Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘state tournament’

Moments in time, photos to remember

Posted in Photos, tagged , , , , , on December 21, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Matthew Ward hurdles into fall, amid an explosion of colors. (Morgan White photo)

Cameras clickin’ everywhere.

As I went back through the photos of 2022, I was struck by how many different photographers allowed me to use their work this year.

We’ve had an explosion of Coupeville High School yearbook students putting their photos out into the world, plus Wolf moms everywhere are still the backbone of the franchise.

By the time I was done picking my favorite 20 pics from the year, there were 14 photographers represented, likely the highest total for any of my year-end collections in the decade-plus Coupeville Sports has been around.

To them, I say thank you. This wouldn’t be the same without you.

Coupeville seniors Kai Wong (left) and Dominic Coffman embrace during the final moments of their state playoff game. (Becky Terry photo)

Nezi Keiper (left) and Carolyn Lhamon enjoy their time together on the soccer pitch. (Carlota Marcos Cabrillo photo)

Taygin Jump (right) and Mia Farris are on different wavelengths at the moment. (Jackie Saia photo)

The next generation of Wolf cheerleaders prepare to make their debut. (Lindsey Helm photo)

Coupeville celebrates its first boys’ basketball district title in 52 years. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Scott Hilborn races the sunset. (Bailey Thule photo)

CHS goalie Nick Guay gets group-hugged after a playoff win. (Morgan White photo)

Teagan Calkins knows where her cameraman is at. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Lathom Kelley, forever a prairie legend. (Bennett Richter photo)

Josh Upchurch hangs out with his fan club president. (Brittany Kolbet photo)

Tim Ursu makes ’em miss. (Helen Strelow photo)

Katie Marti just wants to spread the love to Madison McMillan. (Delanie Lewis photo)

Audrianna Shaw exits with grace, and humor. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

A man. A beast. A (sorta) love story. (Jodi Crimmins photo)

Coupeville’s best football season in three decades-plus started with a big showing at summer camp. (Nikki Breaux photo)

Aiden O’Neill is ready for his close-up. (Davin Houston photo)

Super excited about making it to the big dance. (Morgan White photo)

Scream ‘n holler all you want, Scott Hilborn’s not dropping this one. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Grey Peabody rules all that she sees. (Jackie Saia photo)

Read Full Post »

Wolves shine on field, in classroom

Posted in awards, tagged , , , , on December 16, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Willie Smith loves it when a plan comes together. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Academics. Athletics. Excellence.

Achieving high standards, Coupeville High School is ranked third out of 61 schools in the 2B classification in the first Scholastic Cup standings.

The rankings, which are compiled by the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, “recognize performance in the classroom as well as on the playing surface.”

Team athletic performances at the state tournament level of competition matters, as does team academic performance, and school-wide sportsmanship.

Coupeville notched 355 points for the fall season, placing them behind just Saint George’s (585) and Okanogan (435).

Cle Elum-Roslyn and Liberty (Spangle) round out the current top five with 240 points.

Coupeville’s points came courtesy a number of teams.

The girls’ cross country squad collected 100 points for being the 2B scholastic state champs, and another 30 points for finishing 8th as a team at the state meet.

Wolf boys’ soccer picked up 80 points for having the second-best GPA among 2B teams, while Coupeville’s female booters brought in 30 for placing 7th in the classroom.

Football’s first trip to the state playoffs since 1990 was worth 20 points, while the gridiron giants earned another 30 points for being the 8th best scholastic squad in the classification.

Rounding out the effort, boys’ cross country notched 40 points for a 5th place GPA showing, while Coupeville’s athletic programs were handed another 25 points for school-wide sportsmanship.

Scholastic Cup standings will be updated after the winter season, with the winning schools announced at the end of spring sports.

 

To see a complete breakdown of the standings, pop over to:

http://www.wiaa.com/cupranking.aspx?SecID=346

Read Full Post »

Back to state? Computer overlords say yes!

Posted in Boys Basketball, tagged , , , , on November 17, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Dominic Coffman (left) and Jonathan Valenzuela could be celebrating again, if our computer overlords are correct. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Make it so.

Our computer overlords have spoken, and they have an early fondness for Coupeville High School boys’ basketball.

Evan Rankings went down to the basement, fired up its seer of seers, Newman, asked the computer to spit out which teams it projects to make the 2023 state tournament fields, and the Wolves made the list.

Now, not a single game has been played, with practice having only just started, something website guru Matt Evans acknowledges.

Plus, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association has yet to officially release state allocations for each district, so there could be some movement on how many spots are available in each area.

But worry not about that.

