Joel Walstad has his eyes firmly locked on the bouncing ball. (Shelli Trumbull photos)
The view from the Wolf bench.
Wiley Hesselgrave fires up a jumper.
At least no one threw up this time.
Marking the one-year anniversary of the Great and Terrible Food Poisoning Outbreak that wreaked havoc on their stomachs and the patience of local fans last season, the Coupeville High School boys’ basketball teams met back up with Blaine Saturday.
This time, the Wolves hit the road (for a long time) as they traveled up to the Canadian border for an early afternoon game. Perhaps wisely refraining from any questionable hamburger joint choices this year, they were all reasonably healthy come tip-off.
Unfortunately health wasn’t enough to save them, as a deadly combination of too many fouls and turnovers overshadowed some strong individual performances in a season-opening 84-50 loss.
After the epic trip, Coupeville will get a chance to stay close to home, with its next four games in the CHS gym, starting with a Tuesday tilt with Cedarcrest.
Facing off with the Borderites, the Wolves got big-time play from Nick Streubel, who banged home 15 points and Wiley Hesselgrave, who popped for 11. Morgan Payne chipped in with eight, Aaron Trumbull banked home four and Anthony Bergeron netted a basket.
“We did some good things, but over all we just could not operate,” said Wolf coach Anthony Smith.
Foul trouble dogged Coupeville, as three Wolves — Trumbull, Streubel and Joel Walstad — fouled out.
JV hangs tough: A close game slipped away in the fourth quarter for the Wolves, as Blaine turned a 10-point advantage into a 30-point win.
Other than the tail end, Wolf JV coach Dustin Van Velkinburgh came away pleased with much of what he saw from his squad.
“A lot of good things happened,” he said. “We shared the ball on offense and scored because of it. At times we played tough hard-nosed defense any coach would be proud of.
“We have work to do, but I’m excited with what I saw.”
Freshman Gabe Wynn and sophomore Jared Helmstadter paced Coupeville with 10 points apiece, while the Mitchell brothers combined for 12 (eight from Dante and four from DeAndre).
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