Wiley Hesselgrave is in the zone in the hours before tip-off. (Mark Hesselgrave photo)
It ended too quickly, but it was another huge step back towards the top.
The Coupeville High School boys’ basketball squad, making its first postseason appearance under fourth-year coach Anthony Smith, ran into a lights-out shooting performance by host Cascade Christian Saturday and fell 57-36.
The loss capped a 7-13 season for the Wolves and knocked them out of the district playoffs.
But the defeat, and the loss of five seniors, can’t obscure the fact CHS has improved each season since Smith took the coaching reigns.
Inheriting a team largely made up of freshmen his first year, Smith and that young core (Aaron Trumbull and Joel Walstad played all four years, Aaron Curtin three) have gone from zero wins to one to three to this year’s performance.
“It was a real honor to coach all the seniors,” Smith said. “But those three have been here from the beginning, when we would have three to four guys at an open gym.
“They helped lay the foundation of what we’ve got going now and help us set some standards for the program.”
That trio, along with Matt Shank (who moved to town from Utah before his junior season) and first-year varsity player Isaac Vargas, now depart, but the cupboard is far from bare.
Leading the returning players will be current junior Wiley Hesselgrave, who capped a stellar year with a 20-point, four-rebound performance in Puyallup.
“He has let some people know we’ve got a guy down here who can play and will come after you all night long,” Smith said with an appreciative chuckle.
Hesselgrave’s magnificent performance aside, the Wolves didn’t have enough to counter Cascade Christian’s outside shooting.
The Cougars hit from long range, early, late and often, and it wasn’t just their guards, as their post players also showed pop.
Jumping out to an 18-8 lead after one quarter, Cascade Christian took a 12-point lead in at the break, then broke the game open in the third.
Any chances of a Coupeville comeback died quickly as the Cougars rained down several quick treys on their way to a devastating 16-3 surge in the third.
“They hit a couple threes on us, bam, bam, and that was it,” Smith said. “Give them credit. They shot the ball extremely well.”
Walstad chipped in with six points to back Hesselgrave, while Trumbull (4), CJ Smith (2), Ryan Griggs (2) and Hunter Smith (2) rounded out the scorers.
Trumbull had four boards and two steals while Griggs snared four rebounds and rejected three shots.
Curtin added three boards, a block and a steal in his final performance as a Wolf hoops star.
