Coupeville Sports

Chase Anderson cracked the 100-point club Thursday in Ellensburg. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

This was a nasty plot twist.

More along the lines of The Village than say, The Usual Suspects or Psycho.

The reveals at the end of those latter two classic films add to the power of what came before, while the answer to the mystery in M. Night Shyamalan’s 2004 fart-fest rightfully earned more grimaces than standing ovations.

And, while we’re here to talk basketball and not films, the end result of the Coupeville High School varsity boys’ game against Kittitas Thursday was its own straight-up flop.

The Wolves hit the floor at Central Washington University boasting a stellar 6-1 record, with their foes coming in at 1-6.

Cue the romp, as Coupeville roared out to a 15-0 lead … then gave it all back and more.

Despite holding the Coyotes scoreless for six-plus minutes to open the game, the Wolves eventually lost 63-54.

The best news? The Wolves turn around immediately and play Cle Elum-Roslyn Friday morning at 11:00 AM.

Short memories. Rain down revenge. All that jazz.

Of course, to do so, the Wolves will need to get back their shot-making ability, which all but deserted them over the game’s final 12 minutes.

Even having had its lead chipped away at, Coupeville was still up 33-25 midway through the third quarter.

Hunter Bronec had just scored on a superb give-and-go play, coming on the heels of buckets from Ryan Blouin and Logan Downes, and the Wolves, while cracking, weren’t breaking.

Then they rolled snake eyes.

Kittitas, mixing three-balls from the corners with deadly precision on its mid-range jumpers, closed the third quarter on an 18-2 tear that changed the entire flow of the game.

From eight up to eight down, and everything was spinning for the Wolves.

It didn’t get much better from there, as the Coyotes had a counter for everything Coupeville did in the final frame.

CHS got the deficit back down to four points at 58-54, after Cole White ripped a ball loose in the backcourt and fed Nick Guay for a bucket, but Kittitas hit five of six at the free throw line to seal the improbable win.

It was a stinky end to a game which started with so much potential.

Ryan Blouin buried a three-ball from the top of the arc to open things, and the Wolves couldn’t be stopped in the early going.

All five Coupeville starters recorded a bucket in the opening frame, with many of them set up by steals or blocked shots.

Hunter Bronec owned the paint, rejecting three shots — two on the same possession — while Blouin and Downes ripped off sparkling set-up passes to teammates running untouched and unruffled by too-slow Kittitas defenders.

The Coyotes finally scored at the 1:44 mark of the first quarter, on a three-point play the hard way, then got a huge chunk of their future points via three-balls.

Coupeville didn’t hit another trey after Blouin’s game opener, while Kittitas rang up eight daggers across the rest of the evening.

Downes paced the Wolves with a team-high 17, but was poked, prodded, kneed, and elbowed every time he came close to touching the ball.

His primary support came from White, who poured in 14, and Hunter Bronec, who slapped home eight points.

Chase Anderson (6), Blouin (5), William Davidson (2), and Guay (2) also scored, with Zane Oldenstadt, Timothy Nitta, Quinten Simpson-Pilgrim, and Hurlee Bronec also seeing floor time.

Not to be lost in the moment, Anderson achieved a personal milestone, joining the 100-point club with a fourth-quarter jumper.

The Wolf sophomore heads into Friday’s game with Cle Elum with 101 points and counting for his varsity career.