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Posts Tagged ‘perfect record’

Many tacos, some wins!!

Posted in Volleyball, tagged , , , , , , on September 20, 2017| Leave a Comment »

   Raven Vick was enjoying her post-game meal until the paparazzi got all up in her business. (Maria Reyes photo)

The road to perfection hit a brief snag.

After sweeping its first two matches this season, the Coupeville High School volleyball squad hit a pothole on Taco Tuesday.

Playing at Bellevue Christian, home of the most revered food truck in all of high school sports, the Wolves enjoyed tasty treats, but endured a sour finish on the floor.

Falling 25-19, 25-22, 25-18 in a non-conference tussle with the always-sharp Vikings, the Wolves saw their record slip to 2-1.

The loss capped what was otherwise a strong evening for CHS, as it swept to C-Team and JV victories earlier.

Coupeville, which has yet to play at home this season, heads to North Mason Thursday for a match-up with a strong 2A squad.

Only then, after four matches, plus prior trips to Langley and Yakima for tourney play, will the Wolves finally visit their own gym Sept. 26.

That night Klahowya comes to Whidbey for a major Olympic League showdown.

While the Wolves couldn’t get the win Tuesday, it wasn’t for lack of effort.

“I’m pleased with some things that I saw us do, that we may not have a year ago or even a couple weeks ago,” said CHS coach Cory Whitmore. “I’m proud of our fight tonight.

“The scores may not show just how close each set was, but we left the gym feeling like we left it all out there and really stayed competitive with them.”

Bellevue Christian boasts a very strong offense, and Coupeville attacked it relentlessly, before falling to some big hitters.

“We went at their block instead of avoiding it and playing timid,” Whitmore said. “Bellevue Christian was required to earn the points they put on the board; we battled and at this early point in the season, that’s what I want to see.

“We’ll go back to watch some film and look for areas of improvement and hopefully get another chance to play them later in the post-season.”

Wolf junior Ashley Menges was a key, with six service aces and nine assists.

“Ashley did a great job of staying aggressive from the service line and brought us within striking distance in the second game,” Whitmore said.

With Menges and Lauren Rose (10 assists) setting things up, Coupeville’s power players were able to spray kills.

Junior Emma Smith peppered the Vikings with five, while Mikayla Elfrank and Kyla Briscoe chipped in with four apiece.

“Emma did a great job in the middle of playing faster than the ball, both as an attacker and a blocker,” Whitmore said. “I’m proud of how fast she played tonight.”

Hope Lodell (six digs, two aces), Briscoe (six digs) and Payton Aparicio (five digs, two aces) filled out the stat sheet, while Coupeville collected eight team blocks.

“Our blocking is starting to become a strong part of our game,” Whitmore said.

Young guns roll:

Coupeville’s JV and C-Team swept to victories in the early matches, with both Wolf squads running their records to 2-0 on the young season.

After dropping the opening set, the C-Team roared back to take the next two 25-22, 25-16.

“They played solid, really commanding the last two sets,” said Wolf JV coach Chris Smith.

In the night’s second tilt, Coupeville’s JV swept all three sets.

“We are continuing to work on playing hard and smart,” Smith said. “Communication and tenacious team defense.

“Coach Whitmore and I were very proud of what we saw.”

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Still flawless!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , on January 6, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Kyla Briscoe outscored Port Townsend by herself Tuesday night. (John Fisken photo)

   Wolf sophomore Kyla Briscoe outscored Port Townsend by herself Tuesday night. (John Fisken photo)

Perfection.

22 times a Coupeville High School girls’ basketball squad has taken the court for a 1A Olympic League game, and 22 times the Wolves have strolled off with a win.

Both the CHS varsity and JV went 9-0 in conference  play in 2014-2015 — the first year of the league — and after wins Tuesday at Port Townsend, both are 2-0 this go-round.

For the Wolf JV, Tuesday was a treat from start to finish at they romped to a 25-4 victory.

The win lifted the young guns to 3-5 overall on the season.

Facing off with the RedHawks, Coupeville came out sizzling on defense, forcing back-to-back 30-second clock violations.

