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Posts Tagged ‘Lindsey Roberts’

Put a scare into them!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , on December 16, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Sarah Wright knocked down four points and played aggressively on defense Saturday against highly-touted Bellevue Christian. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

It’s a work in progress, and they showed progress.

Playing aggressively, yet under control, in the first half Saturday, the rebuilding Coupeville High School girls basketball team rattled visiting Bellevue Christian.

And, while the Vikings, who boasted a huge height advantage, eventually pulled away for a 51-29 non-conference win, it didn’t come as easily as the score might indicate.

BC, which improves to 5-2, padded the margin with a string of fourth-quarter buckets.

Otherwise, the game was a pitched battle until Coupeville, now 1-7, suffered through a crippling third-quarter shooting drought.

The Wolves jumped on the Vikings early for an 8-2 lead, and led as late as 15-14 with three minutes to play in the first half.

Ema Smith, joining the starting lineup, gave CHS a jolt of energy, knocking down a pull-up jumper to open the scoring, then draining a pair of free throws.

While all of her points came in the first quarter, the junior fireball played wicked defense all game.

Teaming up with Sarah Wright to form a feisty, elbows swingin’ duo, Smith helped keep Bellevue’s Twin Towers under control for much of the game.

The Vikings boast four players 5-10 or taller (to just one on Coupeville’s current roster), and two of those are 6-1 and 6-2.

Smith and Wright tangled with the tall trees, bumping and knocking them out of place on a regular basis, forcing the BC duo to sweat for what buckets they could get.

Wright hit the boards with a wild glee, fighting for every loose ball like her life depended on it, and she banged home a bucket after nabbing a first quarter carom.

Up 8-2, the Wolves hit a bit of a dry stretch, allowing BC to run off nine straight points and regain the lead at 11-8 heading into the second.

Coupeville had an immediate response, however, as Lindsey Roberts drilled a three-ball to kick off the second quarter. The play was a thing of beauty, as the ball skipped from Chelsea Prescott to Wright to Roberts to the bottom of the net.

Breaking Bellevue’s press on back-to-back plays, the Wolves snagged their final lead at 15-14 when Prescott slapped home a layup off of a long pass.

Once again, a very-solid, veteran BC squad held fast, though, closing the half on a 10-3 run.

And yet, there was a hint of trepidation in their eyes as the Vikings exited the floor.

After blowing South Whidbey out by 30 Friday, the second half of their Whidbey doubleheader wasn’t going completely to plan.

Wright came out swinging in the third quarter, backing down her defender and banking home a bucket on the first play to pull the Wolves within 24-20.

Unfortunately, that was the moment Coupeville’s shooting touch decided to vanish.

The Wolves only managed one field goal the rest of the night, a put-back from Roberts late in the fourth.

Other than a string of free-throws, CHS couldn’t get anything to drop over the final 15 minutes, including a three-ball from Mikayla Elfrank which went 95% of the way down, then somehow popped right back out.

While Coupeville couldn’t buy a field goal in the late going, it did enjoy one of its best shooting performances from the free throw line this season, hitting 12-18. That included 7-10 in the second half.

Elfrank paced CHS with nine points. That lifts her to 215 for her career and slides her past former Wolf great Linda Cheshier into 50th place on the Wolf girls career scoring chart.

Prescott and Roberts added five apiece, Wright and Ema Smith both popped for four, and Kyla Briscoe and Scout Smith each dropped in a free throw.

Avalon Renninger was a whirling dervish on defense during her stint on the floor.

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Late run falls just shy!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , on December 12, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Lindsey Roberts had nine points and 10 rebounds Tuesday in a loss at Port Townsend. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

They haven’t been here before.

After three seasons in the penthouse, the Coupeville High School girls basketball team will have to fight its way from the ground floor up if it wants to win a fourth-straight Olympic League crown.

With one starter missing Tuesday and another forced to sit out a chunk of the game with an injury, the Wolves fell 38-32 at Port Townsend, ending the second-longest winning streak in league history.

Coupeville had won 27 straight conference games, finishing 9-0 in each of the first three seasons of the four-team league.

That was two shy of Klahowya girls soccer, which is 29-0 over four seasons.

Now an uncharacteristic 0-1 in league, 1-6 overall, the Wolves still have two-thirds of their season ahead.

They’ll also have some time to continue seeking their groove, which has been a bit elusive while trying to deal with the loss of four starters from last year’s team.

