Hunter Smith hit for 11 Monday as the Wolf JV boys avenged an earlier-season loss to South Whidbey. (John Fisken photo)
“I saw a different look in my player’s eyes tonight.”
Keeping their hot streak alive, the Coupeville High School JV boys’ basketball team drilled visiting South Whidbey 59-46 Monday, making coach Dustin Van Velkinburgh a happy guy.
“We have had a number of solid practices in a row,” he said. “These kids are starting to come together and play for one another. They play hard and it makes it easy to coach them.”
The victory, the fourth in the last five games for the young Wolves, lifted them to 4-6.
It also avenged a season-opening loss to the Falcons, when Coupeville fell by 40+ at Langley.
“They were hungry,” Van Velkinburgh said. “We have been talking about shooting good open shots.”
And they hit those shots from everywhere on the floor.
Making his season debut, freshman Luke Merriman rained down four second-half three-point bombs, including two on consecutive trips down the floor.
When Merriman wasn’t shooting the rock, fellow frosh Hunter Smith was launching his own treys, hitting on three.
Suddenly marksmen from down town, the Wolves were able to open up the paint and let their post players rumble, snatching boards and putting back buckets.
Everything positive on offense was keyed by his team’s work on the defensive side of the ball, Van Velkinburgh said.
“I was especially happy with the play on the defensive end of the floor,” he said. “We played inspired. We fought for every loose ball and rebound alike.
“It was nice to see every guy who stepped on the floor tonight in a Wolves uniform taking pride in their defense,” Van Velkinburgh added. “It won’t show up in any stat book, but, if you watched the game, you would notice that we just flat out worked them tonight.
“I can’t be more proud of guys for that. It is something as a program that we preach and these young kids are beginning to buy in and see that hard work does pay off.”
Merriman paced the attack with 12 points, while Smith hit for 11 and DeAndre Mitchell pumped home 10.
Gabe Wynn (8), Desmond Bell (6), Dante Mitchell (5), Ethan Spark (2), Joey Lippo (2), Hunter Downes (1) and Cameron Toomey-Stout (1) rounded out the scoring.
The Wolves hit the boards hard, with Dante Mitchell hauling in seven, DeAndre Mitchell snatching six and Bell and Downes pulling down five each.
Bell also snagged three steals, while Smith handed out three assists.
Coupeville Sports 
Leave a comment