Jacobi Pacquette-Pilgrim tossed in seven in Monday’s 8th grade varsity game. (John Fisken photos)
CMS 7th grade coach Randy King imparts wisdom from his 25+ years as a hoops coach.
Wolf 7th grader Jake Mitten (23), seen here in an earlier game, dropped in 12 points on his 13th birthday.
Ryan King was a happy man.
When his Coupeville Middle School 8th grade JV boys’ basketball squad held off visiting Sequim 28-23 Monday, he was the only one of three CMS hoops coaches to nab a victory.
Bob Martin came close, but his 8th grade varsity fell 44-35, while both of Randy King’s 7th grade squads put up plucky battles against teams blessed with impressive height and sharp outside shooters.
While the 7th grade varsity was bounced 60-28 and the JV fell 30-13, both teams did have their bright spots.
Overall, it wasn’t a bad showing against a much larger school.
Sequim plays at the 2A level in high school, while Coupeville is the smallest 1A school in all the state.
A look at the day that was:
8th grade Varsity:
The Wolves played the visitors even in the second half (19-19), but couldn’t overcome an 11-6 second-quarter deficit that pretty much decided things.
Sean Toomey-Stout banged home nine to pace CMS, while Jered Brown (8), Jacobi Pacquette-Pilgrim (7), Mason Grove (7), Koa Davison (2) and Jean Lund-Olsen (2) rounded out the scorers.
Ulrik Wells and Omar Moralez also saw floor time for Coupeville.
8th grade JV:
Soccer star Aram Leyva took Ryan King’s advice and rampaged at the basket all afternoon, pouring in a career-high 14 to spark the victory.
Down 10-6 at the break, the Wolves turned it on in the second half to the tune of 22-13.
Gavin Knoblich popped for six, while Trevor Bell (4), Andrew Martin (2) and Dawson Houston (2) also penciled their names into the scoring column.
James Wood, Jaylen Nitta, Tucker Hall and Johnathon Partida rounded out the day’s roster.
7th grade varsity:
There was a moment when this one seemed like it would be close.
A 6-0 run, with a driving jumper from Daniel Olson, a breakaway bucket off a steal from Michael Laska and a power move in the paint from Jake Mitten, knotted things up at 8-8.
Unfortunately, the Wolves went ice cold at that exact moment, letting Sequim close the half on an 18-2 run.
Coupeville made a couple of small runs in the second half (7-3 and 9-4), but was hurt badly when Sequim responded with much larger runs (10-0 and 15-0).
The best play of the afternoon for the Wolves came in the final moments of the third, when Matthew Kelley kicked the ball two-thirds the length of the court, dropping the ball into Sage Downes hands for a quick layup.
Mitten paced CMS with 12, while Olson got hot late for 10.
Downes added four, while Laska’s bucket was a crowd pleaser, especially among the middle school girls in attendance.
Dakota Eck didn’t score, but joined with Laska to put in solid work as pesky ball-hawks on defense.
7th grade JV:
A slow first half (18-3) doomed the Wolves, but they went down fighting, battling virtually even in the second half.
Ben Smith was like a bolt of lightning, hitting for a team-high six and continually pushing the ball hard at the defense.
Playing with no fear, he attacked again and again, while also scrambling for every loose ball and showing his teammates what boundless energy really looks like.
Wood, Nitta and James Mayne each added a bucket, Partida slid a free-throw through the net and Gage Powers, Alex Jimenez and Hall all chipped in with hustle and general scrappiness.
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