Coupeville Sports

   Coupeville players like Jake Pease put up strong effort Tuesday but couldn’t topple Sequim in a pair of games. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

It’s hard to beat a team that doesn’t beat itself.

In a virtual recreation of a game the two schools played early in the season, 2A Sequim played precision basketball Tuesday, dumping visiting Coupeville 65-41.

The non-conference loss drops the Wolf boys to 5-13 with two games to play.

CHS hosts Klahowya Thursday on Senior Night, then heads to Chimacum to face a win-less Cowboys squad in the season finale for both teams.

Sparring a Sequim squad which was virtually flawless Tuesday in all aspects of the game, with a special emphasis on note-perfect ball movement and crisp passes, the Wolves held their own for a solid two, maybe three, minutes.

A pair of free throws from Hunter Smith, coming on the heels of an electric three-ball from Cameron Toomey-Stout, knotted the game at 5-5 and anything was possible.

And then it wasn’t.

Using a 16-0 run which carried into the early moments of the second quarter, Sequim put the game out of reach and hit cruise control from there.

Joey Lippo, who took two hard falls in the game after taking shots to the ankle and face, stopped the assault with a bank shot off a nice dish from Hunter Downes, but it did little to slow Sequim.

After Smith followed Lippo’s bucket with a steal and breakaway layup, Coupeville couldn’t put together back-to-back buckets again until the final moments of the game.

With just a basket here, a basket there, always followed immediately by a Sequim score or two, the Wolves were unable to carve the lead down, instead watching it get stretched out to 27 at its peak.

Down 60-33, CHS reached down deep and made a gritty stand over the final 90 seconds, with Downes and Toomey-Stout each rattling home three-balls, packaged around another steal and breakaway bucket from Smith.

The game finished with the same margin of victory as when the teams met in early Dec. — 24 points. Back then, Sequim rolled to a 59-35 win on Whidbey.

Smith paced Coupeville with 19 points, running his career total to 795.

With two games to go, he needs 17 to pass Corey Cross (811) and claim 12th place on the Wolf boys career scoring chart.

Toomey-Stout, known for his intensity on defense, non-stop hustle and award-winning hair, dropped in a season-best 11 points, capped by a trio of treys from behind the arc.

Lippo, who was limping but unbowed, tossed in four, a figure matched by Ethan Spark, while Downes capped the scoring with his three-ball.

While he didn’t score, Wolf big man Kyle Rockwell gave a feisty pack of road fans a thrill when he twice lowered the boom on Sequim players, making sure they would properly remember being fouled.

JV toppled:

A close game became something else after halftime.

Trailing by nine at the break, Coupeville’s shooting touch failed after the break, allowing Sequim to use a scorching 40-9 surge to run away with a 65-23 win.

The non-conference loss drops the Wolf young guns to 4-13.

CHS put up six in the first quarter, including a three-ball from Sage Downes, then added eight in the second, but the second half was a whole ‘nother game.

Sequim toasted the net during a 29-9 third quarter, then closed the game with an 11-0 shutout in the fourth.

Mason Grove paced Coupeville with 11, including three bombs from behind the arc, while Ulrik Wells pounded down low for four points.

Sage Downes (3), James Vidoni (2), Koa Davison (2) and David Prescott (1) also scored.