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Strong finish, big growth

March 13, 2026 by David Svien

Emma Green locks down on defense. (Julie Wheat photos)

Growth and commitment.

That was what Coupeville Middle School girls’ basketball coaches Brooke Crowder and Kassie O’Neil wanted to see this season from their young players.

So, while the win/loss record might not have been flawless for two of three Wolf squads, much was accomplished over the past eight games.

Ending its season on the road Thursday in Granite Falls, land of the blind referee, Coupeville finished with a roar.

“Last night showcased strong effort across all three teams, with several players stepping up in key moments,” Crowder said.

How the finale played out:

 

Level 1:

Coupeville hung tough through the first 14 minutes, before a torrid third quarter performance from Granite lifted the host team to a 38-20 win.

The Wolves, who finished 1-7 on the season, trailed just 4-3 through one quarter of play, and 12-6 at the half.

All of Coupeville’s first half scoring came via the three-ball, with Kaleigha Millison and Aubrey Flowers both knocking down a trey from long range.

Granite came out on fire in the third, however, going off on a game-busting 17-6 tear to claim victory.

Flowers paced the Wolves with six points, earning some praise from her coach for a well-rounded game.

“Aubrey delivered one of her strongest performances of the season,” Brooke Crowder said. “She attacked the rim with confidence, took outside shots when the defense gave space, and anchored the paint defensively by holding position under the basket and disrupting plays.

“It was a complete game on both ends of the floor.”

Millison banked in five in support of Flowers, with Anna Powers (5) and Emma Green (2) rounding out the scoring.

Well almost, as Coupeville also picked up a bucket thanks to a Granite player accidentally scoring on her own basket.

Claire Lachnit, Laurel Crowder, Finley Helm, Zayne Roos, and Bella Sandlin also saw floor time for a plucky Wolf squad which never backed down from a challenge this season.

“Last night was a tough way for Team 1 to close the season,” Brooke Crowder said. “The game was emotional, and at times it felt like things simply weren’t going our way. Anyone who was there understands the frustration our players felt in that moment.

“But what matters most is how these girls competed.

“They played with heart, they kept fighting, and they left everything they had on the floor.

“I’m incredibly proud of this group not just for how they played, but for who they are as teammates and competitors.”

Bella Sandlin shreds the defense.

 

Level 2:

A bucket here, a bucket there, and CMS wins.

In the end, however, Granite held on for a razor-thin 21-18 win, dropping the Wolves to 1-7 for the campaign.

The game was a tight one, with the Tigers up 6-2 after one, 9-5 at the half, then 13-11 through three quarters, before clamping down on defense late to ice things.

Ava Alford pumped in a season-high seven points for Coupeville, with Juniper Dotson and Annabelle Cundiff each knocking down four, while Addison Jacobson (2) and Halle Black (1) rounded out the attack.

Daisy Leedy-Bonifas, Ruby Folkestad, and Reagan Green all played strongly on the defensive end of the floor for the Wolves.

“Ava recorded her highest scoring game of the season by consistently putting herself in the right spots,” Brooke Crowder said. “Battling for rebounds, winning loose balls under the basket, creating steals, and pushing the ball up the floor in transition.”

And she wasn’t the only Wolf to shine in the finale.

“Halle demonstrated excellent court awareness, finding teammates in scoring positions and executing effectively on baseline out-of-bounds plays,” Crowder said.

“Juniper brought relentless energy throughout the game, playing aggressive defense and running the floor hard from start to finish without letting up.

“Annabelle also made a strong impact with her energy and defensive effort, helping keep the team competitive while showing great vision and composure moving the ball and finding teammates in transition.”

 

Millie Somes celebrates the moment.

Team 3:

Coupeville’s buzz saw of a team sliced ‘n diced another opponent, with the Wolves winning 17-14 to claim their third-straight win.

They didn’t always get a chance to play as a unit when other schools came up short on players, but when they did, they clicked, finishing 4-1.

