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Posts Tagged ‘Northwest League’

Short memories, sweet shots

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged CHS Wolves, Darrington, girls basketball, Izzy Wells, Northwest League on May 28, 2021| Leave a Comment »

“My name is Izzy Wells, and I’m here to torch the joint.” (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Right back where they want to be.

A night after losing to likely the best 2B team in the state, the Coupeville High School girls basketball team rediscovered that winning feeling.

With nine players dropping in buckets, the Wolves ran circles around host Darrington Friday, coming away with a highly-satisfying 45-11 win.

The victory, the third in the last four games for Coupeville, lifts it to 3-3 at the halfway point of a pandemic-altered season.

“A nice bounce back win,” said CHS coach Scott Fox. “Everyone saw minutes tonight and it was a great way to end the first half of the season.”

Thursday, the very-young Wolves, who play two 8th graders and are missing injured point guard Maddie Georges, had few answers for undefeated La Conner.

Jump forward a night, and Coupeville, after riding a bus to the wilds of Darrington, came out hyper-focused and ready to rumble.

Five players scored in the first quarter, with Izzy Wells leading the way, and the Wolves carried a 13-4 advantage to the first break.

Coupeville never relented, posting 11-2, 10-2, and 11-3 runs across the next three quarters, while clamping down on defense.

Ten Wolves hit the floor Friday, with Izzy Wells singing the nets for a game and season high 10 points.

She was backed by Gwen Gustafson, who banked in seven points, and the three-pack of Lyla Stuurmans, Audrianna Shaw, and Ja’Kenya Hoskins, who each hit for five.

Ryanne Knoblich (4), Carolyn Lhamon (4), Savina Wells (3), and Kylie Van Velkinburgh (2) also scored, while Morgan Stevens brought considerable defensive heat to the floor.

Stuurmans and Shaw both netted a three-ball.

No JV action:

Darrington only has one team, so Coupeville’s second squad had the night off.

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Wolves scrappy, but Braves brutally good

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged CHS Wolves, girls basketball, La Conner, Northwest League, Savina Wells on May 27, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Lyla Stuurmans and a young Coupeville High School girls hoops squad fought valiantly Thursday, but fell to a state powerhouse. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

There was a state championship-caliber girls basketball team on the floor Thursday night in Coupeville.

Unfortunately for local fans, it was not the Wolves.

Coupeville is a very-young, often very-scrappy team with a bright future, but the Braves are very much in their prime.

La Conner, which played in the 2B state title game a year ago, has already beaten 1A royalty King’s this season, and is currently obliterating competition in the Northwest 2B/1B League.

Thursday, playing without three players, including injured point guard Maddie Georges, the Wolves had few answers for the wrecking ball, falling 74-15.

The loss snaps a two-game winning streak for Coupeville and drops them to 2-3 heading into a Friday road trip to Darrington.

La Conner, whose lineup was like five pistons firing in perfect unison on most plays, is bigger, stronger, faster, more confident, and crisper in its execution than the Wolves.

Or just about any other team for that matter.

The Braves jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead, Coupeville responded with an Izzy Wells bucket, set up by a nice dish and drive from Audrianna Shaw, and then the tsunami hit.

Trailing 33-2 at the first break, the Wolves stayed on their toes, however, putting together their most-solid quarter in the second frame.

While it was outscored 12-6 across those eight minutes, CHS dug in and fought for every rebound and loose ball.

Scrappers like Ryanne Knoblich and Gwen Gustafson swung their elbows with conviction, even while being bombarded by double teams, while Carolyn Lhamon and Ja’Kenya Hoskins crashed the boards.

Wolf 8th grader Savina Wells nailed a long jumper to open the second quarter, then added two free throws, and showed little fear as she frequently pushed the ball hard at the hoop.

Down 45-8 at the half, Coupeville fought both the Braves and, eventually, a running clock in the second half.

While the final score was lopsided, there were moral victories to be found, as the Wolves were only the third team in six games to hold La Conner under 80+ points.