CHS will play four straight non-league games next, not returning to conference action until Jan. 6. The Wolves close with eight of their final 10 against league foes.

For the moment, Chimacum sits atop the standings at 1-0, followed by Port Townsend (1-1), Klahowya (0-0) and Coupeville (0-1).

When they do return to league play, the goal will be to bring the same intensity the Wolves showed in the fourth quarter of Tuesday night’s game.

Having absorbed a 13-0 beat-down in the third quarter, Coupeville was sitting with just 14 points heading into the final eight minutes. They responded in style, scoring 18 and almost catching the RedHawks.

“Something happened to start the fourth. The game we had prepared to play showed up,” said CHS coach David King. “Instead of being the prey we became the predator.

“We had them on their heels, but time doesn’t stop and we ran out of it tonight.”

Employing an aggressive defense, Coupeville forced numerous turnovers in the fourth, then drove straight at the heart of Port Townsend’s own D.

It worked, as the Wolves got some easy buckets and also went to the free throw line on a regular basis.

The biggest beneficiary was Lindsey Roberts, who knocked down five of six at the charity stripe down the stretch.

Coupeville closed to within 36-32 with a minute and a half left in the game, only to have its shots fail to drop down the stretch.

The game opened as a struggle of wills, with both teams having trouble getting anything to stay in the bucket.

The Wolves were hurt by the loss of Kyla Briscoe, who went down early with a knee injury. While she returned later in the game, losing their starting point guard for a chunk threw off the rotation.

With Briscoe on the sideline, sophomore Scout Smith stepped in and ran the team smartly, while others helped fill the gap.

Roberts, who finished with nine points and a team-high 10 rebounds, “played outstanding on both ends of the court” while Mikayla Elfrank torched the RedHawks with 10 points, seven steals and six rebounds.

The team’s leading scorer with 78 points in seven games, Elfrank has passed 28 former Wolves this season, and now sits #51 on the CHS girls basketball career scoring list with 206 points.

Ema Smith drilled a pair of jumpers and was a flawless 3-3 at the line to score seven points, while Sarah Wright “played one of her best games” with five points and five rebounds.

After struggling at the free throw line in recent games, CHS had its best performance of the season Tuesday, hitting 10-15.

Allison Wenzel hauled down four rebounds, while youngsters Chelsea Prescott and Avalon Renninger earned significant playing time in the second half.

Prescott, a freshman, netted a free throw for her first varsity point.

“We had players stepping up and taking on roles they hadn’t expected when the day started,” King said. “I was very proud of the players that showed up today.

“We talked about commitment and playing for each other,” he added. “I’ll take a group of players like that every day.”

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One step away!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , , on December 8, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Lindsey Roberts scored a game-high 11 Friday, passing mom Sherry to claim family career scoring honors. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Their record is a bit deceptive.

Stung by poor free throw shooting down the stretch Friday, the Coupeville High School girls basketball team fell 39-35 to visiting 2A Sequim.

And, with that loss, the Wolves fall to 1-4 heading into another non-conference game Saturday, this one on the road at South Whidbey.

But the record is deceptive, as I said, because if a few plays go differently, a ball bounces in a different direction, or some free throws drop, and CHS is 4-1, maybe even 5-0.

The Wolves, who are rebuilding after losing four starters, have been in every one of their games until the end, with three of four losses by six points or less.

Friday night was a classic example of how Coupeville is playing this season — scrappy on defense, opportunistic on offense, but just not always clicking on every cylinder.

Time after time against Sequim, the Wolves would rally, put together a nice run, pull within a single bucket, then not be able to get over that last hump.

CHS led twice, at 6-5 after Ema Smith threw her rear into a defender and backed her down for a solid bucket in the paint, and 19-18 right before the half.

At that moment, the Wolves were on their best run of the night, a 10-2 surge which saw four different players score.

Kyla Briscoe started it with a soft jumper in the paint, then Scout Smith tickled the nets for a pair of free throws before setting up Lindsey Roberts for a bucket with a beautiful entry pass.

Add two more free throws from Roberts, who passed mom Sherry to become the family’s all-time leading scorer (she had already beaten her grandfather, dad, two uncles and an aunt) and a coast-to-coast romp by Kalia Littlejohn, and the heat was on.

Littlejohn, who spent much of the night driving Sequim’s ball-handlers batty, picked the pocket of a rival, then thundered to daylight, slicing between two sprinting defenders to slap the ball up and off the glass.

But, as good as the moment seemed, it was fleeting.