Evans and Newman are “experimenting with an algorithm to see how well the computer can use some data from the previous season along with returning player data to see if it can project success.”

Or, as the human in the room sagely says, “If this works, cool. If not, whatever.”

At any case, we can all come back in late February to see how the projections held up.

Newman’s projected state tourney fields:

 

2B boys:

 

District 1 (one projected berth):

Coupeville

 

District 4 (six projected berths):

Adna
Chief Leschi
Ilwaco
Kalama
Morton/White Pass
Wahkiakum

 

District 5 (four projected berths):

Cle Elum/Roslyn
Columbia (Burbank)
Tri-Cities Prep
White Swan

 

District 6 (two projected berths):

Brewster
Lake Roosevelt

 

District 7 (three projected berths):

Colfax
Davenport
Liberty (Spangle)

 

2B girls:

 

District 1 (one projected berth):

La Conner

 

District 4 (six projected berths):

Adna
Chief Leschi
Onalaska
Rainier
Raymond
Wahkiakum

 

District 5 (four projected berths):

Granger
Mabton
Tri-Cities Prep
Warden

 

District 6 (two projected berths):

Lake Roosevelt
Okanogan

 

District 7 (three projected berths):

Colfax
Liberty (Spangle)
St. George’s

 

P.S. — On the 1B side of things, Districts 1, 2, and 3 combine in the postseason and are projected to net six state slots for the boys and five for the girls.

Newman likes three of Coupeville’s Northwest 2B/1B League rivals to make the big dance — both Mount Vernon Christian teams and the Orcas Island boys.

 

To see Newman’s complete projections, pop over to:

ER’s Way-Too-Early 2023 WIAA Prep Basketball Tournament Fields

Read Full Post »

Bow to our league, one and all

Posted in Football, soccer, Volleyball, tagged , , , , on November 8, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville football is one of nine NWL fall sports teams still chasing state title dreams. (Bailey Thule photo)

Support your school, but also support your league.

While most of the readers of this blog want Coupeville High School sports teams to whomp on their rivals, there is some small satisfaction in seeing fellow Northwest 2B/1B League schools do well when they play outsiders.

Listen, all the titles should be hanging in the CHS gym, end of story.

But, if they can’t, when La Conner wins a state volleyball crown, or Orcas Island captures a boys soccer title, or Mount Vernon Christian girls’ basketball rules the hardwood, it helps builds a rep for the NWL.

We want people from far-flung locales to stop chattering about their own leagues and realize, “Hey, maybe we should learn some facts about the upper left corner of the state, cause those teams are kickin’ our sweet fannies.”

Coupeville comes first, but every time a fan from say, Kalama or Liberty (Spangle) goes quiet as their team loses to someone from our league, it’s a win for all of us in this region.

With that in mind, there are nine teams from six NWL schools still in there swinging for a state title.

Mount Vernon Christian (girls’ soccer, volleyball, boys’ soccer) tops the list, while Concrete is the lone league school with no shot left at hanging a new banner this fall.

Where NWL teams stand heading into this weekend:

 

BOYS SOCCER:

The NWL has three of the eight teams in the 2B/1B state tourney, with Friday Harbor seeded #1, defending state champ Orcas at #3, and Mount Vernon Christian at #7.

Orcas won the regular-season league crown, but Friday Harbor toppled the Vikings 2-1 in the bi-district championship game to claim front-runner status.

Fun fact – the top-seeded Wolverines have lost twice this season, and one of those was a 3-1 defeat while visiting Coupeville in late September.

Our seven-team league expands to nine schools for boys’ soccer, with Concrete and Darrington avoiding the pitch, while Grace Academy, Providence Classical Christian, Lopez Island, and Cedar Park Christian-Lynnwood join the party.

Grace almost gave the NWL a fourth team at the season-ending tourney, but the Eagles were nipped 2-1 by Puget Sound Adventist in a loser-out, winner-to-state clash.

 

FOOTBALL:

Coupeville stands alone, the league champs and seeded #7 in the 12-team 2B tourney.

The Wolves first state playoff game in 32 years is Saturday against Onalaska at Oak Harbor’s Wildcat Memorial Stadium.

Darrington fell a game short of the big dance on the 1B side, blown out by Mossyrock in a loser-out, winner-to-state game.

 

GIRLS SOCCER:

The 2B/1B state tourney has 12 teams in the draw, with NWL champ Mount Vernon Christian seeded #2, behind just top-ranked Kalama.

Friday Harbor had a shot at joining the Hurricanes, but came up a win short, KO’d by Crosspoint Academy at bi-districts.

