Gabe Eck, seen here in an earlier game, was one of eight Wolves to score as the JV romped to a win. (John Fisken photos)
Andre Avila (32), playing defense earlier this season, was a wizard with the ball Friday night.
Brian Shank was feeling it.
As the ball sank through the net, another three-point bomb having hit pay dirt, the Wolf marksman looked at his fingertips like they were on fire, his eyes wide with glee.
Then he shook his head softly, grinned and headed back up-court.
It was that kind of night for Shank and his teammates, as the Coupeville High School JV boys’ basketball team shredded visiting Concrete 45-24.
Using the three-ball as their weapon of choice — four Wolves (Shank, Ty Eck, Beauman Davis and Luke Merriman) combined to net seven treys — Coupeville grabbed the lead a minute into the game and never looked back.
Trailing 3-0, the Wolves made their initial move in a hurry, knocking down three buckets in a 20-second span.
Shank banged home a rebound, Gabe Eck picked the pocket of a Lion ball-handler, then zipped in for a layup and then Shank capped things with a gorgeous trey off of an in-bounds play.
He wasn’t ready to stop there, adding a three-point play the hard way (slashing to the hoop for a bucket and an ensuing free throw), eventually raining down eight points in the first eight minutes.
But, even with Shank’s yeoman work, Coupeville was clinging to just a 15-13 lead after one quarter.
Enter Andre Avila and exit Concrete’s hopes.
The sweet-dribbling mighty mite brought his enthusiastic fan section to their feet with back-to-back highlight plays that broke the visitors will.
First Avila drew a pack of defenders, spun just out of their reach at the last second, and perfectly fed Merriman, who dropped a trey that barely ruffled the net as it went down.
On the next play, it was all Avila, as he spun, whirled, twirled, danced and broke approximately 17 ankles (maybe even his own) before dropping in the bucket of the night with a runner.
As the gym erupted and Concrete glumly called for a timeout, the hardest-working guy on the JV shot towards his bench, arms raised in the air, Rocky-style, huge smile on his face as Wolf varsity players chanted his name.
From there, it was put-the-hammer-down time, as Coupeville used a 22-6 tear over the second and third quarter to seal the win, which lifted the young guns to 2-4 on the season.
The Wolves got something from everyone on the roster, with Shank leading the way with a game-high 15.
Ty Eck added 13, including a team-high three treys, while Gabe Eck (6), Davis (3), Merriman (3), Avila (2), Ariah Bepler (2) and James Vidoni (1) all scored.
