With the changing of the weather so goes the changing of the high school sports season as well. Winter sports began practice on Monday, while fall sports for north Whidbey’s teams wrapped up over this past weekend. I began my stint as the sports editor of the Whidbey News-Times at the tail end of the fall season and here are a few brief thoughts about what I’ve seen so far in my short time here.
One of the first events I attended was Coupeville High’s final football game of the season against a strong LaConner squad. Despite losing 20-10, the team showed tremendous heart and pride in a game that they could have easily not prepared for. If a couple of breaks could have went the Wolves way – LaConner scored two touchdowns on fourth-down and another with less than 15 seconds to go before halftime – the team could have had an upset win.
The Wolves held LaConner running back Brandon Young to 189 yards on 35 carries, not bad against a guy who rushed for over 1,800 yards on the season and almost set a Skagit County single-season record. Leading the way for the Wolves defense was a trio of seniors; Joe Kelley, Mike Smart, and Schuyler Porter with 19, 16, and 12 tackles respectively. According to everyone I have talked to, the Wolves played hard all season and never quit; they have much to be proud of.
One bit of bad news. It is looking like senior Matt Helm, who broke his leg returning a punt in the LaConner game, might not able to play basketball this winter. According to Wolves’ AD Ron Bagby, there is a chance he can return at the end of the season, so best wishes to Matt on a speedy recovery and hope to see him out on the court.
cats Soccer on the Rise
Another local team that deserves a mention is the Oak Harbor girls soccer team. The Wildcats grabbed third place in the very tough WesCo North Division this year and made it to the second round of the district playoffs where they suffered a heartbreaking loss to Shorecrest on penalty kicks.
Despite losing star striker Kate Nydam to graduation, the Wildcats will bring back a talented group of underclassmen next season. Players such as forwards Jen White, Gretyl Pruss, defenders Hazel Sapida and Kaylea Kingma, and goaltender Devon Shulock will provide the Cats a solid nucleus that should challenge for a state tournament birth next season.
Wolves’ spikers at state
In volleyball news, the Coupeville Wolves fell short of their goal of playing on Saturday when they lost two of three matches in pool play at the State 1A finals held in Yakima last weekend.
The Wolves were placed in pool C with defending state champion and third-ranked Colfax, tri-district opponent Kings, and Ilwaco. A team had to win two games to be assured of making it to Saturday’s knockout round. Having already beat the Knights at district’s and with Colfax looking like a tough opponent, the Wolves first match of the tournament against Ilwaco was critical.
Coupeville got off to a good start, but couldn’t put Ilwaco away, losing in three games (1-15, 15-8, 15-10). In the second round the Wolves ran up against Colfax (who would eventually win its second straight state tourney) and lost 15-6, 15-6. The Wolves did salvage some pride with a 15-4, 15-12 victory over Kings in the third game.
Also, the Northwest A League All-Opponent Team was announced last week, and four Wolves spikers made the cut.
Seniors Ashley Bagby and Sarah Mouw, and junior Amy Mouw all made the first team, while senior Tracy Taylor was named to the second team. Congrats to all four girls and to the entire team for their undefeated league season.
