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Posts Tagged ‘playoffs’

Still alive!!

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged 1A Olympic League, Basketball, CHS Wolves, playoffs, Wiley Hesselgrave on February 4, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Don’t ever doubt Wiley Hesselgrave’s heart. (John Fisken photo)

One torrid 33-point fourth quarter rally later, the dream of advancing to the playoffs still lives for the Coupeville High School boys’ basketball squad.

Trailing by 15 with eight minutes to play at Port Townsend Tuesday, when a loss would have eliminated them from postseason contention, the Wolves rode the hot shooting touch of Wiley Hesselgrave all the way back to capture a shocking 60-57 win.

The CHS junior poured in 14 of his 26 points down the stretch to spark Coupeville to its second straight win over the Redhawks.

Now 6-11 overall, 2-5 in Olympic League play, the Wolves are in a tie for third place with Port Townsend with two to play, but own the tiebreaker.

While they can’t catch Chimacum (6-1) or Klahowya (4-3 and owner of a tiebreaker over CHS), they are in prime position to earn the league’s final playoff berth.

To get into that position, the Wolves had to dig down deep.

Saddled with numerous injured players, including two who gutted it out and played through foot pain in Aaron Trumbull and Joel Walstad, Coupeville trailed by seven at the half.

The third quarter wasn’t much better, as Port Townsend stretched its lead out to 15.

But then, a miracle.

A Wolf team which had scored just 27 points in the first 24 minutes suddenly couldn’t miss in the fourth, raining down buckets from all directions and getting the Redhawks frazzled as their lead slipped away.

“When we’re on our game, we allow other teams to get frustrated,” Coupeville coach Anthony Smith said with a chuckle. “We just believed and grinded and grinded and grinded and sank our free throws and got our rebounds.”

While Hesselgrave was near unstoppable — including hitting key free throws off of a Port Townsend technical late in the game — having Walstad on the floor, even at less than 100%, was a huge factor.

“Joel played tough. He didn’t start, but he finished,” Smith said. “With him out there, we are a much better team.”

Hesselgrave snatched three boards and made off with three steals to go with his offensive output, while Trumbull and Ryan Griggs paced a strong team rebounding effort with seven boards apiece.

Curtin popped for 10 points, while Walstad (7), Griggs (5), Trumbull (5), Risen Johnson (3), Matt Shank (2) and CJ Smith (2) rounded out the scorers.

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Living on the edge!!

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged 1A Olympic League, Basketball, CHS Wolves, injuries, playoffs, Wiley Hesselgrave on January 31, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Wiley Hesselgrave is Coupeville’s top scorer this season, averaging 12 a game. (John Fisken photo)

The door to the playoffs is still open, but it’s closing fast.

Riddled with injuries, the Coupeville High School boys’ basketball squad is limping to the finish line, in dire need of a win to keep its season alive.

After suffering a 58-39 loss at Klahowya Friday, the Wolves sit at 5-11 overall and 1-5 in Olympic League play.

That puts them in last place in the four-team league, trailing Chimacum (5-1), Klahowya (4-2) and Port Townsend (2-4) and facing a must-win game Tuesday.

The top three teams make the postseason.

If they make the ferry trip across to Port Townsend and beat the Redhawks for a second time this season, things will look a lot better. That would slide them into a third-place tie and give them the tiebreaker.

If they lose, however, they’re done.

Two back with two to play (home games against Chimacum Feb. 6 and Klahowya Feb. 9) and Port Townsend owning the tiebreaker would eliminate Coupeville from postseason contention.

Friday night the Wolves had three decent quarters and one terrible one.

Coming out of the halftime locker room trailing by just six, Coupeville went ice-cold from the field in the third quarter, sealing its fate.

Outscored 16-3 over an eight minute stretch, the Wolves, who were playing without Joel Walstad, Ryan Griggs, Gabe Wynn, Jared Helmstadter and Dalton Martin, were unable to stop the Eagles from putting the game out of range.

The team’s most potent offensive weapon, junior Wiley Hesselgrave, did his best to keep CHS in the game, throwing down 23, but the Wolves only got scoring from three other players.

Aaron Curtin and Risen Johnson each popped for six, while Aaron Trumbull, fighting through his own injury issues, banked home four.

Second quarter blues kill JV:

Injuries also hurt the JV squad, as top scorers DeAndre Mitchell and Hunter Smith were limited to just a quarter of play so they could slide up and replace missing players on the varsity team.

After a close first quarter (9-9), Klahowya surged to a 17-point halftime spread on its way to a 55-33 win.

The loss dropped the young Wolves to 6-9 overall, 3-3 in Olympic League play.

They’ll get a chance to get back on their winning ways when they face Port Townsend, a team they’ve beaten twice this season.

“Three games to go. Trying to go 6 and 3 in conference,” said Wolf coach Dustin Van Velkinburgh. “We look to get Gabe Wynn back Tuesday in Port Townsend. We will see how things go.”

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Playoff hopes flicker!!

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged 1A Olympic League, ankle injuries, Basketball, CHS Wolves, Joel Walstad, playoffs, Risen Johnson on January 28, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Joel Walstad scored seven Tuesday, but left the game midway through the third with an ankle injury. (John Fisken photo)

Wolf JV coach Dustin Van Velkinburgh talks strategy with his troops. (Madeline Strasburg photo)

The hunt for a playoff berth just got harder.

Not impossible, maybe, but more of an uphill battle, to be sure.

Take one comeback that ran out of time (the Wolves falling 67-59 at Chimacum Tuesday) and an improbable upset (Port Townsend knocking off Klahowya 51-48 in overtime) and the Coupeville High School boys’ basketball squad is now on the outside looking in as the battle for postseason berths winds down.

