Coupeville Sports

Ayden Warren clamps down on defense. (Jackie Saia photo)

They’re our best hope.

Night in and night out this winter, the JV boys’ basketball squad has been the most-successful hoops team at Coupeville High School.

That proved true once again Friday, as the Wolves used an impressive defensive stand in the second half to overcome a slow start and grab a 35-28 win over visiting Orcas Island.

With the victory, the CHS young guns have won five of their last six and get to 6-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 7-6 overall.

That puts them as the only one of Coupeville’s four high school basketball teams to currently be posting a winning record.

With three games left on the schedule, the Wolves also get a chance for revenge, as they travel to Mount Vernon Christian Tuesday to face the only league team to topple them so far.

Friday’s rumble did not start all that positively for Coupeville, as Orcas Island jumped out to a 14-4 lead by the first break.

After that, however, the Wolves begin to find their rhythm.

Four different CHS players hit a bucket during an 8-8 stalemate in the second quarter, before Coupeville used an 8-6 mini-run in the third to cut the deficit back to 28-20.

The fourth quarter? Time to get savage.

With Jayden McManus running wild, pouring in 11 of his team-high 15 points in the final frame, the Wolves pulled a 15-0 shutout across the game’s final eight minutes to snag the victory.

Six CHS players scored, with Khanor Jump (6), Nathan Coxsey (4), Josh Stockdale (4), Liam Lawson (4), and Chris Zenz (2) providing plenty of support for McManus.

Brian Thompson, Ayden Warren, and Trent Thule rounded out the rotation for the Wolves.