Matthew Kelley (10) eyes the action during a brief moment on the bench. (Pat Kelley photo)
Matthew Kelley is beginning to get this whole basketball thing under control.
The Coupeville Elementary School fifth grader bounced from a standout football season over to the hard-court and starred for not one, but two hoops squads this winter.
When he wasn’t playing for the Coupeville Boys and Girls Club 6-8th grade Green team, he was suiting up for the Oak Harbor Purple along side CES classmate Brady Marcus.
The high scorer for both teams he plays on, Kelley closed the regular season with the Purple in grand fashion.
He threw down 18 points and snared 17 boards, while sitting out nearly a third of the game, in a 28-17 thumping of the Mount Vernon Mayhem.
His Oak Harbor squad finished 6-2 and head into the postseason as the #4 team in an 11-team field.
Kelley posted a double-double in seven of his eight games, averaging 15 points and 14 rebounds a game. He also led the team in assists.
With five CES fifth graders, part of a possible Coupeville High School Class of 2021 (Kelley, Jake Mitten, Sage Downes, Daniel Olson and Michael Laska) playing above their grade level on the Boys and Girls Club team, there is considerable talent on its way up the pipeline.
The plan is to form a Coupeville SWISH team next season, anchored by those five and Marcus, so they can play together as they head upwards towards middle school and high school play for the Wolves.
