Coupeville Sports

   Snappy dresser, snappy player. Aaron Trumbull poured in 13 and snatched 13 boards Saturday. (John Fisken photo)

Free Ryan Griggs! Let him play against Chimacum!!

Even a man down, the Wolves survived the Hurricane attack.

Despite losing big man Ryan Griggs to a second-quarter ejection, the Coupeville High School boys’ basketball team drilled host Mount Vernon Christian 61-55 Saturday.

The non-conference victory improved the Wolves to 4-8 and marked a single-season high in wins during the four-year coaching run of CHS head man Anthony Smith.

Coupeville now heads into the thick of Olympic League play, with seven games left to earn a playoff berth.

The Wolves (0-2 in conference play) host Chimacum (2-0) Wednesday, Dec. 21.

Whether they will have Griggs, the team’s fourth leading scorer, in uniform, is a question which will be answered in the next few days.

The Wolf junior was ejected after getting tangled up with a MVC player while pursuing a ball. The referee who banished him said he thought Griggs was trying to step on the other player’s head.

Being booted from the game results in a one-game suspension for the player.

Coupeville will protest the referee call, however, said Wolf coach Anthony Smith and has the support of Mount Vernon’s Athletic Director.

“It was a good hustle play and they got tangled up. Ryan is not that kind of player,” Smith said. “Their AD praised how we handled the situation and said he would make some phone calls for us.

“The ref was a seasoned guy. I’m surprised he called it that way.”

Even without Griggs, the Wolves stayed strong, blunting every run the Hurricanes made.

Showing strong poise throughout, they put up 19, 15, 11 and 16 points across the four quarters of the game, with six players sharing the scoring load.

Junior Wiley Hesselgrave, the team’s leading scorer this season, erupted for 24 points, the best mark put up by a Wolf varsity player this year.

He added four rebounds and four steals to go with his offense, while senior Aaron Trumbull threw down 13 points and hauled in 13 boards in support.

Aaron Curtin (12), Risen Johnson (6), Joel Walstad (6) and CJ Smith (2) rounded out the scorers.

Without Griggs, the duo of Curtin and Matt Shank teamed up with Trumbull to sweep the boards clean, as Coupeville dominated the rebound game.

Coming off a blowout loss at home against Island rival South Whidbey, the victory was a nice bounce-back for the Wolves as they prepare to head into the heart of league play.

“We had some good practices, and we saw that work pay off,” Anthony Smith said. “It was a great win and should give us some confidence going forward.”