Xavier Murdy was one of 11 Wolves to letter this season. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
Cole White joined Jonathan Valenzuela as a JV captain.
The most-successful Coupeville High School boys basketball season in 11 years came to an official close Friday.
Wolf hoops coach Brad Sherman handed out certificates and letters to his players, putting a final stamp on a pandemic-altered campaign.
But first he stopped to honor everyone connected with the team for overcoming long odds during an international pandemic.
“We wanted to recognize every member of this team and all they overcame in a difficult year,” Sherman said. “And acknowledge their hard work in a very, very long off-season, without knowing if they’d get a season at all.”
Basketball was moved from the winter to late spring, and the Wolves played a compressed schedule while dealing with multiple Covid-related restrictions.
But both Wolf squads prospered.
The JV, under first-year head coach Hunter Smith, closed with a five-game winning streak en route to posting a 5-3 record.
Coupeville’s varsity won six of its final seven games, with the only loss a one-point decision in overtime.
Finishing 8-4, just a half-game off Northwest 2B/1B League champ Mount Vernon Christian (8-3) — a team they beat twice — the Wolves captured their first winning season since 2010.
Junior Xavier Murdy, who led the varsity in rebounds, assists, and steals, while finishing as the #2 scorer, was named the “Wolf Way Player of the Year.”
The award honors someone who exemplifies the team’s five pillars of grit, gratitude, humility, trust, and excellence.
Fellow junior Hawthorne Wolfe earned Offensive Player of the Year, while sophomore Alex Murdy claimed Defensive Player of the Year.
Wolfe averaged 21 points a night, rattling the rims for 38 points against both MVC and Orcas Island, while Alex Murdy was viewed by CHS coaches as their “best lockdown defender.”
Rounding out the varsity awards, TJ Rickner copped the Coaches Award, with Daniel Olson and Sage Downes receiving Four-Year awards for playing every season of their prep career.
Grady Rickner and Xavier Murdy were honored as team captains.
On the JV side of things, Cole White won the Wolf Way Player of the Year award, with Jonathan Valenzuela (Offensive Player of the Year), William Davidson (Defensive Player of the Year), and Zane Oldenstadt (Coaches Award) also taking home certificates.
White and Valenzuela were JV team captains.
Sherman and his coaching staff (Hunter Smith, Greg White, and Randy Bottorff) also recognized the people who worked hard behind the scenes to make the season a success.
That included Courtney Pilgrim for “keeping our away books and helping to provide our away game food,” Morgan White for “setting up our team gear store and designing the stuff for us,” and CHS Athletic Director Willie Smith for “all of his hard work to make our season a possibility.”
Also feted was the Coupeville Booster Club, which purchased new warm-up tops for the team.
Varsity letter winners:
Miles Davidson
Logan Downes (**Freshman**)
Sage Downes
Logan Martin
Alex Murdy
Xavier Murdy
Daniel Olson
Grady Rickner
TJ Rickner
Cody Roberts
Hawthorne Wolfe
Varsity participation certificates:
Jonathan Valenzuela
Cole White
JV participation certificates:
Ryan Blouin
Dominic Coffman
William Davidson
Nathan Ginnings
Nick Guay
Zane Oldenstadt
Mikey Robinett
Quinten Simpson-Pilgrim
Jonathan Valenzuela
Alex Wasik
Cole White
Andrew Williams
Coupeville Sports 
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