Aaron Trumbull splits the defenders for two of his team-high 13 Friday. (John Fisken photos)
Freshman phenom Hunter Smith sparked the Wolf JV squad to its first win of the season.
It was a tough one. No doubt.
But now the question becomes, what do you do with the anger and frustration. Do you use it to fuel you as you go forward, or does it kill your season?
Anthony Smith believes it will fuel his squad.
“The guys are mad, but it’s a good mad,” Smith said. “We go in, work hard and get back at it. We take the positives and learn from them.”
Playing their first-ever 1A Olympic League contest Friday night, Smith’s Coupeville High School boys’ basketball team came agonizingly close to a win. Emphasis on the agony.
Two missed free throws by the Wolves in a tie game with 17 seconds to play opened the door for visiting Klahowya to escape with a 57-55 win.
The Eagles (1-4 overall, 1-0 in league play) took advantage of the misses and scored a game-busting layup with less than two ticks on the clock. Coupeville (1-5, 0-1) had a final shot, but it fell short.
Now the Wolves will have a week of practice to fine-tune their fury and bring it to a positive boil before they travel to Orcas Island for a non-conference game Dec. 19.
CHS plays three straight non-league games before they meet Port Townsend in early Jan. for the second of their nine Olympic League games.
Friday, Coupeville went toe-to-toe with the Eagles, leading for much of the game.
Up by three at the half, they came out a bit flat in the third — a recurring trend for the Wolves — but Smith called on his reserves and they stepped up big time.
“I emptied the bench and they did their part,” Smith said. “They held things together and got us going again.”
The game was foul-strewn affair, with the teams combining to shoot 61 free throws. The one positive was that neither team had much to complain about, as both were punished fairly equally.
Klahowya hit 17 of 32 at the charity stripe, while Coupeville banged home 16 of 29.
Aaron Trumbull paced the Wolves with 13 points, while Dalton Martin poured in 10.
Joel Walstad (9), Ryan Griggs (5), Hesselgrave (4), Gabe Wynn (4), Matt Shank (4), Aaron Curtin (4) and Jared Helmstadter (2) rounded out the scoring.
It was the first varsity points for Helmstadter.
Griggs snagged six boards, while Martin pulled in three caroms, blocked three shots and made off with three steals.
JV wins first: Playing without coach Dustin Van Velkingburgh, who was on medical leave as he deals with heart issues, the young guns pulled off a 36-32 victory.
After the game, Smith and the players checked in with Coach V on speaker phone and relayed the positive news.
“It was a great one for the JV,” Smith said. “They worked hard and deserved it.”
Freshman Hunter Smith poured in 13, snagged six rebounds and made off with two assists to spark the win.
DeAndre Mitchell (9), Desmond Bell (4), Brian Shank (3), Dante Mitchell (3) and Ben Olson (2) also scored for the Wolves.
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