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Posts Tagged ‘Northwest League’

“A lot of guys played really tough tonight”

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , on January 11, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Nick Guay slashes hard to the hoop. (Bailey Thule photo)

These are the nights which bring a warm glow to a coach’s heart.

Facing off with the tallest team in the Northwest 2B/1B League Tuesday, the Coupeville High School varsity boys’ basketball squad proved big hearts can beat big bodies.

Doing all the important things sometimes overlooked in the buzz over scoring records — hitting the glass, closing out on defense, making the extra pass — the Wolves held on for a 44-39 win over visiting Mount Vernon Christian in an old-fashioned bar room brawl.

The win, Coupeville’s fourth in its last five games, lifts Brad Sherman’s squad to 6-5, while the Hurricanes slip to 9-5.

While the game featured two league rivals squaring off, the result doesn’t count in the conference standings.

Thanks to a quirk in the schedule, the rematch, which is Jan. 20 in Mount Vernon, is the rumble which matters most as Coupeville seeks to defend its league crown.

But whether it was a “league” or “non-league” game, Tuesday’s tilt was a biggie, and one the Wolves really wanted.

From William Davidson drawing two offensive charging fouls on MVC players in the first quarter, to fellow Wolf bruisers Zane Oldenstadt and Dominic Coffman yanking down rebounds, this was a true team effort.

Add in ferocious defensive play from Alex Murdy and Cole White, doing their best to thoroughly frustrate Hurricane ballhandlers, and Sherman came away pleased.

“That was a good team win,” he said.

“A lot of guys played really tough tonight and got their jobs done, especially our guys battling in the paint and out pressuring the ball.”

MVC actually jumped in front early, claiming a 6-0 lead, before Coupeville stormed back.

Logan Downes popped back-to-back three-balls, kicking off a run of 13 straight points from the Wolf junior, busting things open a bit.

After teaming up with Oldenstadt on a scorching give-and-go play, Downes also picked up a bucket on a slash through the heart of the Hurricane defense, before capping things with a third trey.

Frazzled, MVC lost the ball in the back court, or rather, it was ripped away by Coffman, who immediately turned it into a bucket of his own, and the Wolves were romping, up 15-6.

The visitors were a resilient bunch, though, getting a three-point play the hard way to end the first quarter, then holding Coupeville to just five points in the second frame.

While slowed down a bit, the Wolves never lost control of the game, or relinquished the lead after claiming it for the first time.

White drew a charge on an MVC player, before Downes ran down the clock, cutting hard to the basket for a layup with a single, solitary second left before the halftime break.

His bucket staked Coupeville to a 20-17 lead, and the Wolves jumped hard on the Hurricanes to open both the third and fourth quarters.

The first time around, a 12-2 surge, with Ryan Blouin and Downes nailing back-to-back three-balls and White netting his 100th career point on a short jumper, pushed the lead out to 13 points.

MVC hung tough, closing the third quarter on its own 8-0 run to get back within 32-27, but the Wolves put together a 10-4 tear to open the fourth, all but sealing the win.

Coupeville’s buckets down the stretch were fueled by big plays on the defensive end of the floor.

Murdy yanked away a rebound, and White made off with a steal, with both Wolves feeding Downes on breakaway baskets.

Then there was Davidson, standing tall in the paint, turning a rebound into a kickout to White, who beat the defense down the floor.

While MVC narrowed the final margin from 11 to five during a frantic final 45 seconds, time ran out on the Hurricanes, with a layup under pressure from Nick Guay capping Coupeville’s offensive effort.

Downes had a hot hand, pumping in a game-high 28 points, and moves within four of cracking the 500-point club, while Guay (5), White (4), Coffman (4), and Blouin (3) provided support.

Jonathan Valenzuela, Oldenstadt, Davidson, and Murdy may not have scored on this night, but all four provided key contributions for a team which earned the victory by continuing to showcase its ability to survive a string of rough-and-tumble foes.

Up next is a home game against Darrington (3-7) Friday, with this one counting in the league standings, and a long trip Saturday to play non-conference rival Neah Bay (4-3).

That second contest kicks off a run of road games for the Wolves, who play six of their final eight regular-season bouts away from Whidbey Island.

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Wolves feisty to the final buzzer

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , on January 10, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Katie Marti brings the heat on both ends of the floor. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

There’s nothing to fear here.

