Gabe Wynn, seen here in an earlier game, erupted for five points in a short time span Tuesday. (John Fisken photo)
It could go either way.
After falling 59-45 to visiting Port Townsend Tuesday night, the Coupeville High School boys’ basketball squad sits on top of a precipice, and now it’s time to seize the moment and choose whether they stay up high or fully tumble down.
Tuesday’s loss was the third straight for the Wolves, as the fallout from a rocky winter break threatens to derail everything which was once going so well.
And yet, at 4-6 overall, 1-1 in conference play, Coupeville still sits snugly in second place in the 1A Olympic League.
Port Townsend is alone atop the standings at 2-0, the only wins the RedHawks have claimed in a 2-7 season, while defending league champ Chimacum and Klahowya are tied in the basement at 0-1.
Those two squads play Friday.
The Wolves, largely a team of role players, have looked very good at times this season, and always when they play as a team, each player stepping up and accepting their part in the grand scheme.
When they degenerate into 1-on-5 players and lose that cohesiveness, as they did at times against a more disciplined RedHawks squad, is when things go wrong.
“We have got to show up, especially for big games like this,” said Coupeville coach Anthony Smith. “We did not execute, at all, tonight.
“They killed us on the second chances, and we helped make them look very good,” he added. “We have three days now to decide if we’re going to come together and play as a team, play for each other.”
The Wolves, who had played in Langley the night before, came out a step behind Tuesday, falling behind 14-6 midway through the first quarter.
The killer was a six-point play, as Port Townsend hit a bucket, got the foul call, then tacked on three more free throws when the call was questionably upped to a flagrant foul, followed by a technical on the Coupeville bench for daring to ask why the call was changed.
Instead of fracturing at that moment, the Wolves used a timeout to sort things out, then ripped off nine straight points, easily their best run of the night.
Wiley Hesselgrave backed his man down for a bucket, then Gabe Wynn erupted for five points in about five seconds.
The Wolf junior hit a sweet trey from the top, then spun his defender around on the next play, slicing past him for a driving layup.
Playing aggressive defense, CHS capped the run with a steal and breakaway bucket from Jordan Ford, claiming their first lead of the night at 15-14.
Unfortunately, that would be the only time the Wolves would lead all night, as Port Townsend regained control of the game and begin to slowly inch away.
A 9-1 spurt, capped by a bucket that beat the first quarter buzzer by less than half a tick, staked the RedHawks to a 23-16 lead at the first break, and they never relinquished the lead.
Coupeville got within two again midway through the second quarter, only to see Port Townsend nail back-to-back three-balls.
One came from the right side, the other from the left, and much of the air went out of the Wolves.
Port Townsend stretched its lead to 11 after three quarters, then poured it on a bit in the fourth, going up by 18 at one point.
The Wolves found a brief bit of redemption at the very end, as JJ Johnson fed Ford for a bucket, then stole the in-bounds pass and shot through two defenders for the game’s closing basket.
Coupeville, which returns to action Saturday with a home non-conference game against Mount Vernon Christian, will use the next few days of practice to work on things like free throws (they were a weak 10 of 23 Tuesday).
One thing they did accomplish against Port Townsend was getting at least a little bit of offense from nearly every player on the roster, as nine guys scored.
Hesselgrave led the way with 11, while Ford banged home eight and Ryan Griggs dropped in six.
Wynn (5), Hunter Smith (4), Dante Mitchell (4), JJ Johnson (4), Risen Johnson (2) and DeAndre Mitchell (1) rounded out the scoring attack.
Jared Helmstadter and Desmond Bell also saw floor time for Coupeville.
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