Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘season opener’

(Truly) young guns hang tough in opener

Posted in Girls Basketball, tagged , , , , , on May 20, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville 8th grader Madison McMillan, playing on the high school JV team, led her squad in scoring in their season opener. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Say hello to the next generation, early.

Unlike a lot of other Northwest 2B/1B League schools, Coupeville High School is fielding two girls basketball squads this season.

With program numbers down, the Wolves salvaged their JV team by allowing 8th graders to play high school ball, and more than half the girls in uniform Thursday were middle school students by day, high school hoops hotshots by night.

And the (truly) young guns held up well, accounting for two-thirds of their team’s points in a closer-than-it-sounds 35-24 loss to visiting Orcas Island.

Coupeville was within a point through the first two quarters, and trailed by just three heading into the fourth, but that final frame stung, with the older Vikings closing on a 12-4 tear.

Coaching her team in a game for the first time in 15 months, Wolf JV hoops guru Megan Smith was realistic with her expectations, and pleased with much of what she saw.

“We had some really good moments of greatness and some of not so much,” she said. “We are super young with not a lot of players that have experience, and that’s okay, we just have some more work to do is all.

“It was good to see them out on the court and actually playing the game!”

With true high schooler Jessenia Camarena leading the way in the early going, the Wolves trailed just 8-7 after one quarter and 16-15 at the halftime break.

Masks in place and no fans in the gym, per Orcas School District request, Coupeville hung tough, exiting the third quarter down just 23-20.

Madison McMillan paced the Wolves with a team-high eight points in her high school hoops debut, while Camarena banged home seven, Lyla Stuurmans knocked down six, Katie Marti flipped in a bucket, and Morgan Stevens swished a free throw.

McMillan, Stuurmans, and Marti, along with fellow Wolf hoopsters Pamela Morrell, Bryley Gilbert, and Kassidy Upchurch, are all 8th graders.

Also seeing floor time for Smith’s squad were Reese Wilkinson, Skylar Parker, and Desi Ramirez.

With Orcas Island and Friday Harbor the only other NWL teams fielding a girls JV squad this season, Coupeville’s second team will play just four games, while other Wolf teams get 10-12 contests.

One of those comes up quick, however, as CHS travels to Friday Harbor this Saturday.

Read Full Post »

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.

Read Full Post »

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.

Read Full Post »

Diamond queens back in business

Posted in Little League, Softball, tagged , , , , on May 3, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Jada Heaton (left) and Mia Farris are ready to rumble. (Jennifer Heaton photo)

“It was pure joy to see all these girls back on the field!!”

The Central Whidbey Little League Juniors softball squad opened a new season Monday — a major milestone during the Age of Coronavirus — and just getting back in action was enough to leave coach Fred Farris with a huge smile (under his mask).

While the Hammerheads fell short on the scoreboard, with arch-rival North Whidbey rallying for a 16-6 win, the CWLL coach was pleased with a lot of what he saw.

“Girls played great defense and were in good shape,” Farris said.

The diamond guru also had to tip his hat to the rival pitcher, Addison Morales, who he and CWLL assistant coach Kim Brotemarkle helped train.

“We coached her in fall ball three or four years ago and she was just learning to pitch then,” Farris said. “She has really turned into a great pitcher and pitched a great game.”

Facing off with Morales was Chloe Marzocca, who tossed a complete game for Central Whidbey and was often very effective, scattering six hits.

At the plate, Teagan Calkins and Madison McMillan had booming bats for the Hammerheads, collecting two hits apiece.

Calkins delivered a triple and two RBI, McMillan scored twice and stole five bases, while four other Central players came around to tap home plate.

Jada Heaton, Mayleen Weatherford, Katie Marti, and Mia Farris all scored, with Heaton (4), Farris (3), and Marti (2) combining for nine steals.

Taylor Brotemarkle, Anna Steckman, and Candace Meek round out the 11-player Hammerhead roster.

The two teams will meet again, with Central Whidbey set to face North Whidbey six times during a 16-game schedule.

It’s a rivalry Fred Farris embraces.

“I wanted to mention what great sportsmanship the North Whidbey players and coaches showed,” he said. “Although rivals on the field, they truly are great friends off of it.”

Read Full Post »

Swish, a bucket! Swish, a win!

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , on April 24, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Aiden O’Neill (5) and Landon Roberts (across from him) crash the boards. (Sherry Roberts photo)

The nets are back open for business.

High school hoops are still a few weeks away, but Coupeville’s 7th/8th grade SWISH boys basketball squad hit the hardwood Saturday in Burlington, bouncing Orcas Island 32-23.

The season-opening victory kicks off what should be a seven-game schedule — if the pandemic doesn’t mess with things.

What began as a bit of a defensive struggle, with Coupeville clinging to a 10-9 halftime advantage, soon broke heavily in favor of the Wolves.

Chase Anderson led the way, dropping in 10 of his team-high 13 points in the second half.

He banked in a pair of three-balls during his torrid run, while teammate Johnny Porter dominated in the paint.

Six of Coupeville’s eight players scratched their name in the scorebook Saturday, with Johnny Porter and Aiden O’Neill collecting six points apiece in support of Anderson’s 13.

Also rattling the rim were Jack Porter, who knocked down three points, and Camden Glover and Hunter Bronec, who added a bucket apiece.

Defensive dynamos Landon Roberts and Hurlee Bronec also saw extensive playing time for a Coupeville squad which returns to action next Saturday, May 1.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »