Coupeville Sports

Nick Streubel scored a team-high 12 points Tuesday. (John Fisken photo)

That? That did not end well at all.

The stage was set. The takeoff was almost flawless. The landing? That left a little to be desired. OK, maybe a lot to be desired.

“Don’t sugarcoat it, Dave! That was awful,” said Coupeville High School coach Anthony Smith after his boys’ hoops squad fell 67-53 to visiting South Whidbey Tuesday in a battle of winless teams.

The positives — jumping out to a 13-3 lead in the early going, walking into the locker room with a three-point lead at the half, getting double-figure scoring from three players, the news senior guard Gavin O’Keefe has been cleared to start practicing after recovering from a second broken leg — were all largely washed away by what transpired in the second half.

A half when the Wolves seemed flat. Unable to jump or rebound. Unable to cope. Unable to seal the deal.

In a flash, a 36-36 tie early in the third became a game out of control as the Falcons flew to every loose ball, snagged every rebound, and started draining every shot they needed to hit.

Basically, they played like a team giddy with the chance to win their first game since the passing of popular coach Henry Pope, and, unlike Coupeville, they seized the moment.

The loss dropped Coupeville to 0-5 overall, 0-3 in Cascade Conference play, a game back of South Whidbey (1-6, 1-2) in the race for a 1A playoff berth.

The two teams will meet again in Langley Jan. 28, when South Whidbey is expected to have its best player, Nick French, back from a football injury that kept him on the bench Tuesday.

The hope is that the Wolves have found a consistent flow by that time, which will certainly be helped by the return of the sharpshooting O’Keefe.

It was a flow Coupeville had from the opening tip, as they rode the wave of positive vibes in the air after the Wolf girls had decimated the Falcons in the opening game of the doubleheader.

Kicking off the game on an unusual note — with two free-throws from Anthony Bergeron after South Whidbey got nailed with a technical for messing up uniform numbers — Coupeville exploded out of the gate.

Nick Streubel rumbled through the paint for six points in the opening run, while Aaron Trumbull capped it off with three the hard way, converting a breakaway layin and then swishing a free throw to stake the Wolves to a 10-point lead.

South Whidbey, which had superior height, but frequently shot themselves in the foot in the early going, fought back, but the Wolves held fast.

Wiley Hesselgrave pumped in six straight midway through the second, and another bull-rush from Streubel right before halftime sent Coupeville into the locker room up 30-27.

After that, it became a slow-motion horror show, as the Wolves emerged from the break looking, and acting, like they were suddenly 30 years older.

Which is why practice is not going be fun come Wednesday afternoon.

“They’re not going to see a ball at all,” Smith said. “We’re going to run. We … are … going … to run.”

Streubel paced Coupeville with 12, while Bergeron pumped home 11 and Trumbull swished 10.

Morgan Payne, Joel Walstad and Hesselgrave each tossed in six and Matt Shank banked home a bucket. Freshman Gabe Wynn didn’t score, but made his debut as a starter.

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Joel Walstad (5) really, really wants that ball. (John Fisken photos)

Matt Shank unleashes his inner Hulk.

Oscar Liquidano fights for a loose ball.

Nick “The Big Hurt” Streubel vs. Ol’ Slap Fighter.

Grey Rische: “Come with me if you want to live!!”

Dante Mitchell checks to make sure all his body parts are still attached after being fouled.

Anthony Bergeron is so fast he makes the hair stand up straight on other player’s heads.

Went to a basketball game and a wrestling match broke out.

With Coupeville and visiting University Prep waging an intense war Saturday afternoon, frequent foul calls were the norm.

Bodies were thrown, the ground rumbled and photographer John Fisken was on the scene to catch it all.

And, if you like these pics, hop over to the links below for more. A percentage from all purchases goes to scholarships for CHS student athletes.

Varsity: http://www.cascadeathletics.com/index.php?act=view_gallery&gallery=5072&league=2&page_name=photo_store&school=24&school_year=2013-14&sport=0

JV: http://www.cascadeathletics.com/index.php?act=view_gallery&gallery=5070&league=2&page=1&page_name=photo_store&school=24&sport=0

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    Aaron Trumbull (left) and Morgan Payne listen to Wolf coach Anthony Smith. (Shelli Trumbull photo)

Moral victories are getting old.

There is no doubt the Coupeville High School boys’ basketball team is better this year than last season. They showed that much in back-to-back battles to the wire Friday and Saturday.

But, the reality after absorbing a 66-55 loss to visiting University Prep Saturday afternoon in a game marred by too many turnovers and way too many fouls (with generous help from Three Blind Mice wearing black and white shirts), is that the moral victories don’t count as actual victories.

Now 0-4 on the season, the Wolves will need to rebound quickly, as they face a huge game Tuesday.

South Whidbey (0-6) comes to town, and the winner will have a huge step up on claiming one of the two 1A playoff berths from the Cascade Conference.

To beat the Falcons, grab its first home and league win since 2011 and attain Island supremacy, Coupeville will need to find a balance between passionate and foul-prone.

Not having the infamous, preening “Mr. Ed,” aka “Rogaine,” as the lead ref might help too…

Facing off with a much-taller University Prep squad — the Pumas featured four players six-foot-four or taller, while Nick Streubel, at 6-3, is the tallest Wolf — Coupeville held its own most of the way.

Senior Anthony Bergeron may have given up a few inches to the ceiling-scrapers from out of town, but he has springs in his feet and he exploded skyward several times, rejecting one Puma shot all the way down the hallway.

On offense, he was the go-to weapon for the Wolves, combining explosive jaunts through the paint with a softly-spinning three-pointer to rack up a team-high 16 points.

The two teams went back and forth for most of the first half, with University Prep scoring just before the buzzer to take a one point lead into the locker room.

Back-to-back three-point plays the hard way (basket plus free throw) in the third quarter from Aaron Trumbull and Wiley Hesselgrave kept Coupeville within one at 40-39.

But then University Prep, which had been firing up, and clanking, three point shots, finally started to connect.

The Pumas nailed seven treys in a game-breaking 23-10 surge from midway through the third to late in the fourth.

By the time they were finished, and by the time the refs had drop-kicked Streubel, Trumbull and Hesselgrave out of the game on fouls — while calling a technical on a Wolf player but allowing University Prep’s undeniably “scrappy” point guard to remain in the game, even after THREE warnings for trying to incite Hesselgrave to swing at him — the game was gone.

The sour taste left by another hatchet job from Coupeville’s least favorite referee notwithstanding, the Wolves bounced back strongly while playing their second game in less than 24 hours.

All eight players who saw floor time also found the bottom of the net.

Joel Walstad, even with time lost to getting blood off his jersey in the locker room, banked home nine points to back up Bergeron, while Matt Shank showed flashes of dominance, as he dropped in eight.

Trumbull popped for seven, Payne chipped in with six, while Coupeville’s top two scorers on the season — Streubel (five) and Hesselgrave (three) — did their best while having their rears firmly attached to the bench for long periods of time thanks to the frequent whistles.

Freshman Gabe Wynn rounded out the offensive attack, netting a free throw.

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