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Posts Tagged ‘Mount Vernon Christian’

Wolf JV claims OT thriller

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , , on June 3, 2021| Leave a Comment »

William Davidson and the Coupeville JV have won three straight games. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

They called in the legend.

With Coupeville High School JV boys basketball coach Hunter Smith not available Thursday, the Wolves turned to hardwood guru Randy Bottorff, and he made all the right calls down the stretch.

Guided by their mentor, the CHS young guns won a wild one, toppling visiting Mount Vernon Christian 48-46 in an overtime thriller.

The victory keeps a hot streak burning, as Coupeville has won three straight and carries a 3-3 record into a Saturday road trip to Orcas Island.

Thursday’s tilt was a nice bit of revenge for the Wolves, who lost by 16 the first time these teams played.

Trailing 11-5 at the first break, Coupeville dug down deep and put together two strong quarters in a row.

A 14-8 run in the second, powered by six points from Jonathan Valenzuela, knotted the game at 19-19, before a 15-10 third quarter surge staked CHS to a 34-29 lead heading into the final frame.

Playing their second game in a 24-hour period, the Wolves hit the wall a bit in the fourth quarter, allowing MVC to play catch-up, but overtime belonged to the home team.

Valenzuela dropped in five of his team-high 12 points in the extra period, with running mate Cole White tickling the twines for a crucial free throw.

With all five Wolves on the floor playing stiff man-to-man defense, Coupeville forced MVC into a weak shot at the buzzer to seal the win.

“We were gassed, but our guys showed a great deal of resiliency,” Bottorff said. “I’m pretty proud of them.”

Dominic Coffman made the nets jump to the tune of 10 points in support of Valenzuela’s 12, with White (9), Nick Guay (8), Logan Downes (6), Zane Oldenstadt (2), and William Davidson (1) also scoring.

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Rough night, brighter tomorrow

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , on June 3, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Audrianna Shaw leads the Coupeville girls in scoring this season. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

The road ahead gets easier.

After enduring the toughest 24+ hours of the season, the Coupeville High School girls basketball team has four very-winnable games left on the schedule.

Thursday night was painful, as the Wolves fell 55-6 to visiting Mount Vernon Christian, their second blowout loss to a Northwest 2B/1B League powerhouse in as many days.

Now 3-5 after falling to undefeated La Conner Wednesday, then coming up short against the one-loss Hurricanes a day later, CHS gets back at it Saturday with a trip to Orcas Island.

That’s a school the Wolves lost a thriller to the first time around, while they have already beaten each of their final three foes — Friday Harbor, Concrete, and Darrington.

Thursday’s clash with MVC was the first time the Hurricanes had been on the floor since La Conner shredded them in a match-up of unbeaten teams.

I might be guessing, but the visitors looked hungry for payback, and against anyone who wandered into their path.

With Coupeville coming hard on defense, the game actually stayed close for a large chunk of the first quarter.

Junior guard Audrianna Shaw, who leads the Wolves in scoring this season, drilled a three-ball from the top of the arc to pull CHS within 5-3.

While MVC responded with three quick buckets, Coupeville got a free throw from Izzy Wells, a nice play from sparkplug Maddie Georges — where she expertly drew a charging foul — and trailed just 13-4 at the first break.

Unfortunately, that was where everything started to break down.

The Wolves went scoreless in the second quarter, while MVC got hot, burying four treys on its way to an 18-0 run.

Up 31-4 at the half, MVC stretched the margin to 39-6 after three quarters, before holding Coupeville scoreless again in the fourth quarter.

The Wolves only bucket in the second half came from Izzy Wells, who narrowly avoided having the ball stolen, spun around her defender, then banked home a lil’ runner in the paint.

And that was it, as Coupeville recorded its worst offensive night of the season, by a large margin.

The previous low for CHS was 13 points, which came against La Conner.

Wolf coach Scott Fox played everyone available, with Savina Wells, Lyla Stuurmans, Gwen Gustafson, Anya Leavell, Georges, Ja’Kenya Hoskins, Ryanne Knoblich, Morgan Stevens, and Kylie Van Velkinburgh getting floor time.

