Caleb Meyer and Co. are 6-0 on the season. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
It was weird, it was wild, it was a win.
Playing for the first time in three weeks, the Coupeville High School varsity boys basketball team scored its fewest points of the season Tuesday, yet still whomped on visiting La Conner to remain undefeated.
Blowing out to a 25-0 lead, then falling back on a blistering defensive attack once the net turned inhospitable, the Wolves routed the Braves 54-29.
The win lifts Coupeville to 4-0 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 6-0 overall headed into a big clash at home Thursday against Friday Harbor.
The Wolves, who sit alone atop the conference standings, a half-game up on Mount Vernon Christian (3-0, 6-2), were coming off a long layoff when they took the court Tuesday night.
Two games were postponed right before the holiday break, thanks to Covid protocols, then Christmas, New Year’s, and a lot of snow and ice dominated the calendar.
If there were any winter remnants hanging around the gym parking lot, they likely melted under the heat of the game’s opening minutes.
Playing stifling defense, Coupeville frazzled La Conner’s ballhandlers into a string of turnovers, which the speedy Wolves converted into bucket after bucket.
Alex Murdy threw down the game’s first score, alertly picking off an inbounds pass, before whirling to the hoop for a layup.
Then the bombs started dropping from long range, with Hawthorne Wolfe snapping the net on a three-ball, followed by Xavier Murdy netting back-to-back treys.
Not only were the Wolves hitting everything they were tossing skyward, but they were moving the ball with a furious precision.
Hawk’s three-ball was set up by X-Man, then the senior duo flipped the script, with Wolfe feeding the elder Murdy on the very next play.
With La Conner unable to get back quickly enough on defense, Coupeville pushed the pace, and it worked superbly.
A steal by Alex Murdy set up a bucket for his big bro, while Logan Martin converted a steal into an assist on a Wolfe layup, before Hawk returned the favor almost immediately on a Martin jumper.
Xavier Murdy finished the opening eight-minute stretch with 13 points, including a trio of three-balls, and Coupeville, up 27-2 at the first break, looked like it would make a serious run at 100 points.
But then the offensive fireworks started to seriously drain away.
Despite X-Man raining down 10 more points — and three more treys — in the second quarter, Coupeville would net just 27 points total over the game’s final 24 minutes.
After the torrid start, shot after shot started to take weird bounces for the Wolves, and a team which had scored 70+ points in each of its first five games never got close to that number.
Not that it ultimately mattered, however.
With their shooting mojo suddenly in freefall, the Wolves ramped up their defense and played La Conner even across those final three quarters, not allowing the lead to ever get below 22 points.
Caleb Meyer was one of the few Wolves able to convert anything on the offensive end of the floor after halftime, and his six points in the third quarter kept things under control.
His biggest play — three points the hard way on a bucket in the paint, followed by a free throw — was set up by a sensational save on the endline by young teammate Cole White.
Every Coupeville player sold out hard on the defensive end, but the Murdy boys led the way, with Xavier dominating on the glass and Alex relentlessly disrupting passes.
X-Man finished with a game-high 24 points, the best single-game performance by a Wolf player this season, boy or girl, varsity or JV.
With six three-balls on the night, the CHS marksman made a major move up the career scoring chart, cracking the top 100 for a program now in its 105th season.
Passing 13 former Wolves — including Risen Johnson, Alex Evans, and Tyler King — Xavier Murdy moves into a tie with John Beasley for 97th place all-time with 293 points.
That also leaves X-Man breathing down the neck of his uncle, mad bomber Allen Black (305), for family bragging rights.
Meyer tallied nine points Tuesday, while Wolfe and Logan Downes chipped in with five apiece.
Alex Murdy (4), Dominic Coffman (3), Martin (2), and White (2) also scored, with Jonathan Valenzuela standing tall on defense.
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