Aaron Trumbull (left) and Morgan Payne listen to Wolf coach Anthony Smith. (Shelli Trumbull photo)
Moral victories are getting old.
There is no doubt the Coupeville High School boys’ basketball team is better this year than last season. They showed that much in back-to-back battles to the wire Friday and Saturday.
But, the reality after absorbing a 66-55 loss to visiting University Prep Saturday afternoon in a game marred by too many turnovers and way too many fouls (with generous help from Three Blind Mice wearing black and white shirts), is that the moral victories don’t count as actual victories.
Now 0-4 on the season, the Wolves will need to rebound quickly, as they face a huge game Tuesday.
South Whidbey (0-6) comes to town, and the winner will have a huge step up on claiming one of the two 1A playoff berths from the Cascade Conference.
To beat the Falcons, grab its first home and league win since 2011 and attain Island supremacy, Coupeville will need to find a balance between passionate and foul-prone.
Not having the infamous, preening “Mr. Ed,” aka “Rogaine,” as the lead ref might help too…
Facing off with a much-taller University Prep squad — the Pumas featured four players six-foot-four or taller, while Nick Streubel, at 6-3, is the tallest Wolf — Coupeville held its own most of the way.
Senior Anthony Bergeron may have given up a few inches to the ceiling-scrapers from out of town, but he has springs in his feet and he exploded skyward several times, rejecting one Puma shot all the way down the hallway.
On offense, he was the go-to weapon for the Wolves, combining explosive jaunts through the paint with a softly-spinning three-pointer to rack up a team-high 16 points.
The two teams went back and forth for most of the first half, with University Prep scoring just before the buzzer to take a one point lead into the locker room.
Back-to-back three-point plays the hard way (basket plus free throw) in the third quarter from Aaron Trumbull and Wiley Hesselgrave kept Coupeville within one at 40-39.
But then University Prep, which had been firing up, and clanking, three point shots, finally started to connect.
The Pumas nailed seven treys in a game-breaking 23-10 surge from midway through the third to late in the fourth.
By the time they were finished, and by the time the refs had drop-kicked Streubel, Trumbull and Hesselgrave out of the game on fouls — while calling a technical on a Wolf player but allowing University Prep’s undeniably “scrappy” point guard to remain in the game, even after THREE warnings for trying to incite Hesselgrave to swing at him — the game was gone.
The sour taste left by another hatchet job from Coupeville’s least favorite referee notwithstanding, the Wolves bounced back strongly while playing their second game in less than 24 hours.
All eight players who saw floor time also found the bottom of the net.
Joel Walstad, even with time lost to getting blood off his jersey in the locker room, banked home nine points to back up Bergeron, while Matt Shank showed flashes of dominance, as he dropped in eight.
Trumbull popped for seven, Payne chipped in with six, while Coupeville’s top two scorers on the season — Streubel (five) and Hesselgrave (three) — did their best while having their rears firmly attached to the bench for long periods of time thanks to the frequent whistles.
Freshman Gabe Wynn rounded out the offensive attack, netting a free throw.
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