Sequim dropped in a short jumper to regain the lead and end the half, then refused to surrender the momentum in the second half.

Three times the Wolves repeated the same sequence — fall behind, rally within a bucket, then fall behind again — before eventually running out of opportunities and time.

Free throws were a true killer as the game played out.

After hitting five of six freebies in the second quarter, Coupeville made just 4-17 free throws in the second half, including missing seven in the game’s final 51 seconds.

As he watched it play out, CHS coach David King had a mixed reaction.

“Throughout our first five games we have done a very good job of attacking the basket and getting to the free throw line,” he said. “Today we shot 23. I’ll take that every game.

“We just aren’t capitalizing with all of the misses,” King added. “We have to start taking advantage if we are to take the next step up as a team.”

Coupeville kept things close in the final seconds by hitting the boards (and the floor) hard.

Mikayla Elfrank ripped a rebound away from a Sequim player on one of the missed free throws, turning it into second chance points, while Ema Smith was an artist.

Crashing to the floor, she pulled a loose ball from between a player’s legs, then alertly popped up to her knees and delivered a bounce pass right on to the fingertips of Roberts.

Bing-bang-boom and a broken play turns into a Wolf bucket.

Hustle plays like that, and the take-no-prisoners style of team leaders like Littlejohn (“Kalia played outstanding again for us”) offer genuine hope for King as the team prepares to launch a bid for a fourth-straight Olympic League crown.

Coupeville’s hoops guru also liked what his players brought to the court on defense.

“At times we caused some turnovers with our press. We did some good things,” King said. “It’s a work in progress and we are dedicating more time to making it a disruptive part of our game.

“A good start tonight.”

Roberts paced Coupeville with 11 points, lifting the junior to 173 in her career. Her mom scored 165 in her Sherry Bonacci days before graduating in 1989.

Elfrank and Littlejohn each tossed in nine, while Scout Smith, Briscoe and Ema Smith all had a bucket to round out the scoring.

Allison Wenzel, Sarah Wright and Avalon Renninger saw floor time as well for the Wolves.

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Say g’day to a win!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , , on December 2, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Coupeville’s Sarah Wright makes a cultural connection Saturday with a rival from Australia. (Amy King photos)

The Wolves show off gifts from the visitors.

   Genna Wright (left) and Maddie Vondrak play with their new finger puppet koalas.

Two continents, one shared love of goofing off for photos.

It was exactly what they needed.

Hours after a rough loss on their home court Friday night, the Coupeville High School girls basketball team dug down deep Saturday morning and rallied to pull out a win against a traveling team from Australia.

The 42-34 win over Flinders Christian Community College, captured on South Whidbey’s court, lifts the Wolves to 1-3 on the season.

It also caps a brutal open stretch to Coupeville’s schedule, in which it played four games in six days.

Now CHS gets a bit of a break, before welcoming Sequim to town Dec. 8.

The match-up with Flinders, which was added to the schedule at the last second, turned out to be a great experience for the Wolves on two fronts. They played a stellar game against a quality foe, and they got a unique cultural experience.

“The players and coaches from Flinders Christian were top notch!,” Coupeville coach David King said. “Our players enjoyed this experience so much they were hoping we could do something like this every year.

“Yes, it was a basketball game; someone was going to win and someone lose,” he added. “But meeting others from the other side of the world and having both sides come out of it like they were long-lost friends was great to see.”

Coupeville was originally set to hop back on the bus right after their game, but changed plans and hung out with their Australian counterparts as the Flinders boys team played South Whidbey in the second half of a doubleheader.

The Falcons kept Whidbey Island’s record intact, winning that one 44-33.

“We sat with the Flinders girls and I’m not sure how much actual game-watching was going on, but the conversations never stopped,” King said. “An experience to not be forgotten by those involved in the game.”

The girls game involved two tired squads, as Flinders arrived at Sea-Tac Friday night after an 18-hour plane trip (and a three-hour delay).

After their Saturday opener, the Aussies play several more games as they travel across Washington and California.

So, while the Wolves “did start a bit slow,” falling behind 12-6 after one quarter, King wasn’t about to use tiredness as an excuse.

Instead, he and his players focused on the areas which have hurt them in three close losses, from simplifying what they were doing on offense to hitting their free throws.

And boom, it all worked.

“We wanted to play to our strengths and play consistently. We did that throughout the game,” King said.

