Coupeville Sports

   Senior Aaron Curtin has been a leader by example this season. (John Fisken photos)

Risen Johnson scored five, snatched four boards and pocketed four steals Friday.

Wiley Hesselgrave went off.

Raining down buckets from the opening tip Friday, the Coupeville High school junior threw up 17 points in limited minutes — foul trouble kept him glued to the bench for nearly two quarters — sparking the Wolves to a big 69-42 non-conference win at Orcas Island.

The victory snapped a three-game skid for CHS and improved it to 2-5 on the season.

The Wolves will now be off until Dec. 30, when they travel to Concrete.

Despite the long trip to Orcas, Coupeville came out with fresh legs and took the game right at the Vikings.

Orcas boasts a six-foot-eight sophomore, but the Wolves bedeviled him and his teammates by running right at them.

“We jumped on them in the beginning. They thought they had a chance to beat us, and we changed their minds,” said Coupeville coach Anthony Smith. “It was a great team effort, a good, solid win.”

The Wolves played fast, a bit loose and super-aggressive, changing up defenses on the fly, and it flustered the Vikings.

They also came out strongly in the third quarter, breaking a bad trend of slow starts after halftime.

“We had a good third,” Smith said. “That has been our nemesis, but guys really stepped up.

“Ryan (Griggs) played some big minutes for us, (Aaron) Curtin anchored us the way he always does — it doesn’t always show up in the stats, but he’s our guy who leads by example — and then Wiley checked back in in the fourth and we hammered them.”

Aaron Trumbull stepped up with a big 16 to back Hesselgrave, while Griggs pounded inside for 12.

CJ Smith (6), Risen Johnson (5), Joel Walstad (4), Curtin (4), Matt Shank (3) and Gabe Wynn (2) rounded out the scorers.

The team-wide display of hustle and intensity showed up in the defensive stats, as well, with Curtin (6), Hesselgrave (4), Johnson (4) and Griggs (4) leading the charge on the boards.

Hesselgrave and Johnson had four steals apiece.

JV wins too: The young guns also romped to their second win of the season, bouncing Orcas 53-44.

“The JV is really coming along,” Smith said. “We can go seven or eight deep with little drop-off, and that’s great for a JV team. Our future looks bright.”

No scoring stats were available.