Coupeville Sports

Cole White hit for a team-high 16 Saturday. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

A bounce here, a bounce there.

The Coupeville High School JV boys basketball team played strongly Saturday at Friday Harbor, but couldn’t seem to quite get over the hump against their undefeated foes.

A buzzer-beating three-ball at the end of the first half hurt, and, though they crawled back to within six points in the waning moments, the Wolves fell 57-46.

The loss drops Coupeville’s JV to 0-3 on the season, while their Friday Harbor counterparts improve to 3-0.

The host Wolverines jumped out to an early advantage, leading 13-8 at the first break, before stretching the margin to 31-22 by the half.

It should have been closer, but Friday Harbor caught a favorable rim, with a last-second heave running around the oval, hitting nearly every angle, before somehow flopping through the hoop as the halftime horn sounded.

Coupeville kept at it, playing the Wolverines nearly even in the second half, and getting the deficit down to 50-44 in the late going.

But despite the hot shooting touch of swing players Cole White and Jonathan Valenzuela, time ran out for the Wolves as Friday Harbor closed the game on a 7-2 run.

White paced CHS with 16, including netting a pair of three-balls, while Valenzuela backed him up with a solid 13-point effort.

Nick Guay (7), Zane Oldenstadt (4), Dominic Coffman (2), Quentin Simpson-Pilgrim (2), and Mikey Robinett (2) also scored, while Andrew Williams, Ryan Blouin, and Nathan Ginnings saw floor time.

Coupeville’s next opponent, Concrete, doesn’t have an active JV program, so the young Wolves next take the court Thursday, May 27 when La Conner visits Whidbey Island.