With Lindsey Roberts finding her groove on the offensive end of the floor in the second quarter, tossing in half of her game-high 12 points, the Wolves went on a 15-5 tear, turning a six-point deficit into a four-point advantage at the half.

She wasn’t the only Wolf getting hot, as Ema Smith, in her second game this season, and first as a starter, banged home a pair of buckets in support.

The second half was a war of attrition, with Coupeville stretching the lead to 10, Flinders roaring back to cut the margin to just two, then the Wolves regaining the momentum.

“When we moved the ball on offense we were able to penetrate into the key or get some open jumpers,” King said. “Flinders set up a press that had us struggling for a bit. After making an adjustment in a timeout and then again at halftime, we were able to navigate it and put pressure on them in the half court.”

One second-half play in particular brought a smile to the faces of the CHS coaching staff.

Pounding the ball down low, Wolf junior Sarah Wright, giving up several inches to a 6-foot-1 Flinders defender, made King positively gush.

“She squared up, gave an up-fake and got the defender to bite. One dribble to get space and a clean shot went up and hit nothing but net,” King said. “Almost daily we talk about getting the defender to go for a fake and Sarah has been working on this since our season started.

“We ask our post players on offense to call, better yet demand the ball in the post if they have the advantage,” he added. “Sarah did just that. Set up on the low block, and called for the ball by letting her teammates know she had a mismatch.

“Music to my ears.”

Wright was a terror all day, ripping down eight rebounds to lead the Wolves in cleaning the glass.

Roberts filled up the stat sheet as well, adding seven rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal to go with her career-high 12 points.

With 162 career points, the Wolf junior is just four points shy of passing mom Sherry (Bonacci) Roberts to become the highest-scoring Wolf hoops star in family history.

She’s already passed grandfather Sandy Roberts, dad Jon Roberts, uncles Jay Roberts and Danny Bonacci and aunt Jennifer (Eelkema) Roberts.

Mikayla Elfrank, “playing her usual disruptive game,” tossed in eight points, while Ema Smith and Wright added seven apiece. Kalia Littlejohn and Kyla Briscoe rounded out the attack with four points each.

Two of those points came on a play where she pilfered the ball and turned the steal into a fast-break layup.

“We have talked about Kyla being more decisive; that’s the kind of play we are talking about,” King said.

Coupeville also got strong play from Allison Wenzel, Avalon Renninger, Nicole Lester, Scout Smith (making her first start) and Chelsea Prescott.

For Prescott and Lester, it was their varsity debut and “both represented themselves well.”

Flinders shared its scoring load, with all nine players notching their name in the book.

Laura Gillett and Leah Davies each went for six to pace the visitors, while Charlie White (5), Natalie Cannon (5), Georgia Howes (5), Bridget Beckett (2), Charli Murr (2), Holly Gibson (2) and Olivia Brice (1) also scored.

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Best in the biz (and back to prove it)!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , , on November 17, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Wolf junior Lindsey Roberts offers offensive pop and defensive intensity to a basketball squad seeking a fourth-straight league title. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

   Kalia Littlejohn brings speed, scrappy defense and a never-say-die attitude to the floor every night.

“I still believe we are the team to beat.”

David King has been coaching long enough to see his share of both highs and lows. While he knows this year’s Coupeville High School girls squad is a team in transition, he’s ready for another battle.

After making a run to the state tourney two years ago, the Wolves returned to the district playoffs as Olympic League champs in 2016-2017, only to be unceremoniously bounced.

To which King says, shake it off.

“With improving daily and playing our best, we are gunning for the playoffs and taking the top spot in our league,” he said. “Last year we made it to the double-elimination round of districts, didn’t play well in either game.

“With time to reflect, we have a better understanding of what we need to do to prepare if we are in the position again.”

In the short run of the 1A Olympic League, which is entering its fourth season of basketball, Coupeville’s girls have been the undisputed big, bad beast.

Three straight conference titles and a 27-0 mark against rivals Port Townsend, Klahowya and Chimacum earns the Wolves a big target on their back. But it also increases their eagerness to defend and preserve that streak.

“The gap has closed with the other teams in our league,” King said. “Each team has some very good players, us included.

“At that point it comes down to the strengths you have as a team and how you can conquer and/or minimize your weaknesses.”

Port Townsend, led by senior Kaitlyn Meek, “has always played us tough and can challenge for the top spot” while Chimacum “battles every game and doesn’t quit until the final buzzer.”

