CHS hoops coach Bob Barker (bottom, right) and some of the players who launched Wolf basketball into a new world. (Photos courtesy Jeff Stone)
It was a time when legends were crafted.
You wouldn’t know it by looking at the gym walls today, but between 1968 and 1970, boys’ basketball became the biggest game in Coupeville.
The Wolves already had a star in Barry Brown, who had been a First-Team All-League pick in ’66-’67 and ’67-’68, but things really took off the next two seasons.
That was when Jeff Stone rewrote the record books, setting marks that have never been approached, nearly 50 years after the fact.
During his junior season (’68-’69), Stone tossed in 317 points and was tabbed as one of the league’s best players.
But then CHS hoops coach Bob Barker decided to change things up heading into Stone’s final go-around.
“As far as the players were concerned, we were excited for the new brand of basketball Coach Barker switched to for our senior year,” Stone said. “Where as the previous years we were more deliberate offensively, we employed more of a full court press and fast break offense.
“That was especially effective in the little cracker box gym we called home.”
Running wild, Coupeville ripped though its schedule, going 18-2, with only a pair of razor-thin losses to perennial power La Conner.
After that came two huge wins at the district tourney over Skykomish and Darrington, with Stone pouring in 48 points — that still stands as a school record — in the title game.
The district title, the first in school history, propelled Coupeville to state, also for the first time ever.
And while the Wolves fell 63-51 to Ritzville and 63-54 to Kittitas (Coupeville won its first game at state in ’75-’76, after five previous losses), they didn’t go down without a fight.
Stone corralled a school record 27 rebounds against Kittitas and finished the season with 644 points, both records which stand to this day.
After his prep swan song came college ball and then a solid run as a coach, teacher and athletic director up north in Oak Harbor, but Stone’s time as a Wolf remains dear to his heart.
He was at the center of a legendary run, and will always treasure that.
“Memories that I remember the most were the crowds; everybody loves a winner, right?,” Stone said with a laugh. “Coupeville didn’t have a rich tradition in basketball or any sport for that matter.
“The Whidbey News-Times with Wallie Funk couldn’t get enough of it. It was like Hoosiers!”