The Braves have outscored their six opponents 438-106, or 394-67 if you take out their 44-39 victory over King’s.

Savina Wells paced Coupeville Thursday with four points, while Hoskins and Gustafson finished with three apiece.

Shaw (2), Izzy Wells (2), and Lhamon (1) also scored, with Lyla Stuurmans, Morgan Stevens, and Knoblich all playing scrappy defense.

No JV game:

La Conner is limiting its public beat-downs to the varsity level this season, so Coupeville’s JV squad, which was spoiling for a fight, had the night off.

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Wolf sharpshooters rain pain on Concrete

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged Boys Basketball, CHS Wolves, Concrete, Hawthorne Wolfe, Northwest League on May 25, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville junior Hawthorne Wolfe is the 48th CHS boy in 104 years to crack the 500-point scoring club. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Hawk got historical, then he got off the floor.

Coupeville High School junior Hawthorne Wolfe cracked the 500-point career scoring club Tuesday, then he and the other starters handed the game over to their teammates.

Jumping out to a 31-2 lead after one quarter, with Wolfe and Grady Rickner each tossing in 10 points, CHS eventually coasted in with a resounding 71-17 thumping of visiting Concrete.

The win evens Coupeville’s record at 2-2 heading into another home game Thursday, with La Conner set to visit Whidbey.

Everything was dropping for the Wolves Tuesday, especially in the early going.

Xavier Murdy, Logan Martin, and Wolfe all hit three-balls, as seven different Coupeville players got into the scoring column in the first quarter.

With the game already all but decided just eight minutes in, Coupeville coach Brad Sherman went deep on his bench, getting all 12 players a chance to score.

The Wolves pushed the lead out to 47-6 at the half, then the starters took a seat and let their backups play most of the second half.

That allowed the scoring to be spread out all the way across the scorebook, keeping June Mazdra and her well-sharpened pencils busy.

Grady Rickner paced Coupeville with a game-high 15 points, while Wolfe’s 12 points all came in the first half.

That was enough to lift him to 504 points, making him the 48th CHS boy in the 104-year history of the program to crack the exclusive club.

Wolfe passes Jason Bagby (499) and David Lortz (502), moving into 47th place on the career scoring chart.

Xavier Murdy added nine points in support of his Class of 2022 teammates, with Logan Downes and Jonathan Valenzuela adding seven apiece.

Alex Murdy (5), Daniel Olson (4), TJ Rickner (3), Martin (3), Cole White (2), Cody Roberts (2), and Sage Downes (2) rounded out the explosive offensive barrage.

It was the first varsity points for Valenzuela and White, who joins dad Greg on the Wolf boys career scoring chart.

With Cole’s bucket, the CHS assistant coach father-freshman son duo now have a combined 606 varsity points to their credit.

Coupeville had a strong shooting performance in every aspect of the game, hitting 13 of 17 from the free-throw line, while six different players nailed a three-ball.

Raining down treys were Valenzuela, Logan Downes, Wolfe, Grady Rickner, Xavier Murdy, and Martin.

JV grabs some pine time:

Concrete only goes one team deep, with a thin roster at that, so the younger Wolves had the night off.

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Slow start, hot finish

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged CHS Wolves, Concrete, girls basketball, Northwest League, Savina Wells on May 25, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville 8th grader Savina Wells scored 10 points Tuesday, including hitting a pair of three-balls. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Not great, but good enough.

Overcoming a rough start Tuesday, the Coupeville High School varsity girls basketball squad turned on the heat in the second half and romped past Concrete late, pulling out a 39-19 win.

The Wolves closed with a 17-2 run, busting open a close game and lifting their record to 2-2 on the season.

“This seems to be our theme this year — to start off sluggish and then play much better in the second half,” said CHS coach Scott Fox.

The Wolves, playing in front of their home fans for the first time this season, struck first, with sophomore gunner Maddie Georges rippling the nets on a jumper after a feed from 8th grader Savina Wells.