Add in Klahowya, which “is a good defensive team, is always up for a challenge and plays us well,” and Coupeville has to bring its best game each night.

That shouldn’t be an issue, as talent runs deep on the Wolf bench.

While CHS lost key players – Lauren Grove, Kailey Kellner and Tiffany Briscoe graduated, Mia Littlejohn transferred and Lauren Rose is taking the season off — the Wolves retain considerable strength.

Juniors Lindsey Roberts and Kalia Littlejohn and seniors Mikayla Elfrank and Kyla Briscoe are the top returning veterans, while senior Allison Wenzel, juniors Sarah Wright and Ema Smith and sophomore Scout Smith are expected to play major roles.

Roberts and Elfrank, both entering their third season on the Wolf varsity, boast the most playing time of any returning veterans.

“Both will bounce between the wing and post,” King said. “They are our better post defenders, along with having the length and speed to guard very well on the perimeter.”

The duo will also see some time at point guard, a slot where Littlejohn and Briscoe will also be called upon.

“Kalia came out and made great strides last year for our team,” King said. “This year, she has a year under her belt, more confidence and is comfortable. The obvious choice is having her be our spark plug from the point guard position.

“Kyla is right up there with the other three; she was slowed last year with returning from an injury,” he added. “She’ll mainly be a wing-type player, but can lead us from the point guard position and also play the post when called upon.”

With his core four all able to bounce from position to position, and handle each role’s intricacies, King is afforded the luxury of being able to mix and match at will.

“The great thing about this foursome is that they have become very versatile and excel in each position they play,” he said. “They all can play multiple positions with minimal to no drop off at any of the positions.”

Sophomore Avalon Renninger will be a swing player, pulling time on both varsity and JV, while several other Wolves have a strong shot at eventually joining her in a similar role.

Juniors Ashlie Shank, Maddy Hilkey and Nicole Lester, sophomore Tia Wurzrainer and freshman Chelsea Prescott form that group.

“They’ll start out on JV (with coach Amy King), with the opportunity to showcase their skills and talent,” David King said. “There will be opportunities for each to earn and possibly become a swing player as the season progresses.

“All of them need to get the valuable playing time on the JV court to improve and hone their skills,” he added. “Right now, with eight to nine varsity players ahead of them, it would be hard to get playing time on a varsity court.”

Rounding out the Wolf roster are freshmen Mollie Bailey, Heidi Meyers, Genna Wright and Kylie Chernikoff and foreign exchange student Julia Garcia Onoro.

Maddie Vondrak is team manager.

“What this group lacks in experience (being freshman or never playing before), they are showing they make it up with hustle and determination,” King said. “They aren’t afraid to step in and give 100% effort in each drill.

“Mollie and Genna went to camp with us, which helps their learning curve at this stage,” he added. “All of them are fitting in really well and show a willingness to learn and get better.”

As both the varsity and JV prep for a new campaign, Wolf coaches have several areas they stress.

“To start the season our main goal is to get familiar with ourselves as a team,” King said. “Understand each other’s strengths and recognize how we can help each other by putting ourselves in positions to be successful. Play to our strengths.

“Every team starts at a certain level on day one,” he added. “Every team then looks to improve and get better each day. We are no exception.

“By the time the end of the season rolls around we want to be playing our best basketball.”

Some areas of focus include building mental toughness, which will help come playoff time, and learning patience on offense, which will help the Wolves capitalize on their opponents mistakes.

“Each year we seem to struggle with playing too fast, which in turn is out of control,” King said with a wry smile. “A team can play fast, but if it’s not controlled it leads to turnovers, bad shots and fouls. I like the fast pace, we just need to get better at playing fast and when to pull it back.

“We preach that mistakes will happen on every possession,” he added. “It’s the team that can move past that, that has the advantage. Learn from it, don’t quit and move forward.

“We are also working on players recognizing what the other teams are giving us and taking advantage of that.”

While Coupeville will have to figure out a way to replace the scoring punch offered by the players no longer in uniform, King likes the makeup of his current players, and the intangibles they bring to the floor.

“The players love to play defense and be disruptive and, top to bottom, many of the players are capable of being able to play two or three different positions,” King said. “We may not be the tallest team, but our athletic ability and overall team speed is second to none.

“Our post and wing players aren’t afraid of contact and are willing to do the dirty work and play strong in the post area.”

The greatest intangible, though, might be their chemistry.

“The team has a positive outlook with their teammates,” King said. “They are a family and are willing to help each other and have a great attitude.”

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