The Big Hurt puttin’ in a day at the office. (Shelli Trumbull photo)
The Nick Streubel Fan Club — (l to r) Mekare Bowen, Fan Club President Julia Felici and Madeline Strasburg. (John Fisken photo)
Better days are coming.
The continued rebuilding of the Coupeville High School boys’ basketball program kicked into high gear in 2012-2013, as a team dominated by younger players took great leaps forward.
Senior captains Drew Chan and Caleb Valko will be missed next year, but six of the top seven scorers this season were underclassmen, led by The Big Hurt, 6-foot-4, 280-pound rampaging gentle giant Nick Streubel, who carved up opposing defenses for 156 points.
Beset by food poisoning, viral crud, god-awful refs, broken legs, concussions, hurt wrists and stitched-up faces, the Wolves never stopped coming. They beat Mount Vernon Christian, had wins taken away by numbingly awful calls twice and still stayed on their feet.
Of the 16 Wolves who saw action in a varsity game, 13 could return.
The Wolves’ best shooter, Gavin O’Keefe, who broke his leg in the second game, should be back and teamed up for a full season with gunner Ben Etzell. The emergence of younger players like Wiley Hesselgrave and Morgan Payne coupled with now-seasoned vets like Aaron Trumbull, Aaron Curtin and Carson Risner bodes well.
Toss in Cole Payne, who sat out the year after surgery, the arrival of Gabe Wynn, a star for this year’s Coupeville Middle School 8th grade squad, the possible additions of several rumored transfers, maybe even a reappearance by Jake Tumblin (dream big, Wolf Nation!) and the program headed up by Anthony Smith and Dustin Van Velkinburgh is on the cusp of surprising a lot of people.
This year’s final (unofficial) varsity scoring totals:
Nick Streubel (156)
Ben Etzell (127)
Aaron Trumbull (106)
Caleb Valko (70)
Aaron Curtin (65)
Carson Risner (55)
Morgan Payne (41)
Drew Chan (34)
Josh Wilsey (16)
Joel Walstad (15)
Anthony Bergeron (14)
Wiley Hesselgrave (11)
Gavin O’Keefe (5)
Josiah Campbell
Oscar Liquidano
Dalton Martin
Leave a Reply