But then the offense flat-out disappeared, as Coupeville couldn’t get a bucket to fall for much of the first quarter.

Concrete slowly built a 7-2 lead, but it always seemed like just a matter of time before things would change, and they did.

Audrianna Shaw flipped the nets high on a jumper with a tick over a minute left on the clock, then Wells dropped in a three-ball off an inbounds play, and the score was back to 7-7 at the end of the quarter.

The Wolves couldn’t seem to pull away, however.

Georges nailed a three-ball of her own in the second quarter, but a 12-7 lead sputtered into just a 15-13 edge at the half.

Worse, Coupeville lost its point guard when Georges turned her ankle midway through the quarter, and she never returned to the game.

Missing their sparkplug, the Wolves gave more floor time to youngsters like Ryanne Knoblich, Gwen Gustafson, and Lyla Stuurmans, and the bench injected a bit of get-up-and-go.

Wells opened the second half with her second trey, but Concrete continued to hang around, cutting the deficit back to 22-17 midway through the third on a long outlet pass and layup.

That seemed to trigger something deep inside the Wolves, as they promptly went into lockdown mode from that point, starting a 17-0 run which stretched into the final seconds of the game.

Shaw swished a jumper and Carolyn Lhamon put back an offensive rebound to end the third, then CHS went to work in the fourth.

Junior post Ja’Kenya Hoskins picked up her first points of the season, and liked it so much, she finished with five in the fourth, while Lhamon, Shaw, and Knoblich also scored.

Concrete finally broke through in the final minute, hitting a pair of free throws to stop the bleeding right before the final buzzer blared.

Wells and Shaw tied for game-high honors, netting 10 points apiece, while Lhamon (6), Hoskins (5), Georges (5), and Knoblich (3) rounded out the offensive attack.

Everyone on the roster played, and everyone contributed, with Morgan Stevens, Izzy Wells, Kylie Van Velkinburgh, Anya Leavell, Gustafson, and Stuurmans all getting quality floor time.

Things get tougher next, as Coupeville welcomes Northwest 2B/1B League ruler La Conner to town Thursday.

The Braves, who have a win over 1A power King’s this season, bopped Orcas Island 83-21 Tuesday to raise their record to 5-0.

NO JV:

Concrete doesn’t have a second squad, so Coupeville’s young guns sat this one out.

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Shoot the rock, check the standings

Posted in Basketball, standings, tagged Boys Basketball, CHS Wolves, girls basketball, Northwest League, standings on May 23, 2021| Leave a Comment »

“Hey, let me in! I want to see those sweet, sweet standings!!” (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)

“So do we.”

One week in, three to play.

High school hoops are officially underway in the Northwest 2B/1B League, and a couple of things are already clear.

On the girls side, La Conner is, as always, a beast.

The 2B Braves have polished off Concrete 88-10, Friday Harbor 62-15, and Darrington 87-6, while also stepping outside the NWL to beat 1A power King’s 44-39.

There’s also a second beast, with 1B Mount Vernon Christian having beaten Coupeville 54-14, Concrete 75-17, and Orcas Island 62-16.

La Conner and MVC play June 1 and 15, and barring any kind of Covid-related shenanigans, it would appear the Braves and Hurricanes will slug it out for the title.

On the boys side, things are much more topsy-turvy.

Orcas Island sits atop the standings at 3-1, but lost Saturday to Mount Vernon Christian, a team Coupeville already whacked.

For the Wolves, if their buzzer-beater Saturday at Friday Harbor had stayed in the bucket, they’d be 2-1 and in a second-place tie.

It didn’t, so, for the moment, CHS is a game-and-a-half back of the top spot, though things could radically change in week two.

The Wolves, both boys and girls, play three times this coming week, with home games against Concrete Tuesday and La Conner Thursday, followed by a trip Friday to the wilds of Darrington.

That’ll take us to the halfway point of this pandemic-altered 12-game season, and may provide a bit more clarity on which boys team will rise to the top.

Maybe.

Where things stand through May 23:

Northwest League boys basketball: