Coupeville Sports

Jared Helmstadter, seen here in an earlier game, scored a team-high 12 Tuesday. (John Fisken photo)

Now it’s a winning streak.

Playing an inspired middle two quarters Tuesday night, the Coupeville High School JV boys’ basketball team bounced visiting Sultan 44-32 to claim its second straight victory.

Getting points from eight different players, the 1A Wolves went toe-to-toe with the 2A Turks and never backed down.

Instead it was Coupeville going strong to the hoop most of the time, with Jared Helmstadter and the Mitchell brothers, Dante and DeAndre, consistently getting in the paint and putting the ball in the hoop.

The trio combined for 29 points, topped by Helmstadter‘s 12. The sophomore was a consistent threat all night, scoring in all four quarters, including two key buckets during a game-clinching run in the fourth.

Sultan had ripped off five straight points to open the final quarter, cutting Coupeville’s lead to six.

Instead of panicking, the Wolves ramped up the speed of their attack and the Turks crumbled, as Coupeville used an 11-2 spurt to claim control of the outcome.

Helmstadter and Dante Mitchell threw down four points apiece during the run, while DeAndre Mitchell popped for a bucket and Brian Shank slid a free throw through the net that kicked off the rally.

The Wolves scored the game’s first bucket — a pull-up jumper from Helmstadter — and led most of the way.

With Oscar Liquidano scoring in the paint off of rebounds and CJ Smith, Clay Reilly and Gabe Wynn setting up their teammates with precision passes, Coupeville forced the flow of the action most of the way.

The start of the game was bumped back a few minutes after a fire alarm went off right before tip-off, forcing the gym to be cleared.

Basically the flashing lights and sirens could have been a victory celebration, just 32 minutes early.