Staring down the best team in the Northwest 2B/1B League Tuesday, the Coupeville High School varsity girls’ basketball team held its own for two-and-a-half quarters.

And while visiting Mount Vernon Christian eventually pulled away for a 44-21 win, the Wolves can look ahead to a rematch in 10 days knowing they can make life difficult for the Hurricanes.

With the win, MVC, the defending 1B state champs, gets to 12-2 on the season, while Coupeville slips to 4-5.

But, while the game was between NWL rivals, it is considered a non-conference game and doesn’t count in the league standings.

The rematch, set to go down Jan. 20 in Mount Vernon?

That one counts in the chase for a conference crown.

The Hurricanes, who already beat 2B power La Conner earlier this season — also in a “non-conference” game between league foes — are a rock-solid team, full of fairly unflappable players with high basketball IQ’s.

But, for a bit Tuesday, those players were clanking most of their shots, thanks to some scrappy Wolf defense and a couple of rims which refused to play fair with the visitors.

Coupeville scored first, on a Gwen Gustafson jumper from the side, and closed the first quarter on a 6-0 run to claim an 8-7 advantage at the first break.

Rampaging sophomore Katie Marti, crackin’ heads and takin’ names, tallied four points for the Wolves in the opening frame, including slapping home a layup off of a nice feed from Lyla Stuurmans.

Netting a pair of free throws to cap the opening frame, Christie Messner’s wild child sent a tremor through the Mount Vernon fans, a huge smile gracing her face as she and her Wolf teammates exited the floor.

Toss in a slashing runner off the fingertips of Stuurmans to open the second quarter, and Megan Richter’s CHS squad was looking good.

That early bucket would be Coupeville’s only points in the frame, however, as the two teams got down ‘n dirty in a defensive-minded struggle.

MVC pulled ahead 13-10 at the half, with the Wolves still within 16-13 three minutes into the third period.

Marti hauled in a long pass from Stuurmans, turning it into a breakaway bucket, Ryanne Knoblich tickled the twines on a free throw, and Mia Farris rejected a Hurricane shot to keep things hopping.

But while the Hurricanes were out of sorts, they weren’t out of weapons, and eventually they wore down a Wolf team playing without a key starter in the injured Carolyn Lhamon.

Bucket by bucket, MVC started to pull away, putting together a 21-2 surge which stretched from the mid-point of the third quarter until late in the final frame.

Stuurmans, converting a steal into a mad dash down court for a layup, was the only Wolf to make the net pop during the downturn.

Coupeville, which never stopped fighting on defense, finally hit the bottom of the net late in the game, with Alita Blouin splashing home a three-ball and Maddie Georges sinking a runner, but it was too late to turn the tide.

Marti paced the Wolves with six points, while Stuurmans rattled the rims for five.

Her first bucket of the night sent the Wolf sophomore to a personal milestone, as she cracked the 100-point club.

Now sitting with 104 career points and counting, Stuurmans is the 106th Wolf girl to reach triple digits for a program which began back in 1974.

Blouin (3), Knoblich (3), Georges (2), and Gustafson (2) also scored for the Wolves, with Blouin, who has 98 career points, right on the cusp of joining Stuurmans and Co.

Farris and Madison McMillan also saw floor time for Coupeville, which returns to action Friday, when it hosts Darrington in a league clash.

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Hardwood hotshots rumble for positioning

Posted in Basketball, tagged , , , , on January 8, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Cole White, ready to break down the defense. (Andrew Williams photo)

Look twice, because it’s not a misprint.

As we head into a new week of basketball, the Northwest 2B/1B League standings are identical on the boys’ and girls’ side of things.

While overall win/loss records are skewed, both Mount Vernon Christian and Orcas Island hoops programs sit atop the conference at 2-0.

Both La Conner squads are 1-0, even if the league web site tries to count an early non-conference win over Rainer Christian as a league win and tell you the Braves boys are 2-0.

They are not…

Then comes Coupeville and Friday Harbor at 0-1, and both Concrete teams at 0-3, which means the Wolf boys have a little work to do to defend their league crown.

Things should start to diverge as we move forward — for one thing, the Orcas boys are much stronger than their female counterparts — and could start down that path this coming week.

Coupeville is busy, hosting Mount Vernon Christian Tuesday and Darrington Friday, though there is still some question as whether the MVC game, the first of two against the Hurricanes, counts in the league standings.