Squaring off with Granite Falls, the Wolves bolted to a 9-4 lead at the first break, before slightly stretching the advantage out to 13-6 by the half.

While Coupeville only scored four points in the second half, with buckets from Nikolette Dunham and Millie Somes, its defense was on point, holding the Tigers scoreless in the third frame.

Abby Hunt finished with a team-best six points, with Dunham (4), Ellie Callahan (2), Arianna Vinson (2) Somes (2), and Danielle Halsing (1) keeping the stat keeper busy.

Leah Hernandez, Amira Anunciado, and Daisy Leedy-Bonifas filled out the rotation for a squad which ended things on a huge high note.

“Abby set the tone with hustle and persistence, maintaining constant pressure on the court,” Brooke Crowder said.

“Defensively, Ellie and Arianna worked effectively together in help defense, shutting down attempts around the basket and protecting the paint. Amira added another strong performance with tough rebounding, powerful runs up the court, and confident ball movement that helped keep the offense flowing.

“Across all three teams, the effort, hustle, and teamwork on display reflected the growth and determination of the program.”

 

Final season scoring stats:

Laurel Crowder – 35
Daisy Leedy-Bonifas – 30
Halle Black – 28
Annabelle Cundiff – 27
Kaleigha Millison – 23
Emma Green – 22
Juniper Dotson – 21
Anna Powers – 21
Abby Hunt – 17
Cami Van Dyke – 14
Aubrey Flowers – 13
Finley Helm – 13
Nikolette Dunham – 12
Ava Alford – 11
Zayne Roos – 10
Addison Jacobson – 9
Ellie Callahan – 8
Danielle Halsing – 7
Bella Sandlin – 6
Millie Somes – 6
Claire Lachnit – 5
Sophia Burley – 4
Ruby Folkestad – 4
Reagan Green – 4
Emily Rains – 4
Arianna Vinson – 3
Amira Anunciado – 1

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Smash Sisters blister big school rivals

March 12, 2026 by David Svien

Adeline Maynes and friends are off to a 2-0 start on the softball season. (Julie Wheat photos)

Patience and power.

Playing on the cold, rain-splattered turf at Lakewood Thursday, the Coupeville High School softball squad mixed a ton of walks with some timely hits to make it two wins against big school rivals.

A day after storming from behind on their home prairie to knock out 3A Oak Harbor in extra innings, the Wolves unloaded on the 2A Cougars, ending things early in a 21-3 game called after five innings due to the mercy rule.

Now 2-0 on the young season, Aaron Lucero’s squad, which reps a 2B-sized school, is off until a road trip Mar. 21 to Bellingham to square off with 1A Meridian.

That’ll give the young Wolves time to fine-tune things and defrost, in some order.

“The game was getting rough, players turning into popsicles and we wanted to get done,” Lucero said.

“Proud of the team for fighting through horrendous conditions, maintaining composure, and getting the job done.”

A day after facing a flame thrower in Oak Harbor ace Reese Wasinger, Coupeville had to adjust to slower speeds from a group of Lakewood pitchers who struggled with chucking a slick ball which was looking to shoot off in random directions.

The Wolves happily accepted all 22 walks offered up by their rivals.

But they also connected on 10 base hits, keeping the runners churning around the basepaths until Lucero took his foot off the gas pedal late, giving up some free outs by having players leave base early.

The tone of the game was set early, as CHS sent 11 batters to the plate in the top of the first, scoring six of them.

Haylee Armstrong started things off with a sharply hit single, Sydney Van Dyke scampered to first on a dropped third strike, and Teagan Calkins walked, priming the well for cleanup hitter Chelsi Stevens, who immediately smacked a two-run double to left field.

Chelsi Stevens, master of the bunt, or the thunderous base hit.

Tack on a sac fly from Adeline Maynes and a two-run single to right from 8th grader Cami Van Dyke, and the floodgates were open.