Rampaging rebounder Carolyn Lhamon missed her second-straight game with a lingering injury, but is expected back for the Orcas game.

 

No JV game:

MVC doesn’t have a second squad, so Coupeville’s young guns were in the stands, cheering on their varsity counterparts.

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Hawk soars, Wolves growl

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , on May 19, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Hawthorne Wolfe rippled the nets for 38 points Tuesday, most by a Coupeville player since the 2003-2004 season. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

They waited. And they worked. Then they worked some more.

When the moment finally arrived Tuesday, when the Coupeville High School varsity boys basketball squad reclaimed the court for the first time in 465 days, the Wolves were ready.

Given a chance to play again, Hawthorne Wolfe, Xavier Murdy, and Co. made the night memorable, raining down pain on host Mount Vernon Christian in an action-packed 72-63 win.

The victory opens a new season and a new story for Coupeville, which is returning to the Northwest 2B/1B League after a long absence.

And that first welcome back featured Wolfe, the sharp-shooting guard who lives and breathes, and probably dreams, hoops, going bonkers.

Scoring all 20 of Coupeville’s second quarter points, the junior torched the joint for 38 points, the most by a Wolf since Allen Black banked in 39 against Concrete during the 2003-2004 season.

It was just 10 points off the 48 points scored by Jeff Stone against Darrington in 1970’s district title game, a school record which has stood untouched for 51 years.

The third 30-point game of his prep career, Tuesday’s performance lifts Wolfe from #55 to #50 on the CHS boys career scoring chart, which dates back to 1917.

With 448 points and counting, he passes Mason Grove (414), Caleb Powell (421), Tony Ford (432), Del O’Shell (440), and Gary Hammons (443).

Next up are Frank Marti (462) and Sean Dillon (469), with Stone and Mike Bagby tied at #1 with 1,137 points apiece.

Wolfe got off to a decent start Tuesday, rattling home nine points in the first quarter, with Xavier Murdy adding five, and Alex Murdy and Daniel Olson each dropping in a bucket during an 18-14 run.

But the second quarter belonged to Hawk, who scored from all angles, outpacing MVC 20-13 by himself to stake Coupeville to a 38-27 halftime lead.

Wolfe drained three treys, three two-point buckets, and five free throws during his second-quarter assault on the rim, then turned the spotlight over to fellow junior Grady Rickner.

After a brief cameo in a playoff game at the end of his sophomore season, this was Rickner’s varsity coming-out party and he responded, scorching the Hurricane defense for 10 points in the third quarter.

MVC managed to cut the margin down to single-digits thanks to a 14-10 advantage in the frame, however, and the fourth quarter was a back-and-forth battle.

Coupeville never blinked, with Wolfe tacking on another nine points down the stretch, with Olson, Logan Martin, Xavier Murdy, and Grady Rickner all scoring in the fourth.

“It was a good game. MVC was tough, and physical. Proud of our guys resilience tonight,” said Coupeville coach Brad Sherman. “Every time MVC started to make a run, somebody stepped up and made a big play.

“Was really great to see our guys come together as a team, keep composed when it was needed late, and pull out the league win,” he added. “After the long break, certainly a nice way to start.”

Wolfe’s 38 points were backed by Grady Rickner (12), Xavier Murdy (8), Olson (8), Martin (4), and Alex Murdy (2), while Sage Downes, TJ Rickner, and freshman Logan Downes all saw floor time.

With his first four varsity points, Logan Martin becomes the 394th Coupeville boy to score in a varsity game, and the second in his family.

Older brother Dalton tallied 47 points in the 2014-2015 season.

Coupeville returns to action Thursday with a home match-up against Orcas Island, which is 2-0 after beating Concrete and Friday Harbor.

There will be no fans at that game, per the request of the Orcas School District.

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Rough start, promise of better days

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , on May 18, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville sophomore Gwen Gustafson scored her first varsity point Tuesday night. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

It was a tough way to kick off a new season.

With a very young roster, including two middle school-aged players, the Coupeville High School varsity girls basketball squad had trouble keeping up with one of the dominant hoops programs in its new league.

