Nick Guay sizes up a free throw Thursday during the CMS boys hoops season finale. (Morgan White photos)
Andrew Williams gets ready to rocket a pass cross-court.
Noted ball-hawk Cole White lunges for the steal.
You always want to end the season on a positive.
Regardless of your final record, if you can exit on a high note – be it a big win, a highly-competitive loss or just overall improved play, it has a strong chance to carry over to future seasons.
So consider Thursday night a roaring success for the three Coupeville Middle School boys hoops teams, which all closed with a bang against visiting Granite Falls.
How it played out:
7th grade varsity:
The most successful Wolf team provided the biggest finale moment, using a 19-7 run in the fourth quarter to smash open a nail-biter and run away with a 43-28 win.
The victory, the second-straight for Coupeville’s young guns, lifts their final record to 4-6.
The game was a tightly-played, and low-scoring, affair through the first two quarters, with the visitors clinging to a 10-9 lead at the half.
Things took a change after the break, however, as the Wolves started to knock down shots from behind the arc, picked up the pace, and threw the Tigers back on their heels.
A 15-11 surge in the third quarter, fueled by a pair of three-balls from Ryan Blouin, plus treys off the fingertips of Cole White and Nick Guay, changed the entire flow of the game.
Once it had the lead, CMS didn’t let up, pouring on the offense in a torrid fourth quarter.
The Wolves got all their points in the final frame from three players – Logan Downes, who banked in eight, Guay, who popped for seven, and Blouin, who kicked in four.
The buckets were set up by Coupeville’s stingy defense, with White making off with three straight steals and Zane Oldenstadt dominating his rival big men in the paint.
“Boys played well tonight!,” said Wolf coach Greg White. “It was a tight game until the fourth.
“Zane played great defense on their giant post – it was a true team effort tonight,” he added. “It was a fun one to end on!”
Downes paced the Wolves with 14 points, while Blouin and Guay had season-highs, swishing home 13 and 10, respectively.
White and William Davidson added three apiece, while Oldenstadt and Mikey Robinett were rock-solid on defense.
7th grade JV:
Coupeville’s least-experienced squad didn’t get the game win, but they did score several moral victories.
First, after falling behind 14-0 at the end of the first quarter, the Wolves rallied to win a 4-3 battle in the second, and final, frame.
Also, Alex Clark netted his first bucket of the season, a big moment for both the player, and his coach.
“Alex had a huge smile!,” Greg White said. “Justin (Wilkinson) and Andrew (Williams) also played really tough defense.
“Even though our scoring was limited, I thought it was a much better showing for our JV squad.”
Robinett tossed in Coupeville’s other basket, while Quinten Pilgrim, Timothy Nitta and Chris Villarreal all saw floor time.
8th grade varsity:
Playing their final middle school game, the Wolves came dangerously close to nabbing a season-closing win.
But, in the end, Granite Falls escaped with a 24-23 triumph, leaving Coupeville to finish 1-9 on the season.
The Wolves had one of their strongest performances of the season at the free-throw line, with four players combining to net eight shots at the charity stripe.
Alex Wasik, who showed tremendous growth as a player from game one to game 10, led the Wolves with seven points, notching at least a point in every quarter.
Ty Hamilton was hot on his heels, pouring in six, while Alex Murdy flicked in five, Dominic Coffman and Mitchell Hall swished two apiece and Josh Upchurch sank a free throw.
Rounding out the roster were Kevin Partida, Levi Pulliam and Jesse Wooten.
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