Coupeville kept delivering rib shots to the Lakewood pitchers, or, in the case of Haylee “The Ankle Breaker” Armstrong, just whacked low, wicked liners which tore chunks of flesh off the leg of any Cougar hurler unable to dodge in 0.3 seconds.

It was one of two painful moments for the hosts, as later a batter in pursuit of a hit took a spectacular fall midway down the line to first, then kissed sweet, sweet wet turf as Wolf first baseman Ava Lucero calmly tracked down the wayward ball and recorded the out.

There was a moment when it looked like the Lakewood player might have to be taken out behind the barn and put out of her misery, “Of Mice and Men”-style (read a book!), but her body survived — if her dignity maybe didn’t.

The Wolves pushed eight more runs across in the second inning, with Stevens and Armstrong spraying RBI-rich hits — the latter cleared the bases with a long single — before getting five consecutive walks to end the frame.

The third inning was the one bright spot for Lakewood, with Coupeville held scoreless (the horror! the horror!), while the Cougars eked out their only runs of the afternoon.

But once the teams rolled into the fourth, things clicked back into place, with CHS tacking on seven more runs across the final two innings, while its outfielders twice threw out Lakewood runners trying to pick up an extra base.

Ava Lucero, defensive dynamo.

Coupeville’s final four runs came courtesy of a two-run single off the bat of Capri Anter and a two-run double from Ava Lucero, one of the few players with pep to spare as the cold and rain sapped the will of everyone involved.

Still joyfully bouncing around and whipping balls back to Wolf hurler Adeline Maynes with undisguised glee, the coach’s daughter put a punctuation mark on the win with a display of defensive prowess in the bottom of the fifth.

First, she backpedaled through the raindrops to snare a high pop fly, before stepping forward and calmly snagging a liner to mark the game’s final out.

Along with beating a big school rival, Coupeville did it by getting something from everyone on the active roster.

Aaron Lucero was able to play all 13 players in uniform, with 11 Wolves getting aboard thanks to a hit or walk.

Seven different sluggers recorded an RBI as well, with Stevens, Armstrong, and Anter leading the way with four apiece.

The game featured the season debut of Emma Leavitt and the CHS softball debut for Zariyah Allen and Marina Jadwin, who are both new to the sport.

Plus, the Lakewood coach provided pizza for the Wolves. So, winner, winner, pepperoni dinner.

 

Thursday stats:

Zariyah Allen — One walk
Capri Anter — One single, three walks
Haylee Armstrong — Three singles, one walk
Teagan Calkins — Five walks
Emma Cushman — Two walks
Ava Lucero — One double, one walk
Adeline Maynes — One single, three walks
Olivia Martin — One walk
Chelsi Stevens — One single, one double, three walks
Cami Van Dyke — One single
Sydney Van Dyke — One single, two walks

Hot-hitting cousins Capri Anter (left) and Haylee Armstrong dress for success. (Photo courtesy Michelle Armstrong)

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Our prairie, our win

March 11, 2026 by David Svien

Coupeville fab frosh Emma Cushman made an impressive debut as a varsity starter Wednesday in a rivalry win over Oak Harbor. (Julie Wheat photos)

Welcome to the Emma Cushman era.

Making her debut as a varsity softball starter Wednesday, the Coupeville High School freshman came up huge in the Opening Day spotlight, pulling off two big plays — one on offense, the other on defense — to spark the Wolves to an extra-innings win over the huge school from the North.

Those invaders in purple and gold rep 3A Oak Harbor and were the only team to beat 2B Coupeville during the regular season in 2025, edging them 5-4 in O-Town.

Jump forward to 2026, transport the action to the cold prairie of Cow Town, and it was time for Cushman and Co. to return the favor, capturing a come-from-behind 4-3 victory which will reverberate long and loud.