Mount Vernon Christian has played 23 games at the state tourney over the past seven seasons, bringing home top-six banners four times.

So it wasn’t too much of a surprise that the Hurricanes battered the Wolves Tuesday night in both team’s season openers, winning 54-14 on their home floor.

For second-year CHS coach Scott Fox, who lost five of his top seven scorers from a season ago, it was a rough, but maybe necessary learning lesson.

“It wasn’t pretty, but we now know the areas to improve on,” he said.

“There’s a reason MVC has gone to the state tournament often and it starts with their aggression,” Fox added. “We showed our youth tonight and there were times two 8th graders were in the lineup.”

Those CMS students, Lyla Stuurmans and Savina Wells, became the first middle school athletes to play in a CHS varsity girls basketball game, and they represent a bright future for Wolf hoops — just one which will have to learn under fire.

One of the team’s few returning veterans, junior Audrianna Shaw, led Coupeville on opening night, pounding away for a team-high eight points.

“Audri was our bright spot,” Fox said.

She was joined in the scoring column by Maddie Georges, who knocked down three points, Izzy Wells, who banked in a bucket, and Gwen Gustafson, who drained a free throw.

Gustafson, making her varsity hoops debut, becomes the 230th Wolf girl to score since the program began in 1974, and the second in her immediate family.

Big sis Amanda Fabrizi, a 2014 grad, is #36 on the all-time CHS girls scoring chart, having scorched the nets for 299 points in her prep career.

Ja’Kenya Hoskins

Tuesday’s game also marked the return of Ja’Kenya Hoskins.

After playing on varsity as a freshman, she missed her entire sophomore campaign thanks to a busted ankle suffered during a school dodgeball tourney.

Hoskins, an absolute ray of sunshine in the world, even if she’s too young to know what Videoville was, deserves all the praise for maintaining a supremely-positive attitude during her down time.

Ja’Kenya is a wrecking ball on the court, and pure class off it, and everything is at least a little bit better knowing her family gets to watch her play her favorite sport again.

 

No JV Game:

MVC doesn’t have a second squad this season, so Coupeville’s JV will make its debut Thursday at home against Orcas Island.

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Cold finish dooms JV boys

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , on May 18, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Nick Guay scored six points Tuesday in Mount Vernon as the Coupeville JV boys basketball team made its season debut. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

The fourth quarter didn’t go as planned.

Locked in a back-and-forth battle with host Mount Vernon Christian Tuesday, the Coupeville High School JV boys basketball squad was playing step for step with the Hurricanes.

Then, things fell apart a bit, as a scoring drought in the final frame doomed any comeback tries.

Unable to get the basket to accept any of their gifts, the young Wolves were outscored 13-0 over the game’s final eight minutes, eventually falling 44-28 in their season opener.

Coupeville, playing for first-year coach Hunter Smith — the 12th leading varsity scorer in the 104 seasons of CHS boys basketball — played strongly for much of the game.

With Jonathan Valenzuela and Nick Guay combining for all their scoring in the early going, the Wolves trailed just 12-9 at the first break.

CHS clamped down on defense in the second quarter, and led by Zane Oldenstadt’s four points — which included a perfect 2-2 trip to the charity stripe — the Wolves shaved the deficit down to 19-17 by the half.

While MVC pushed the margin back to three at 31-28 coming out of the third, anything seemed possible.

Unfortunately, at least for Wolf fans, the hot hand in the final quarter belonged to Owen Heinze, who tallied seven of his game-high 12 points down the stretch, spurring the Hurricanes to their first win.

Valenzuela paced Coupeville with a team-high nine points, including his team’s lone three-ball, while Guay pumped in six and Dominic Coffman rumbled for five.

Oldenstadt (4), William Davidson (2), and Cole White (2) rounded out the CHS scorers, with Andrew Williams, Ryan Blouin, and Quinten Simpson-Pilgrim also seeing floor time.

Wolf young guns Mikey Robinett, Alex Wasik, and Nathan Ginnings were also along for the trip.

Coupeville returns home Thursday to face Orcas Island in a game with no fans, then travels to Friday Harbor Saturday to cap a busy opening week in a pandemic-compressed month-long schedule.

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