Coupeville Middle School 8th grader Dominic “The Dominator” Coffman, who plays with fury and heart, while embracing the credo of Ivan Drago in Rocky IV – “I must break you!!” (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
The effort was there, just not the wins.
Despite some stellar plays on both ends of the court Tuesday, the Coupeville Middle School boys basketball squads couldn’t derail visiting Northshore Christian Academy.
The private school players, who arrived in town bearing the polish of AAU veterans, swept both games, then exited stage left, straggling to their bus as their coaches tried not to lose any of them in the frosty darkness.
7th grade:
Coupeville started strong, and finished even stronger, but suffered through a long shooting slump in the middle, eventually falling 31-21.
The loss drops CMS to 2-5 on the season.
The Wolves jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead, as Cole White coaxed a long jumper to drop.
The ball hit the rim, popped skyward, crashed back down, rolled around, hit every part of the oval, then softly plopped through as Cole, and his dad, CMS coach Greg White, both exhaled in unison.
Another bucket from the younger of the White duo, this one off of a give-and-go, knotted the game up at 4-4, but then the Wolf offense dried up as suddenly as it had blossomed.
Other than a picture-perfect free throw from Mikey Robinett, his first varsity point, the Wolves failed to score over a six-minute stretch, eventually falling behind 15-5 early in the second quarter.
Coupeville’s top shooting star, Logan Downes, finally broke the hex on the rim, rattling home a runner while slashing up the middle.
But then the Wolves went another 10+ minutes before their next field goal.
Defense kept Coupeville semi-close, with Ryan Blouin, Timothy Nitta and Nick Guay relentlessly harassing Northshore’s guards, while Zane Oldenstadt, William Davidson and Quinten Pilgrim formed a formidable trio on the boards.
While the visitors were kept from totally running away with the game, they did stretch the margin out to 16 after a soft jumper a minute into the fourth quarter made the game 27-11.
It was then, in the blink of an eye, that Coupeville’s offense finally clicked into gear.
Pushing the ball hard at the hoop, the Wolves closed the game on a 10-4 run, with Downes, playing with a broken bone in his left hand, hitting three buckets on a variety of moves.
Pilgrim and Oldenstadt pounded away down low, with each recording a basket off of an offensive rebound, helping CMS finish with a nice display of fury and heart.
Downes topped the Wolves with 10 points, and it will be a blow if his hurt hand brings his campaign to an early close. Seven games into the 10-game season, he has outscored the rest of his teammates 90-77.
White, who had six against NCA, is Coupeville’s #2 scoring option this season, with 31 points, while Oldenstadt (2), Pilgrim (2) and Robinett (1), who was also a whirlwind on defense Tuesday, rounded out the scoring attack.
8th grade:
The tone was set early in this one, as Northshore fired out to an 11-0 lead, then romped to a 46-18 victory.
The Wolves, who are 1-6 heading into back-to-back road games at Sultan and South Whidbey, finally got on the scoreboard thanks to an electric move from Dominic Coffman.
The ever-rampaging “Dominator” shot right at the heart of the NCA defense, then fell back as he elevated, arcing his shot up and over his defender’s outstretched hand.
At which point the ball lightly kissed the glass and banked home to the delight of Wolf fans.
After that, it became the Alex Wasik show, as one of Coupeville’s hardest workers and all-out hustlers got a rare chance to showcase his offensive skill-set.
He slipped a free-throw through the net to center himself, then banged home a pair of buckets off of rebounds he ripped away from taller rival players.
Coupeville’s buckets were spread out too far apart to allow the Wolves much chance to rally, but what they did hit was often pretty.
Mitchell Hall drained a jumper, Coffman hit a pair of running one-handers, turning steals into breakaway buckets, and Kevin Partida capped things with a one-man assault.
Taking a pass on the right, Partida wheeled back to the left, weaved his way through a dense forest of defenders, then threw down a bank shot that caught glass and spun home with a happy little plop.
Mixed in between those buckets were two defensive gems, one that worked, and one that almost blew up the world.
The one that worked came when Levi Pulliam timed his jump perfectly, snagging a Northshore shot just as the player was ready to let it fly.
Instead, Pulliam, still airborne, clamped on to the ball, forcibly dragging the shooter down and getting the ball back for the Wolves when the refs whistled a jump ball.
The second play was your classic “if I hurt myself, I hurt myself, cause I’m a beast” play from Coffman.
Flying in from the side, he poked a ball free, then, as every other player came to a halt, went running full-bore for the sideline, trying to flag it down.
With his team down by 20+ points, Coffman showed why Coupeville High School coaches will be thrilled to welcome him to the next level.
His heart is too big for his chest, and his desire burns a hole through his jersey.
And, if that means sliding across the floor on your knees and almost pasting your face off the scorekeeper’s table, that’s how legends are born.
While Coffman ultimately wasn’t successful in saving the ball, he was a bulldog on both ends of the floor, with his team-high six points but a small part of his contributions.
Wasik joined him in the six-point club, while Partida banked home four and Hall singed the nets for two.
Alex Murdy, Jesse Wooten and Josh Upchurch rounded out the active roster Tuesday, with Wooten handling a fair chunk of the point guard duties, Upchurch crashing the boards and Murdy kick-starting Coupeville’s fast break time and again.
What I’d like to believe Dominic Coffman says before every basketball game:
