Coupeville Sports

Ulrik Wells barrels to the hoop for two Monday. (John Fisken photos)

   Sean Toomey-Stout dropped 10 of his game-high 14 in the second half, as the Wolf 8th graders rallied for a win.

They just needed more people in the stands.

Playing in the big gym for the first time this season, the Coupeville Middle School 8th grade boys’ basketball team got off to a slow start Monday afternoon.

But once they emerged from the halftime locker room and found the number of fans in the high school gym had increased, they picked up their game noticeably.

Sparked by Sean Toomey-Stout and Mason Grove, the Wolves used a 13-5 third-quarter advantage to snatch the lead away from visiting Forks and never looked back, eventually pulling out a narrow 32-30 win.

The victory lifted CMS to 2-0 on the season.

Coupeville started slowly, going five minutes into the game without scoring.

Even with a little better flow, and a couple of buckets from big men Ulrik Wells and Koa Davison, the Wolves still trailed 15-9 at the break.

But the second half was a different story.

Jacobi Pacquette-Pilgrim got things started with a smooth jumper under pressure from the right side, then Grove splashed home a three-ball off of a fast break.

Forks didn’t immediately fold, hitting their own trey and twice stretching the lead back out to four.

The Wolves wouldn’t be denied, though, closing out the quarter with an 8-2 run, netting their first lead of the game at 22-20 on a sweet bucket from Jered Brown in which he slashed through the paint, avoiding three defenders on his journey.

Brown’s basket was set up by a game-tying bucket and free throw from Toomey-Stout, who paced the Wolves with a game-high 14.

Forks tied the game up three times in the final quarter, but CMS had an answer each time, never relinquishing the lead.

Toomey-Stout put the team on his shoulders, scoring five of Coupeville’s final six points.

That included a free throw to ice the game with three seconds to play, garnering a shout of approval from twin sister Maya.

Seven of the eight Wolves who played scored, with Grove (6), Pacquette-Pilgrim (5), Wells (2), Brown (2), Davison (2) and Omar Moralez (1) providing support for Toomey-Stout.

Jean Lund-Olsen didn’t score, but provided hustle and quick hands on defense.