Jeff Stone torched the nets for 644 points in the 1969-1970 season, the best single-season performance in Whidbey Island history. (Photos courtesy Stone)
Tim Quenzer slices ‘n dices the defense.
Pat O’Grady lofts a sweet jumper.
Bob Barker (left), the coach of the 69-70 squad, reunites with Stone during the 101st anniversary of CHS hoops in 2018. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
History waits for no man.
A week from today marks the 50th anniversary of arguably the biggest moment in the 100+ year run of Coupeville High School sports.
On March 4, 1970, the Wolf boys basketball team, coached by Bob Barker, stepped on to the floor to face Ritzville in the state basketball tourney.
It was the first time a CHS team had made it to the big dance in any sport, and that game, and another the next day against Kittitas, signaled the arrival of Coupeville on the main stage.
The 1969-1970 Wolf boys hoops team is still the standard-bearer for the program, five decades later.
Even with the addition of the three-point shot and other wrinkles tossed in to the game to fire up offenses, no one has touched the numbers rung up by that squad.
Jeff Stone rattled the rims for 644 points across 24 games, including a school-record 48 in a district title win against Darrington, while the Wolves as a team dropped in 1,836 points, breaking 100 four times.
All of those numbers, and the 114 scored in a win against Watson-Groen, still stand as the best in CHS history 50 years later.
While Coupeville fell in close games in both state bouts, it finished 20-4 and remains a revered team, not only for its scoring prowess, but for its landmark achievements.
When the Wolves beat Darrington 84-62, they became the first Whidbey Island basketball team to win a district title, beating out Oak Harbor and South Whidbey/Langley in the chase for immortality.
Stone’s 48-point explosion, which came on 17-28 shooting from the floor and 14-16 from the free-throw line, has never been seriously challenged.
And his numbers could have been bigger, as Barker pulled his 6-foot-4 tower of power with a full 90 seconds left to play.
Stone’s scoring, and his team’s season of success, were big in the moment.
Fifty years later, they’re even bigger.
The 1969-1970 CHS boys basketball team:
Bob Barker (Head Coach)
Craig Pedlar (Assistant Coach)
Pat Brown
Corey Cross
Marvin Darst
Tim Leese
Ralph Lindsay
Glenn Losey
Mike Mallo
Pat O’Grady
Tim Quenzer
Jeff Stone
Randy Stone
Jim Syreen
Bob Mueller (Manager)
Geoff Stone (Manager)
Leave a Reply