Jordan Ford fights for a rebound during a physical, combative game Wednesday night. (John Fisken photo)
This one was ugly. In every way.
A glance at the scoreboard would have told you the Coupeville High School boys’ basketball squad lost 69-56 to visiting La Conner Wednesday night.
What it wouldn’t tell you was how the game fell apart in the second half, as two teams bickered, exchanged smack talk and came close to starting several fights as the refs lost whatever limited control they once had.
Some will say getting angry finally made the Wolves wake up and play better ball, and it’s true. Sort of.
After a run of games in which it shot out to leads, Coupeville spent a lot of time in the first half looking like a team that hadn’t played in nearly two weeks — which it hadn’t, last taking the court Dec. 18.
Back then, the Wolves bounced Concrete for their third straight win.
Jump forward to Wednesday and the Wolves slid towards the defeat that would even their season record at 4-4 fairly quickly.
Buried under a barrage of three-point bombs from Brave gunner Scott Lindeman, who finished with a game-high 31, Coupeville fell behind by double digits midway through the first quarter.
A 22-3 first quarter spurt staked La Conner to a 16-point bulge, and they stretched it out to 22 by the break, closing out the first half on a 15-3 run.
Down 49-27, the Wolves had to look hard for gems from the first half, though one could be found in JJ Johnson drilling a silky trey for his first-ever points in a Coupeville uniform.
And then we turn to the second half, a half really no one should be especially proud of.
Now it’s true, the Wolves outscored La Conner 29-20 in the second half and they briefly put the Braves on their heels with a ferocious run in the fourth quarter.
But that was tainted by much of what came with it, as a third-quarter altercation kicked off an unpleasant, drawn-out final 12 minutes of play.
A near fight, in which a player from each team had to be pulled from the floor while they yelled at each other — and yet no one was penalized — seemed to be the moment things changed.
It was followed almost immediately by a questionable flagrant foul call, then a clear flagrant foul that was ignored by a ref who watched it happen six inches from his nose.
After that, the petty flood gates opened.
Non-stop verbal sniping, including a player calling a rival coach a word often associated with female dogs, and so much low-class crap by both teams that it would be easy to not fully appreciate Coupeville’s late comeback.
And yes, give the Wolves credit — some players more than others — they clawed back into a respectable loss by essentially taking the ball and running right at the heart of the La Conner defense on every play in the fourth quarter.
It worked, as the gun-shy refs started calling EVERYTHING in an effort to reclaim some kind of control, and Coupeville used a nice run at the free throw stripe to kick-start a 19-5 run.
That pulled them back within nine, but Lindeman surfaced one final time, dropping a rainbow of a three to ice the game.
Coupeville spread its offense around, with Wiley Hesselgrave leading the way with 14. Jordan Ford fought the good fight on the boards and banged home 13, while Risen Johnson tallied 11.
Hunter Smith (5), Ryan Griggs (3), DeAndre Mitchell (3), JJ Johnson (3), Jared Helmstadter (2) and Dante Mitchell (2) rounded out the scoring stats.
After having so much time off, Coupeville returns to a more regular schedule next week.
The Wolves travel to South Whidbey Monday, then host Port Townsend Tuesday and Mount Vernon Christian Saturday.