That was just the start, as the Wolves held Port Townsend completely scoreless in the second half, putting a lid on the basket for a full 16 minutes of play.

After struggling to get their own shots to drop in the opening quarter — they clung to a 4-2 lead after the first eight minutes — the Wolves finally figured out Port Townsend’s man defense, and exploited it the rest of the way.

Swing player Kyla Briscoe gave Coupeville a much-needed jolt in her one quarter of play, tossing in a game-high six points while “stirring up trouble for the other team.”

CHS coach Amy King wanted her squad to jump on their hosts hard to start the second half, and the Wolves responded.

Ashlie Shank swished a trey, Ema Smith and Sarah Wright both knocked down a bucket and Skyler Lawrence completely shut down the paint to incoming RedHawks in the third.

“Skyler was rebounding all night like always, and was able to attract some fouls which was great,” King said. “Sarah had several strong rebounds, turned and drove the ball up the court — it was awesome to see her take control like that.”

With a comfortable lead, Coupeville mixed up its lineup in the fourth, with Maddy Hilkey running the point and Brittany Powers and Brisa Herrera playing the wing.

“It’s great to get players that type of experience,” King said. “Both Nicole (Lester) and Lindsey (Laxton) ripped rebounds Skyler-style. They are both getting stronger and moving with more confidence on the court.

“I was very happy with the teamwork and improvements from our last game.”

Briscoe and Smith paced the Wolves with six points apiece, while Shank (5), Wright (4), Lawrence (3) and Allison Wenzel (1) rounded out the scorers.

Wright snagged a team-high 10 rebounds, while Smith tallied six and Shank collected four.

Coupeville forced 13 steals, with Hilkey, Wright and Briscoe pilfering three apiece. Smith and Shank both made off with two each.

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Perfection Mambo #2!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , , on February 10, 2015| Leave a Comment »

The Wolf JV celebrates during their final ferry ride of the season. (Amy King photo)

The Wolf JV celebrates during their final ferry ride of the season. (Amy King photo)

Different team, same tune.

Capping a miracle season that virtually mirrors that of the Wolf varsity, the Coupeville JV girls’ hoops squad drilled host Klahowya 47-27 Monday night.

The victory, their eighth straight, gave the Wolf young guns a final record of 14-5 overall, 9-0 in Olympic League play.

In their first-ever season in the new four-team league, the CHS girls combined to go 18-0 against Port Townsend, Chimacum and Klahowya.

Perhaps already dreaming about the pending post-game celebration (or having to play second due to scheduling for a possible run to the ferry), the Wolves came out a bit cold Monday, then turned it on with a passion.

Trailing 5-3 after one (Klahowya hit a late three-point bomb to snatch the lead), Coupeville went on a 14-4 tear in the second, then put the game out of sight with a 30-18 advantage after the break.

Kicking it up a notch or three hundred on defense keyed the surge.

“Starting in the second quarter, we decided to pick things up and just started intercepting passes, getting steal after steal,” said Wolf coach Amy King. “Of course, sometimes we would steal only to blindly pass and have them steal right back, only for us to steal again and get down the court to score.

“Everybody had steals tonight whether it was reading passes, grabbing it right out of their hands or tipping it away from somebody trying to dribble.”

Klahowya tried to counter with a full-court press, but the Wolf ball-handlers broke it with ease, and most of the CHS offense developed naturally in the flow of the game.

“Our offense came alive and I don’t remember us running even one play,” King said. “Everything was fast break. We had great passing too.”

Two big plays broke Klahowya’s spirit.

The first came when Kailey Kellner launched herself out of bounds in pursuit of a loose ball, snagged it and fired it back to a waiting Tiffany Briscoe.

The second had Skyler Lawrence working the high post with multiple defenders coming out on her. Waiting until she drew them to her, she then banged the ball down low to a wide-open Allison Wenzel.

“That really sparked the team. Everyone worked so hard together,” King said. “When the Lauren’s (Rose and Grove) were out taking a break, Kailey and Kyla (Briscoe) took over the ball handling responsibilities.

“Allison was tough as always on defense, even had two blocks and instructing her teammates the whole game.”

Team-wide the Wolves came extra hard on defense, closing the season with well-honed aggression on display.