After that comes a whirlwind trip to Neah Bay Saturday for non-conference rumbles.

With all that in mind, where we currently sit:

 

Northwest League boys basketball:

School League Overall
MV Christian 2-0 9-4
Orcas Island 2-0 9-5
La Conner 1-0 5-6
Darrington 0-0 3-6
Coupeville 0-1 5-5
Friday Harbor 0-1 1-7
Concrete 0-3 1-9

 

Northwest League girls basketball:

School League Overall
MV Christian 2-0 11-2
Orcas Island 2-0 3-7
La Conner 1-0 8-3
Darrington 0-0 6-2
Coupeville 0-1 4-4
Friday Harbor 0-1 1-6
Concrete 0-3 1-9

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Downes dazzles, Wolves wage war

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , on January 7, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Logan Downes rained down 40 points Friday night. (Andrew Williams photo)

Everything but the victory.

Playing for the first time since it won the Cascade Holiday Classic in Leavenworth Dec. 28, the Coupeville High School varsity boys’ basketball squad put up a spirited fight Friday night.

But Orcas Island wouldn’t miss a dang shot.

Or so it seemed, as the visiting Vikings dropped daggers when it mattered most, holding off the Wolves, who rallied from 10 points down before falling 67-64 in their conference opener.

The loss drops Coupeville to 5-5 overall, 0-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, while Orcas sits atop the NWL with a shiny 2-0 mark.

The game was a beautiful brawl, featuring 19 three-balls, numerous hustle plays from Coupeville’s wrecking crew, and, oh yes, a 40-point performance from Wolf gunner Logan Downes.

Knocking down a Damian Lillard-worthy trey right before the final buzzer to get to the milestone, the CHS junior scored the most points I’ve seen a high school player score in one game in a writing “career” which began back in 1990.

It was just eight points off Coupeville’s single-game record of 48, set by Jeff Stone way back in 1970, and gives Downes 244 points through the first 10 games of the season.

He’s scored 21 or more eight times this year, with 33 against Forks and 30 against Kittitas before Friday’s 40-piece.

That leaves Downes not that far off Stone’s 10-game pace (276) when he scored a Whidbey Island single-season record 644 points during the 1969-1970 season.

But while Downes will get a lot of the buzz, his teammates came up huge in their own ways.

It started with big man William Davidson, who crashed to the floor twice in the first quarter to corral loose balls, keeping plays alive when turnovers seemed imminent.

Toss in Dominic Coffman and Nick Guay drawing crucial charging fouls, Zane Oldenstadt anchoring Coupeville’s efforts on the glass, and Alex Murdy shredding the psyche of the Viking ballhandlers, and Brad Sherman’s squad attacked with fury.

With a special shout-out to the Dominator, for the play in which he ripped a ball loose, found himself airborne and dangerously close to the endline, so promptly drilled the ball off a rival’s crotch.

It was vintage Coffman, a brutally efficient way to create a turnover on Orcas, and a play which warmed the hearts of ’80s NBA fans everywhere.

Dominic Coffman crashes through the paint. (Bailey Thule photo)

In between the crotch shots and floor burns, the teams combined to put on a precision-shooting exhibition.

Eight of the 19 three-balls dropped in the first quarter, with both squads claiming four treys apiece.

Murdy sank the last two, while Cole White and Downes both made the net pop as well, but Orcas clung to an 18-14 lead at the first break.

The Vikings, playing fast, loose, and aggressive, stretched their lead out to 10 points midway through the second quarter, though late three-balls from Ryan Blouin and Downes kept Coupeville in the game.

Trailing 34-26 at the half, the Wolves chipped away at the lead by largely going away from the long-range shot in the third quarter.

Murdy did pop one trey, but Downes had the hot hand, throwing down 11 points on a variety of slashing runs at the hoop as CHS came all the way back.

The Wolves knotted things up at 40-40 with seconds to play in the third, only to see Orcas get a steal and breakaway bucket to reclaim the lead right before the buzzer.

That was merely the setup for a wild and woolly final frame, with the teams combining for 49 points across the final eight minutes.

Coupeville tied the game at 44-44 on back-to-back buckets from White — off a feed from Davidson — and Downes, but the Vikings were relentless.

Nailing the final three of its nine three-balls, Orcas roared back in front at 56-47 with a minute to play, taking a lot of the air out of the Wolf fans.

