“Seriously? Another foul?!? Come on, I have a bedtime to make here, fellows.” (Shelli Trumbull photo)
The refs were busy.
Having apparently just discovered the whistles they carried could make a loud, screechy noise, the three-man crew working Tuesday’s Coupeville vs. Lakewood boys’ basketball game quickly became enamored of tooting on said whistles. Again. And again. And a few more times just for the heck of it.
By the time the game wrapped up, three Wolf players had fouled out, one Lakewood player had drawn his fifth foul ridiculously early in the third quarter (“Bye-Bye Mr. Green Shoes!” yelled a suddenly revived Coupeville cheering section), the visiting Cougars had sank 26 attempts from the charity stripe and a game that had little rhythm had finally, mercifully, ground to a choppy end.
The 78-38 loss the host Wolves absorbed dropped their record to 0-5 on the season, 0-2 in Cascade Conference play heading into an all-Island showdown Friday, when South Whidbey comes calling.
Lakewood locked down the game fairly early, bolting out to a 12-0 lead before Drew Chan popped a long jumper to get Coupeville on the board. Hitting 10 free throws in just the first eight minutes, the Cougars built a 23-4 lead after one quarter.
The Wolves managed to put together several mini-runs, but could never break that one big surge to get back in the game. Aaron Curtin pumped in four points during a 6-2 run in the second quarter and Aaron Trumbull and Nick Streubel hit for four apiece during Coupeville’s best section of the game — an 8-2 surge early in the third quarter.
During that run, the Wolves put up back-to-back three-point plays, after a fashion.
After Trumbull rampaged through the paint for two and then added a free-throw, he was fouled on the next play (big surprise) and hit the first of two free throws. When he missed the second, Streubel cleared out all pretenders with two ferocious elbows, grabbed the elusive rebound and put it back up and in.
Streubel scored all eight of his points in the second half, tying Trumbull for team-high honors. Curtin swished six, Carson Risner and Chan each chipped in with five and the trio of Caleb Valko, Josh Wilsey and Ben Etzell each hit for two.
It was the first action of the season for Etzell, who spent the majority of his time in the game on the floor, fighting for loose balls and sacrificing his body. Usually accompanied by another whistle or two.
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