While Wednesday’s baseball game between CHS and OHHS was a varsity vs. JV affair, the softball clash was straight up varsity vs. varsity, with the visiting Wildcats led by the potent duo of hot-hitting Layla Suto and fastball-flinging Reese Wasinger.

While the rain, and most of the wind, stayed away, fans on both sides of the battle were buried in jackets, blankets, gloves, hats, and anything which could hold off the cold nibbling at their very souls.

What heat there was, came on the field, as Wasinger and Wolf sophomore hurler Adeline Maynes went fastball-to-fastball in a pitcher’s duel where both whiffed 15 rival batters across eight innings of work.

After 1-2-3 innings for both teams to start things, Oak Harbor struck first, pushing across two runs in the top of the second thanks to some well-executed small ball.

A single which landed just out of reach of the infielder’s grasp followed by a throwing error on a bunt got the Wildcats primed, and the visitors pushed both runners across thanks to a note-perfect sacrifice bunt and a well-placed RBI groundout.

Coupeville put a runner aboard in both the second and third, but Chelsi Stevens and Haylee Armstrong were left stranded on the basepaths, leaving things at 2-0 headed into the top of the fourth.

Enter Cushman.

Once again using small ball to push a runner around to third, Oak Harbor then blasted a two-out fly to right-center that had extra bases (and an RBI) written all over it.

Except Cushman, playing like a 20-year vet and not a fab frosh who only nabbed her starting slot in the hours before the first pitch, came flying left to right and snagged the rapidly descending ball in mid stride, plucking it off a gust of wind and spiking the Wildcats through their collective hearts.

The highlight reel catch sent the Wolf bench into a tizzy, but Oak Harbor responded with its own defensive gem in the bottom half of the fourth, throwing out a runner at the plate to keep CHS scoreless.

It wasn’t until the bottom of the fifth that the Wolves finally broke Wasinger’s spell, pushing three runs across to claim their first lead of the game.

Ava Lucero got things jumping with a leadoff double, before 8th grader Cami Van Dyke laid down a beautiful bunt single and Armstrong walked to jam the bases full.

Something had to break, and it did, as Sydney Van Dyke swatted a hard-hit grounder, with the throw home pulling the Wildcat catcher off the plate, giving Coupeville its first run of the season.

Teagan Calkins smashes a base hit.

Runs #2 and #3 came quickly, as “The Red Dragon” flexed some prime-time muscles.

Wolf catcher Teagan Calkins, the veteran leader on a young squad, turned on a nasty Wasinger pitch and cranked a two-run single to left and just like that Aaron Lucero’s squad was in front 3-2.

Which held up until the top of the seventh, thanks to an Oak Harbor runner being nailed at the plate in the sixth.

An out away from defeat, Oak Harbor turned a single, a sac bunt, and a mistimed throw to third to knot things back up at 3-3, but you can’t deny destiny.

Coupeville held fast in the top of the eighth, with Cami Van Dyke slickly fielding a hard smash and throwing out the runner at first by a step for the third out, even as the potential go-ahead run screamed for home.

Which brings us to Cushman’s second big play.

It was set up by Maynes cranking a one-out double to right-center in the bottom of the eighth, followed by Ava Lucero being intentionally walked.

Which makes perfect sense.

Do you want to face Lucero, a battle-hardened varsity vet with an often-explosive bat, or Cushman, who was, and I’ll repeat this for those of you in the cheap seats — making her first-ever varsity start?

Well, either way, you’re going to lose.

If she was nervous, Cushman never showed it. She just did exactly what her coaches asked her to do — drop a bunt.

An absolute gem of a bunt, I might say, angled exactly to the very fleck of infield dirt where the most danger would be created.

It could have been a sacrifice, put runners at second and third, with Cami Van Dyke coming to the plate.

Except Cushman’s pool shot hit flawlessly, and an Oak Harbor defender, likely tired and bone-deep cold, snatched it up and threw wide of first base.