Though, if you gave up then, you were being fairly short-sighted, as Coupeville had one big, frantic, final rally to stage.

It started with a three-ball from Downes, came to life with a trey off the fingertips of Murdy, and continued through an endless series of free throws.

Time and again the Wolves crashed hard to the hoop, drew fouls to stop the clock, and scraped away at the deficit with charity shots.

But the clock truly stops for no man, and Orcas had an annoying habit of refusing to fully break.

The Vikings hit their own free throws, for the most part, and a late breakaway layup sealed the win right before Downes sent the fans home with Coupeville’s 10th, and final, three-ball.

The Wolf marksman scored 28 of his 40 points in the second-half Friday and jumps to #55 on the all-time CHS boys career scoring chart, which dates back to 1917.

Downes passes Tony Ford (432), Del O’Shell (440), and Frank Marti (462) and sits with 468 points with home games against Mount Vernon Christian (Jan. 10) and Darrington (Jan. 13) next up.

Murdy bounced the rims for 14 points in support and made some family history.

With 310 career points, Alex passes Uncle Allen Black (305), while still pursuing big brother Xavier Murdy (482).

White and Blouin rounded out Friday’s offensive attack, netting seven and three points respectively, while Nick Guay, Coffman, Davidson, Chase Anderson, and Oldenstadt all saw floor time for the Wolves.

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Low numbers, lots of fight

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , on January 6, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Alita Blouin knocked down a team-high 13 points Friday. (Andrew Williams photo)

Rumble with who you have.

Missing two key starters Friday night, the Coupeville High School varsity girls’ basketball squad pushed visiting Orcas Island to the final moments before falling just short.

While the final score was 37-30 in favor of the Vikings, it was a one-possession game before the visitors closed out the game by netting four free throws in the final seconds.

The loss, coming in the conference opener for Coupeville, drops the Wolves to 4-4 overall, 0-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play.

CHS coach Megan Richter had a short bench Friday, with injured starters Maddie Georges and Carolyn Lhamon both in street clothes.

Their active teammates more than picked up the slack, however, attacking Orcas on both ends of the floor.

A three-ball from team scoring leader Alita Blouin got the Wolves on the board, before Lyla Stuurmans dropped a pair of haymakers right before the end of the quarter to knot things up at 7-7.

The ever-springy sophomore made off with back-to-back steals at midcourt, snatching the ball up and bolting to the other end, where she slapped home running layups.

Orcas, which had its own issues with a short bench, responded however, using an 8-0 run midway through the second quarter to claim the lead, before Blouin knocked down a pair of three-balls to keep things close.

Trailing 19-15 at the half, Coupeville pulled ahead in the third quarter, but just for a moment.

Wolf sparkplug Katie Marti, muscling her way in between a pair of Vikings, yanked down an offensive rebound and put the ball back up and in to get things started.

Then it was time for Stuurmans to start raining down haymakers again.

She banked a runner off the glass, before making off with yet another steal, this time turning it into a three-point play the hard way after being hammered while getting her shot off.

Draining the free throw, Stuurmans staked Coupeville to a 22-21 lead, only to see Orcas nail a pullup jumper to surge back ahead as the third quarter faded into memory.

The final eight-minute segment was a tense, back-and-forth affair, with Marti and Blouin knocking down hook shots under duress to keep the Wolves close.

Blouin’s bucket sliced the Orcas lead to just 29-28 with about two-and-a-half minutes to play, but would be the final Coupeville field goal of the night.

The Vikings got a huge put-back off of a missed free throw and a beautiful bank shot which barely cleared a defender’s outstretched fingertips to get the lead out to five points, and time ran away from the Wolves.

Ryanne Knoblich netted a pair of free throws at the 1:48 mark to pull Coupeville within 33-30, but the game’s final four points all came courtesy Orcas charity shots.

The Wolves were paced by Blouin, who splashed home a trio of three-balls on her way to 13 points, while Stuurmans (9), Marti (4), Gwen Gustafson (2), and Knoblich (2) also scored.

Mia Farris and Madison McMillan both saw floor time, as well, with McMillan making her varsity debut and immediately going high to snatch a rebound out of the hands of a Viking player.

The Wolves have a busy week ahead, with home games against Mount Vernon Christian (Jan. 10) and Darrington (Jan. 13), plus a road trip to Neah Bay (Jan. 14).

Mia Farris, bringing the heat on both ends of the floor. (Andrew Williams photo)

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