Gavin O’Keefe, demonstrating Coupeville’s take-no-prisoners style in an earlier game. (John Fisken photo)
On a Saturday when the Seattle Seahawks advanced to the NFC Championship, one of Coupeville High School’s finest unleashed his own Earthquake-causing play.
Late in a game where every possession mattered, the basketball skidded free and started rolling down the court.
As several players from both teams started to amble towards the ball, Nick Streubel — all six-foot-three, 285 pounds of him — suddenly went fully airborne and crash-landed like a man covering a grenade, or recovering a fumble on the football field.
The resulting boom from The Big Hurt connecting with the hardwood, as Mount Vernon Christian players fled in sheer terror, was still ringing in everyone’s ears long after the Wolf boys held on for a much-needed 50-47 victory.
The non-conference win lifted CHS to 2-8 on the season, doubling its win total of the last two seasons combined.
And while it might not have been the prettiest of wins, it did showcase the resilience of the Wolves.
Outscored 10-0 to start the fourth quarter, Coupeville lost the lead for the first time all afternoon. Suddenly trailing 37-36, the Wolves could have become desperate and pressed too hard, too anxious to get back in the contest.
Instead, led by Streubel’s power moves in the paint and Anthony Bergeron’s slashing drives to the hoop, Coupeville settled right back down and went on an 11-2 run of its own.
Than, after losing Streubel and Joel Walstad to fifth fouls, the Wolves showed a steady hand, closing out the game at the line.
Bergeron dropped one through the net, then Wiley Hesselgrave hit both ends of a one-and-one, to give Coupeville a 50-44 lead.
After a MVC three-pointer slashed the lead in half, Bergeron had a chance to end the game with two more free throws. While he missed them both, he smartly jumped and snatched the ensuing rebound away, dribbling out the clock and sealing the win.
It was that kind of game for the silky-smooth Wolf senior, as he rained down a game-high 17 points on the Hurricanes, who had few answers for his speed.
Streubel crunched MVC for another 15, while Hesselgrave pumped home eight.
Aaron Trumbull popped for five, Gavin O’Keefe (who took an impressive header and lived to laugh about it) and Matt Shank tossed in a bucket apiece, Walstad added a key fourth-quarter free-throw and Morgan Payne kicked in a lively mix of hustle and grit.
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