 

VOLLEYBALL:

Three-time defending 2B state champ La Conner heads back to Yakima, ranked #3 in a 16-team field after beating Coupeville in the bi-district final.

While there was just one ticket to state available for 2B teams in this region, it’s a far different tale over on the 1B side of things.

With a 20-team(!) state tourney, three NWL schools which were all handily beaten by Coupeville during the regular season advance to the SunDome.

MVC (#6), Orcas Island (#16), and Darrington (#19) are still alive, though the latter two teams do have to open with a loser-out match.

Win those rumbles, and the Vikings and Loggers join the double-elimination portion of the state tourney like the Hurricanes and La Conner.

Read Full Post »

Are you ready to rumble?

Posted in Football, tagged , , , , on November 6, 2022| Leave a Comment »

Kevin Partida and associates host Onalaska next weekend in the first round of the 2B state football playoffs. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

The journey begins (almost) at home.

Making its first appearance in the state playoffs since 1990, the Coupeville High School football team was seeded #7 Sunday in a field of 12 teams chasing the 2B gridiron crown.

That means the Wolves host #10 Onalaska in a loser-out first round game.

The game will be played either Friday, Nov. 11 or Saturday, Nov. 12, with the date and kickoff time to be announced Monday.

And where will the royal rumble go down?

Barring a late plot twist, it will be at Oak Harbor’s Wildcat Memorial Stadium, which means just an 11.3-mile jaunt for the Wolves.

Onalaska’s players, meanwhile, get to enjoy a 195-mile trek. Or almost 400 miles round trip.

And why is Coupeville not hosting the game on its own home field?

Because, if I understand correctly, we’re being dinged for not having covered seating for road fans, which the 3,000-seat Wildcat Memorial Stadium offers.

CHS football managers extraordinaire Brenna Silveira (left) and Melanie Navarro — the rain never bothered them anyway. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

But hosting the game in Oak Harbor is a homecoming, of sorts, for first year Coupeville head coach Bennett Richter.

He was a sophomore on the 2006 Oak Harbor gridiron squad which won a 4A state title despite not being allowed to play postseason games at home because its World War II-vintage stadium was crumbling into dust.

I’m just saying, from my perch in the press box at the ol’ junk heap in the ’90s, I once watched a little girl bounce on the wooden bleachers, then vanish out of sight as a board broke.

Simmer down. She was only on the third row up.

She was unhappy (lord, was she unhappy), but she survived.

The stadium not so much, and by 2006, it had been condemned, before the giddiness of the state title convinced Oak Harbor to go build a brand new, swanky home roost.

Sort of the “House Bennett Built,” if you will.

What do you mean former Wildcat (and Wazzu) QB Marshall Lobbestael, he of the heavenly passes which sparked the title run, would like to have a word with me??

Anyways…

Back in 2022, the winner of the Coupeville vs. Onalaska tilt advances to the state quarterfinals to face second-seeded Okanogan, one of two undefeated teams in the field.

You can find the bracket here:

https://www.wpanetwork.com/wiaa/brackets/tournament.php?act=view&tournament_id=3666

And while you’re waiting for next weekend (or working for the weekend, if you want Loverboy’s approval), here’s how Coupeville and Onalaska stack up.

 

Records:

Coupeville (7-1)
Onalaska (5-5)

 

Leagues:

Coupeville — Northwest 2B/1B League
Onalaska — Central 2B League

 

Mascots:

Coupeville — Wolves
Onalaska — Loggers

 

Head Coaches:

Coupeville — Bennett Richter (1st year)
Onalaska — Mazen Saade (14th year)

 

Results:

Coupeville:

Beat Klahowya (41-21)
Lost to South Whidbey (44-28)
Beat Sultan (30-13)
Beat La Conner (46-0)
Beat Friday Harbor (35-3)
Beat Bellingham (48-6)
Cascade (Leavenworth) CANCELLED by smoke
Beat La Conner (78-0)
Beat Friday Harbor (43-14)

 

Onalaska:

Beat Oroville (30-0)
Lost to Napavine (68-0)
Lost to Goldendale (20-0)
Lost to Tenino (40-6)
Lost to Toledo (38-12)
Beat Kalama (48-30)
Beat Stevenson (44-14)
Lost to Adna (7-6)
Beat Wahkiakum (50-28)
Beat Morton White-Pass (26-8)

 

Last trip to state:

Coupeville — 1990
Onalaska — 2021

 

Total trips to state:

Coupeville (4) — (0-4)
Onalaska (18) — (14-16) — Two state titles (1986 and 2019)

 

Plus, we have a rock.

And they have a rock.

Time to rock ‘n roll.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »