John Fisken photos)

Wolf goalie Julia Myers blasts the ball out of the danger zone. (John Fisken photo)

Wolf goalie Julia Myers blasts the ball out of the danger zone.

It was not an ideal combination.

Facing a team chock full of players known for having big, booming legs capable of airmailing goals in from considerable difference, the Coupeville High School girls’ soccer team also had to deal with playing into a gusty, 30 MPH headwind in the first half Monday.

Aided a bit by having the wind at its back, and a lot by the caliber of its scoring aces, visiting Klahowya jumped out to a 4-0 lead at the half, then coasted home for the win.

The #5 ranked team in 1A, the Eagles improved to 13-1 overall, 5-0 in Olympic League play and clinched the league title.

Even with the loss, Coupeville remained in second place in the four team league, and is all but guaranteed a playoff spot.

The Wolves (5-5-1, 2-2) sit in front of Port Townsend (2-10, 1-3), which nipped Chimacum (2-11, 1-4) in a 2-1 nail-biter Monday.

The top three teams make the playoffs, and, barring a monumental upset, Chimacum will lose to Klahowya Tuesday, which would eliminate them from finishing ahead of Coupeville in any scenario.

The Wolves finish with two games against Port Townsend, hitting the road Tuesday before welcoming the Redhawks to Whidbey Thursday. Win at least one of those two and CHS finishes second.

That shouldn’t be a tall order if the Wolves play like they did in the second half Monday.

Led by scrappy senior goalie Julia Myers, who made adjustments at the half and shut out Klahowya after the break, Coupeville looked much stronger.

Only three schools have held Klahowya to less goals in a game this season, and two of those — Olympic and North Kitsap — are 2A schools.

Seattle Christian is the only 1A school to fare better than Coupeville, and it handed the Eagles their only loss, 3-0.

“Second half was a much different affair; we made our runs in the second half,” said CHS coach Troy Cowan. “Marisa Etzell going the length of the pitch multiple times and getting either a shot on goal or some dynamite crosses … great job defense and Julia.”

Coupeville honored its eight seniors (Ivy Luvera, Christine Fields, Ana Luvera, Etzell, Myers, Micky LeVine, Erin Rosenkranz and Jacki Ginnings) at the half, players who have led the team for some time.

“The girls have done a great job of believing in themselves and taking this program to uncharted territories,” Cowan said. “They are true pioneers and they aren’t finished yet.

“These girls have some fire in their bellies and I’m not sure if I would want to face them anytime soon,” he added. “Time will tell just how far they go and just how good we are.”

A huge part of those player’s development has come from their time in select soccer playing with the Whidbey Islanders.

“High school coaches get, if we are lucky, three months to work with these student athletes, so we really just tweak and try and polish the girls to fit our systems,” Cowan said. “The real work is done by their select coaches.

“Sean LeVine, Scott Rosenkranz and Ryan Baker, thanks coaches, you guys are the best!”

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We rule these courts!!

Posted in Boys Tennis, tagged , , , , , on October 28, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Aaron Curtin (John Fisken photo)

   Aaron Curtin went 3-0 Monday to capture the singles title at the inaugural 1A Olympic League tourney. (John Fisken photo)

The Wolves have arrived.

In the biggest triumph of Coupeville High School’s short run in the 1A Olympic League, the boys’ tennis squad upended heavily-favored Klahowya in the league tourney Monday in Kitsap, qualifying four players for Districts.

Singles players Aaron Curtin and Sebastian Davis went one-two (with Davis shocking the #1 seed in the semifinals) and will be joined by the duo of Connor McCormick and Loren Nelson, who rebounded from an opening loss to claim fourth place in doubles.

Districts will be held Saturday, Nov. 1 at a time and site yet to be determined.

After his team’s impressive run Monday, longtime Wolf coach Ken Stange was sky-high.

“It was a great tourney!,” he said. “We exceeded expectations in singles, and we met expectations in doubles.”

The tourney, which brought together Klahowya, which had gone 4-0 in league play, Coupeville and the combined forces of Chimacum and Port Townsend, was played with a slightly different format than normal.

Instead of playing best two sets out of three, matches were pro sets to eight, win by two.

Curtin went 3-0 on the day, nipping Davis (2-1) in an all-Coupeville finale that came down to a tiebreaker.

Davis, riding high after bouncing Klahowya’s #1 player in the semis, had a 4-1 advantage on Curtin in the tiebreaker, before the senior rebounded to rip off six straight points to notch the win.

While Stange was pleased to see Curtin, who went to state as a doubles player last year, seize the moment, he was equally impressed with the continued rise of his #2 player.

“Sebastian had a coming out party of sorts,” Stange said. “Early in the season, he was playing well, but having a hard time closing the door on his opponents.

“As we hit the final third of the season, he really came alive,” he added. “He’d already had consistency and a bit of power, but he added some tenacity to the mix — a bit of the killer instinct.”

Taking down the tourney’s top seed, who beat Curtin during regular season play, was an unexpected bonus.

“Sebastian made two very big statements today,” Stange said. “He established himself as a co-#1 singles player.

“He also let it be known that the singles court is all his next season. He is the early pick as top player in the league,” he added. “With more off-season practice, he’ll be challenging the private schoolers at districts, looking to advance to May play.”

Not that the Wolf junior can’t make that jump right now.

“Both Sebastian and Aaron stand a good shot to advance to state, if they bring their respective A games this weekend,” Stange said.

Coupeville’s third singles player, senior Kyle Bodamer, went 1-2, just missing a spot in the semifinals opposite Curtin.

McCormick and Loren Nelson fell in their opening match, then stormed back to win two in a row and advance.

Freshmen Joey Lippo and William Nelson knocked off Chimacum’s #1 team before losing to the eventual champs.

They were eliminated along with Bodamer and the team of Joseph Wedekind and John McClarin, who lost both of their matches.

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