“Lauren and Lauren were so tough defensively, Skyler and Tiffany rebounded around the Eagles bigger posts and Kailey played the best game she has played in a little while,” King said. “She helped wherever needed, got air on rebounds and drove strong or just took the outside shots.”

All eight of the Wolves got their moment in the spotlight, seven on the court and one off of it.

“While Brisa (Herrera) couldn’t play, she was on the bench telling her teammates what to watch for, reminding them to keep their heads up to see the floor,” King said. “A lot of encouraging.”

Kellner paced the Wolves with a stat-sheet exploding 15 points, 17 rebounds, seven steals and two blocks, while Grove (13 points, five rebounds, eight steals, two blocks) and Rose (seven points, five rebounds, eight steals) were hot on her heels.

Tiffany Briscoe (four points, ten rebounds, four steals), Lawrence (four points, nine rebounds, two blocks), Wenzel (two points, eight boards, two blocks) and Kyla Briscoe (two points, six rebounds, six steals) all chipped in, as well.

“These girls really wanted to go undefeated in league and gave it everything,” King said. “I have to say, this JV team got better as the season went on.

“They corrected their game on personal levels as well as a team. They talked about what they needed to do and picked each other up continuously,” she added. “All in all, overall, they made my job easy.

“I am going to miss this group.”

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Perfection, thy name is Wolf!!

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , , on February 9, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Julia Myers (John Fisken photo)

  Julia Myers (11), seen here in an earlier game, filled up the stat sheet Monday, scoring 12, snatching seven boards and blocking three shots. (John Fisken photos)

Hailey Hammer was a point off a double-double as the Wolves went to 9-0 in Olympic League play.

   Hailey Hammer was a point off a double-double as the Wolves went to 9-0 in Olympic League play.

There ain’t been nothing like this around these parts for a long time.

Evoking the memories of the golden era of girls’ basketball at Coupeville High School, the 2014-2015 Wolves closed out a flawless league season Monday night.

Jumping on host Klahowya early and stretching the lead as it went, CHS strolled to a 53-36 win that capped a remarkable regular season.

The team’s seventh straight victory, it lifted the Wolves to 15-5 overall and 9-0 in Olympic League play.

That’s the most wins by a CHS hoops squad since the 2009-2010 Wolf boys went 16-5.

Led by a stellar senior class and high-scoring junior sensation Makana Stone, this pack of Wolves won every league game by 15 or more points, finishing way ahead of Klahowya (4-5), Chimacum (3-6) and Port Townsend (2-7).

They now get a week of rest, before playing in the double elimination district tourney Feb. 16-21. Two wins there and they advance to regionals Feb. 27-28.

Playing for league perfection, Coupeville broke out to a 17-9 lead after one, then ran the lead to 29-15 at the break.

With Stone hobbled by foul trouble, Julia Myers stepped up and led the Wolves with 12 points.

Kacie Kiel and Stone each hit for 10, while Hailey Hammer dropped nine and Madeline Strasburg netted six.

Mia Littlejohn (4) and Wynter Thorne (2) rounded out the scoring.

“Kacie really stepped up along with Hailey tonight with Makana having an off night,” said Coupeville coach David King. “Like we have all season long, players are stepping up and making a difference when we need them to. This team has many weapons offensively.”

He also singled out one of his role players for praise.

“One player that hasn’t gotten a lot of time is McKenzie Bailey. But whenever she is called on, she is ready,” King said. “Tonight when she got in the game, the first time she touched the ball, she made a great entry pass into the post for an assist.

“A few plays later she was involved in setting up another score.”

Stone snatched 12 rebounds as Coupeville controlled the boards all night long. Hammer (10), Myers (7), Kiel (6), Thorne (3) and Monica Vidoni (2) also chipped in.

Strasburg ran the offense like a boss, handing out six assists, while Myers (3), Stone (2) and Hammer (2) combined to be a ferocious pack of shot blockers.

“As a coach, I’m always looking for the players to play hard and play with passion. These players from top to bottom do this,” King said. “I’m proud of the regular season we have had.

“Now the fun begins with preparing for districts and seeing how we stack up against other teams we could be facing.”

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