Coupeville Sports

Rockin’ the killer socks, Chris Chan and Co. went to state in 1979. (Photo courtesy Beverly Chan)

16,432 days.

When, not if, the Coupeville High School boys’ basketball team beats Tonasket Saturday in Arlington, it will break a 45-year dry spell for the Wolves.

The last time a CHS male hoops team won a state tourney game came Mar. 1, 1979, when the Whitney boys — Steve and Joe — and their associates smacked Montesano 62-51.

That was the second state victory for the program, with the other coming Mar. 4, 1976, when the Wolves throttled Columbia (Burbank) 80-63.

The first of those wins came in the 2B classification, against a school which holds the #1 seed in this year’s tourney, while the second was at the 1A level.

At any level, it’s been a bit since a Wolf boys’ hoops team came out on top in a state game.

The 45-year drought is the longest active one for a Coupeville program, not counting those which have never won a game at state (football and boys’ soccer) or never played a game at state (girls’ soccer).

In this scenario, track and field, cross country, and tennis don’t count, as none of them play games as a team.

CHS baseball has the most recent win, blanking Toledo 3-0 this past spring, while softball drilled Deer Park 14-2 in 2019.

For girls’ basketball, the last W came in 2005 — a 45-41 thriller over Zillah — while volleyball also beat Zillah, coming out ahead 3-1 in 2004.

For now, though, the spotlight is on the Wolf boys’ hoops stars, who have the chance to make some history of their own.

That 1978-1979 team they’re chasing was one of the best in school history, winning Coupeville’s fifth league title in the decade.

Their spotlight win came against dastardly King’s Garden (now known just as King’s), when Steve Whitney pulled in a pass from Keith Jameson and buried a jumper to net a 55-53 league title-clinching victory.

Those Wolves had three different players ring up 300+ points that season, with Wade Ellsworth (392), Roy Marti (342), and Steve Whitney (337) sharing top honors.

Joe Whitney, who went on to win a state title in later years with Lynden, rang up 213 points, with Jameson banking in 115.

Rounding out the scorers on the last Wolf boys’ team to win at state were future school board director Chris Chan (51), Shawn Ryan (43), Chris Marti (14), and future owner-of-a-magnificent-mustache Evan Tingstad (1).