Coupeville Sports

   Aaron Trumbull gets a lift from fellow Wolf seniors (l to r) Isaac Vargas, Joel Walstad, Matt Shank and Aaron Curtin. (John Fisken photos)

You get a gift bag. And you get a gift bag. And you…

Shank

Curtin (with his new “adopted parents,” Shawn and Renee Walstad).

Vargas

Trumbull

Walstad reclaims his parents.

A moment with coach Anthony Smith, who took over the CHS program as these seniors entered their freshman season.

They were the building blocks.

Four years ago, the Coupeville High School boys’ basketball squad basically started from ground zero.

A new coach, Anthony Smith, took the reigns after Randy King retired from a 20+ year career at the helm of the Wolves. And, when he did, he inherited a team that had way more freshmen than battle-hardened veterans.

But Smith, and his guys, endured, and they have built on their success each season.

From zero wins to one to three to seven and counting and a playoff appearance this year, Wolf boys’ hoops is steadily moving back to its former glory.

Monday night CHS took a moment before its regular season finale to honor five of the young men who have been at the heart of the growth.

Aaron Trumbull and Joel Walstad played all four years, while Aaron Curtin and Isaac Vargas put in three.

Matt Shank joined in for the last two after his family arrived from Utah, but he fit in so well it feels like he was here the whole way.

As they played on Senior Night, I have one word to describe how I, as a fan in the cheap seats, feel about these five and what they have accomplished.

Respect.

They have never given up, even when taking beatings at the hands of college teams disguised as high schools like ATM and King’s.

When fair-weather fans abandoned them during the growing pains, they still showed up. Night after night, practice after practice.

They endured, they played with honor, through tough losses and now, through some memorable victories.

Many of those fans have begun to come back, joining those who never left.

The gym is getting noisier again, never more evident than during a blow-the-roof-off-the-joint overtime win over the Olympic League’s #1 team, Chimacum, last Friday.

These young men deserve the applause. They deserve our respect.

It is easy to show up when things are going well.

It is easy to get your parents to move you to a different school. It is karma when you spend most of the next three years with your butt attached to the bench at that “better” school.

My respect goes to these five, who didn’t opt out, who didn’t give in or back down, who played their entire careers at Coupeville.

Whether they were here for two years or four, they were Wolves and their play honored those who came before them, while inspiring those who are coming on their heels.

There will be a moment (very soon) when the Coupeville boys’ hoops players get back to that place high on the mountain top — the Wolf girls are up there, waiting for them — but it wouldn’t have happened with out these guys.

Trumbull. Curtin. Walstad. Shank. Vargas.

You will be remembered. You were appreciated.