The loss dropped the Wolves to 5-10 overall, 1-4 in Olympic League play and leaves them alone in the cellar of the four team league, trailing Chimacum (4-1), Klahowya (3-2) and Port Townsend (2-3).

The top three teams make the postseason, with Coupeville having four games left on the schedule to fix things.

First up are road games at Klahowya (Jan. 30) and Port Townsend (Feb. 3), then home match-ups with Chimacum (Feb. 6) and Klahowya (Feb. 9).

One huge question for the Wolves will be health, as they’ve now had five varsity players go down with injuries.

Senior Aaron Trumbull has been limited the last two games by an ankle injury and now fellow starter Joel Walstad is questionable.

He hurt his ankle midway through the third quarter Tuesday, and early reports that he “heard a pop” aren’t encouraging.

“We’ll see how he’s doing by Friday and hope he’s back,” Wolf coach Anthony Smith said. “If he can’t go, we’ll have to adjust.”

Gabe Wynn, Jared Helmstadter and Dalton Martin are all out with injuries as well.

While much of Tuesday was doom and gloom, two things stood out for Coupeville.

A fourth quarter run sparked by the bench cut what had been a 22-point deficit down by quite a bit and junior guard Risen Johnson snatched the spotlight.

Pumping in a career-high 21, he used a variety of moves to dazzle the Cowboys.

Wiley Hesselgrave knocked down 13 before fouling out, while Aaron Curtin (9), Walstad (7), Ryan Griggs (6), Matt Shank (2) and CJ Smith (1) rounded out the scoring attack.

JV runs out of steam:

Down by seven at the half, the wheels fell off after the break for the Wolf JV boys.

The 54-30 loss dropped the young guns to 6-8 overall, 3-2 in league play.

“We have lost the competitive fire that we had a couple weeks ago,” said CHS coach Dustin Van Velkinburgh. “With four games to go we will recapture that and finish strong.”

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Playoffs, here we come!!

Posted in Girls Soccer, tagged 1A Olympic League, Bree Daigneault, CHS Wolves, Micky LeVine, playoffs, Soccer on November 1, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Bree Daigneault (left) and Micky LeVine share a moment. (John Fisken photos)

Hanna Seiffert is amused by Kirsten Pelroy.

Mia Littlejohn flashes some fancy footwork.

Pelroy stalks the field.

Erin Rosenkranz, 1.3 seconds away from causing a sonic boom.

Daigneault keeps her eyes on the skies, tracking the flight of the ball.

It’s many things wrapped in one.

It’s a “home” game that’s taking place 45 miles down the road.

It’s a winner-take-all playoff game.

It’s probably the biggest game in program history.

When the Coupeville High School girls’ soccer squad (6-6-1) takes the pitch this afternoon (12 PM) at Kingston High School, it will be a rare venture into true postseason play for the Wolf booters.

The opponent is Vashon Island (6-4-1), the #3 team from the Nisqually Valley League and Coupeville is nominally the home team, having earned that honor by claiming second place in the Olympic League behind Klahowya.

But, with the requirement that all District 3 playoff games take place on turf fields, CHS was not allowed to host the game on its field.

Oak Harbor’s beautiful turf field, less than 10 miles up the road, was already spoken for (a cheer camp), so it’s off to North Kitsap.

The #3 team from the Olympic, Port Townsend (3-11) faces the #2 team from the Nisqually, Bellevue Christian (7-4-2) as well Saturday.

The Coupeville/Vashon winner advances to play Seattle Christian (12-2-1) Nov. 4, while the Port Townsend/Bellevue Christian winner gets Klahowya (14-1).

Two teams will emerge from the six-team district tourney and qualify for state.

To check out the district tourney bracket hop over to:

http://www.olympicleague.com/tournament.php?tournament_id=1371&sport=11

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Ready to rumble!!

Posted in Girls Soccer, tagged 1A Olympic League, CHS Wolves, playoffs, Port Townsend, Soccer on October 30, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Micky LeVine, who leads Coupeville in scoring this season, looks for an opening in the defense. (John Fisken photos)

Mckenzie Meyer unleashes “The Bone Crusher.”

Ivy Luvera sacrifices her noggin. P.S. — those are snappy shoes.

Bree Daigneault is in a hurry to get places.

Erin Rosenkranz leads the attack.

It’s simple.

Win tonight and you get a home playoff game. Lose, and you start the postseason on the road.

When Coupeville (5-6-1 overall, 2-3 in the Olympic League) and Port Townsend (3-10, 2-3) kick off at Mickey Clark Field (5 PM), it’ll be a battle for second place, better postseason seeding and bragging rights.

The Redhawks stunned the Wolves 1-0 Tuesday to force a tie, setting up a chance for Coupeville to get a bit of revenge on its home field in the regular season finale.

Klahowya (14-0, 6-0) is league champ, while Chimacum’s booters (2-12, 1-5) are done.

The #2 seed from the Olympic League will host the #3 team from the Nisqually League Nov. 1, while the loser tonight will take its #3 seed on the road to play the #2 team from the Nisqually League the same day.

The winners of those games advance to the double-elimination portion of the district tourney Nov. 4-8.

To get you ready we present some snappy pics from Tuesday’s game, courtesy John Fisken.

To see more (and possibly purchase some, thereby helping fund scholarships for CHS student/athletes) pop over to:

http://www.olympicleague.com/index.php?act=view_gallery&gallery=7097&league=21&page=1&page_name=photo_store&school=180&sport=0

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