Morgan Payne, seen here in an earlier-season game, scored 11 Tuesday, but Coupeville fell to Granite Falls. (John Fisken photo)
It has been a tale told too many times this season.
A strong first half, and then a sputtering start to the second half derails the positives for the Coupeville High School boys’ basketball team.
Down by just five at the break Tuesday, and locked into a fight with visiting Granite Falls, the Wolves were suddenly overwhelmed by the Tigers quickness, both attacking the basket and in the open floor.
Before they could recover, their foe had ripped off a 17-6 run (en route to a 26-15 advantage in the third) and was well on its way to a 79-52 victory.
The loss dropped Coupeville to 2-9 overall, 0-6 in Cascade Conference play. It also leaves the Wolves two games behind South Widbey (2-9, 2-4) in the battle for a 1A playoff berth.
Coupeville came out ready for a battle, with senior Anthony Bergeron out-leaping and out-hustling the Tigers, turning rebounds into quick points in the first quarter.
Backed by Morgan Payne, who hit consecutive jumpers, and Nick Streubel, who banged home a three-point play the hard way (a power move inside followed by a free-throw), he and the Wolves played the Tigers virtually even through the first eight minutes.
When a Granite Falls three-pointer started to go in, then popped right back out at the buzzer, leaving Coupeville down just one, it seemed like a good omen.
Six straight points to open the second — four free-throws from Gavin “I love hitting the floor” O’Keefe and a little runner from Wiley Hesselgrave — staked Coupeville to its biggest lead of the night at 21-16.
In a game of streaks, Granite Falls then ripped off 10 straight points, only to have Coupeville knot things back up with a five-point surge of its own.
Streubel put together another bucket-and-a-foul three-point play, followed by Bergeron once again out-leaping a defender to tip an offensive rebound back up and in.
But all the momentum that existed in the first 16 minutes faded, sometimes badly, in the final 16 minutes.
Buckets started coming fewer and far more between for the Wolves, and Granite Falls used a full-court press to effectively disrupt Coupeville.
Payne threw down seven points in the third, but a 13-0 Granite run that started late in the third and continued well into the fourth ended any comeback hopes.
By then, the biggest cheer left to come from the stands was for a resounding block by Bergeron, who practically jumped out of the gym, and his shoes, as he elevated and spiked an annoying shot into the third row of fans.
He paced Coupeville with 14 points and 13 rebounds, while Payne (11), Streubel (8), O’Keefe (7), Aaron Trumbull (6), Joel Walstad (4) and Hesselgrave (2) rounded out the scorers.
Matt Shank and Oscar Liquidano put in solid work on the boards, as well.
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