Coupeville Middle School 6th grader Liam Lawson is here to singe the basketball nets, just like mom Kassie and aunts Kayla and Katie did back in the day. (Photo courtesy Kassie O’Neil)
Use every step to build for the future.
There will be stumbles along the way, but the key is to focus on the positives, while being mentally strong enough to identify and work on correcting the negatives.
That’s the mission for this year’s batch of Coupeville Middle School boys’ basketball players, a collection of hoops stars who don’t have much on-court experience as a group but do have a burning desire to keep on growing.
Some days, like Tuesday’s home opener against visiting Lakewood, are bound to be rough.
The Cougars funnel players to a 2A high school, while the Wolves will be competing two rungs below that — at the 2B level — when they cross the gym hallway and become high school athletes.
That means Lakewood has a lot more bodies at its disposal, and a lot more players with prior hoops experience.
As a group, the Cougars are currently faster, tougher, more tenacious, and more skilled at things like snatching rebounds, running offensive sets, and playing heads-up defense than the still-developing Wolves.
But this is how you learn.
So, while Coupeville lost all three games Tuesday, and by fairly large margins, you hope once the lopsided scores vanish from the scoreboard, they partially fade from memory.
All I’m going to say here is that all three tilts went to a running clock, which happens in middle school basketball when you trail by 30 points,
But otherwise, I’m choosing to redact the final tallies.
Instead of dwelling on the score, we’ll focus on the moments players and coaches should remember.
Like when Wyatt Fitch-Marron went sliding across the floor, face-first, surfing the hardwood as he and a rival player fought for a loose ball.
The young Wolf bounced back to his feet, brushed off any pain from bouncing across the floor, and charged right back into the fray, even as mom and grandma (and a few other fans) gasped and winced.
Or we can stop to appreciate a solid move for a bucket in the day’s opening game from Joshua Stockdale.
Taking the ball down low and rolling through the paint for a layup to (momentarily) halt the Lakewood scoring express, it bodes well for the future.
The same with Cyrus Sparacio drilling the bottom of the net out with a three-ball from the top, then flexing for his fan club, or Riley Lawless swishing a sweet pull-up jumper in the paint while surrounded by defenders.
Young Coupeville players like Liam Lawson and Chayse Van Velkinburgh played with passion, driving the ball again and again into the heart of the storm, even while being smacked by a forest of Lakewood arms.
And shine a light on the Joltin’ Jacobsen brothers, as both Kenneth and Johnathan brought maximum effort to the floor, chasing after rebounds and poking balls away from the Cougar sharpshooters.
From Charles Hart to Hunter Atteberry, from Zach Blitch to Jacobs Meadors and Khanor Jump, the Wolves couldn’t be faulted for their effort, their hustle, and their desire.
The heart is there, and the skill will follow.
Tuesday also saw two more Wolves net their first points of the season, as Nic Laska and Stockdale each banked home a bucket.
That puts 14 Coupeville players in the scoring column two games into an eight-game season.
Games pick back up after the Thanksgiving break, with the Wolves heading to the wilds of Sultan Nov. 29, before hosting King’s Dec. 1.
Season scoring stats:
Coupeville Sports 
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