Cushman’s feet came to rest on first base, safely, and Olivia Martin, pinch-running for Maynes, came flying around third and danced home with the winning run, sending the Cow Town faithful into a celebration which could be heard from one end of Whidbey to the other.

Over to the side, big smile on his face, was Aaron Lucero.

“I love one-run games. But I really love one-run wins!”

 

Wednesday stats:

Capri Anter — One walk
Haylee Armstrong — Two walks
Teagan Calkins — One single
Ava Lucero — One double, one walk
Adeline Maynes — One single, one double
Chelsi Stevens — One single
Cami Van Dyke — One single
Sydney Van Dyke — One single

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McMillan still a mad masher

March 11, 2026 by David Svien

Madison McMillan

She’s a made woman.

Coupeville grad Madison McMillan delivered her second home run as a college softball player Wednesday, and it was an impressive one, as the former Wolf hammered the ball over the fence in left center.

That helped carry Edmonds College to a 13-1 win and a doubleheader sweep of visiting Shoreline, lifting the Tritons to a crisp 10-1 on the season.

McMillan has played in six games so far, collecting two home runs, six RBI, three runs, and a walk.

At least.

Edmonds stats aren’t 100% correct at the moment, but the Tritons are winning regardless.

McMillan and her teammates, who have reeled off 10 straight wins after losing on Opening Day, return to action this Saturday with a road doubleheader against Bellevue.

During her CHS days, McMillan was a standout volleyball, basketball, and softball player for the Wolves, helping take the spikers and sluggers to state tournament success.

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Glover lights up prairie on Opening Day

March 11, 2026 by David Svien

Coupeville’s Camden Glover, seen here last season, brought his A-game to Opening Day 2026. (David Somes photo)

Camden Glover is already in mid-season form.

Kicking off a new high school baseball season in style Wednesday, the Coupeville senior piled up 13 strikeouts as a pitcher and four hits as a batter, sparking the Wolf varsity to an 8-6 home win against Oak Harbor’s JV.

Playing on a dank, dark, cold day on the prairie — or “spring,” as it’s known in these parts — Cow Town’s diamond men, repping a 2B school, rallied twice to take down a squad from a 3A school.

With head coach Steve Hilborn calling the shots for a fourth season, the Wolves opened the game with a bang, as leadoff hitter Carson Grove led off the bottom of the first with a triple to right field.

Two batters later he scampered home, sent there by the first of Glover’s four base knocks, and CHS starting pitcher Coop Cooper had an early lead to work with.

While Oak Harbor scraped out a pair of runs in the second thanks to three walks and an error, Coupeville hung tough, eventually tying the game at 2-2 in the fourth, before going off for three runs in both the fifth and sixth to claim the lead for good.

The Wolves knotted things up by putting together four walks in the fourth, with Avery Eelkema getting plunked and Grove forcing in the run with a bases-loaded free pass.

In the fifth inning, walks to Cooper and Chris Zenz, combined with another hit from Glover and a key RBI groundout off the bat of Aiden Tingley turned out to be big.

Coupeville eked out 10 walks on the day, with Grove and Killian Shaw getting aboard in the sixth before Glover and Riley Lawless delivered back-to-back RBI singles to cap the scoring.

Oak Harbor had two runners on base in the top of the seventh, but Glover emphatically closed things out by delivering his 13th K for the game’s final out.

Cooper, who pitched the game’s first two innings, and Glover combined for 19 strikeouts, while surrendering just a single hit.

Fresh off the win, Coupeville will go back to enjoying practice for a bit, with game #2, a road trip to Bellingham to play Meridian not scheduled until Mar. 21.

 

Wednesday stats:

Coop Cooper — One single, one walk
Avery Eelkema — One single, one walk
Camden Glover — Four singles
Carson Grove — One triple, two walks
Riley Lawless — One single, one walk
Leo Rodriguez — One walk
Killian Shaw— One walk
Aiden Tingley — Two walks
Chris Zenz — One walk

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