Nikolai Lyngra knocked down a season-high eight points Friday, sparking the Wolf JV to its sixth win. (John Fisken photo)
These are the kind of games that build character.
Coming off of a nine-day break, missing a considerable chunk of players, forced to travel all day and night to the wilds of Orcas Island Friday, the Coupeville High School boys’ basketball squads were tested.
The Wolf JV responded in style, holding off the host Vikings 50-46 to reach the halfway point of the season with a winning record.
Coupeville’s varsity, however, was unable to contain hot-shooting Orcas and fell 80-50.
The two CHS squads start the second half of the season Tuesday, when they welcome Port Townsend to Whidbey for a 1A Olympic League clash.
Coupeville’s varsity is 1-9 overall, 1-2 in league play.
The Wolves sit in third place in the four-team league, just a game and a half off of the first-place RedHawks heading into their first meeting of the season.
Meanwhile, Coupeville’s JV is rampaging, winners of five of their last seven, and 6-4 overall.
Varsity shot down:
With three players hitting double digits, Coupeville had one of its better offensive nights this season, but the Vikings were relentless as they built a lead, then continued to add to it quarter after quarter.
Up 25-13 at the first break, the Vikings stretched things out to 43-24 at the half and 61-39 after three quarters of play.
Ethan Spark paced the Wolves with 15, while Gabe Wynn hit for 14 and Hunter Smith knocked down 12. Brian Shank banked home nine to round out the scoring.
Coupeville had just seven players available, with Hunter Downes, Ariah Bepler and Cameron Toomey-Stout also seeing floor time.
JV holds on:
Hot early, cold later, then nerves of steel at the end.
Despite missing seven players, the Wolf JV jumped out to a 14-point lead in the first half.
Orcas tightened things up in the second half by clamping down on defense, forcing CHS into poor shot selection.
“We ran good offense early, but they tied the game because we took ill-advised shots that they turned into layups,” said Coupeville coach Dustin Van Velkinburgh. “The second half we struggled to run consistent offense and it hurt us.”
The Wolves “kept battling,” though, and pulled out the win in fingernail-biting fashion.
Down by two late, CHS forced a turnover, and freshman phenom Jered Brown turned it into a back-breaker.
Making off with a steal, he crossed his defender over, causing the Viking to crash into his own teammate, then pulled up and drilled his fifth three-point bomb of the night.
Clinging to a 47-46 lead, the Wolves salted the win away thanks to Mason Grove’s skills as a rebounder and free-throw shooter.
Snatching an offensive board through a thicket of Viking hands, he was fouled and sent to the line with just six ticks on the clock.
Grove banged down the front end of the one-and-one, then defied odds on the next shot.
With none of his teammates on the line — they were all back, ready to employ a soft press to keep Orcas from running — Grove skipped the second freebie off the rim.
It didn’t matter, though, as he promptly slid past the Orcas players, snared the rebound and put it back up and in to seal the victory.
“A good team win in the end,” said a relieved, and proud, Van Velkinburgh.
Brown dropped in 21, including his five-pack of treys, to lead the CHS attack, while Nikolai Lyngra added a season-high eight and Sean Toomey-Stout had seven.
Ulrik Wells and Grove added five apiece and Elliott Johnson knocked down four.
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