Coupeville Sports

Andrew Aparicio netted a bucket off of a rebound Wednesday, as Coupeville’s C-Team clashed with 4A Mount Vernon. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

They knew they were in for a tough fight.

When the Coupeville High School C-Team boys basketball squad took the floor Wednesday night, they were missing two key players, and their foe was a high-flying team from a 4A school.

So, the fact the Wolves fell 61-12 to visiting Mount Vernon wasn’t the biggest surprise of the new year, is what we’re saying.

But, despite playing without leading scorer Ty Hamilton and enforcer Ben Smith, both battling illnesses, Coupeville didn’t go down easily.

“They definitely didn’t give up,” said CHS coach Patrick Upchurch. “They put up a good battle, a good fight, against a strong team.”

Mount Vernon, which is 6-1 on the season, is listed as the school’s “freshman” team, though their roster shows three juniors, three sophomores, and just two 9th graders.

The Bulldogs C-Team, which stayed home on the mainland, is made up of all freshmen, so, you had me confused from the get-go.

Which is not that hard to do.

Regardless of what grade level they sit in, Mount Vernon had a flashy, nimble point guard in junior Cads Pineda, a strong three-ball shooter in sophomore Trent Borgognoni, and a 6-foot-5 bruiser in freshman Donovan McEwan.

It’s easy to see why the Bulldogs boast a stellar record, as they zip the ball around, toss daggers from the corners, and get thousands of buckets off of crisp passes to guys cutting under the basket.

Coupeville played a far rougher form of the game, though their players, a good chunk of whom are new to the game, showed flashes of promise.

Freshman Dominic Coffman netted the first bucket of the night for the Wolves, driving around his defender and banging home a running layup.

But, even then, the score sat at 13-2 in favor of the visitors, a sign of how tough this matchup would be for CHS.

Fellow frosh Alex Murdy, a JV player popping down to help fill out the illness-depleted roster, followed Coffman’s bucket with a swooping layup of his own.

Then, Mount Vernon scored 32 of the next 34 points, stretching the lead all the way out to 45-6 two minutes into the third quarter.

Coffman prevented the refs from instituting a running clock, for a few moments at least, as he slashed to the hoop for a bucket to keep the lead below the 40-point cutoff.

The Bulldogs, however, rained down a couple more three-balls, part of the seven they hit on the night, and that triggered the running clock and one of the stupidest rules in modern high school basketball.

Once the lead hits 40, refs now order clock operators to stop adding points to the scoreboard, regardless of which team scores them.

The scorebook keeper still tallies field goals and free throws, but fans in the stands are left high and dry, lest their tender sensibilities be offended by actually knowing the real score.

It’s stupid, maybe second only to the rule which prevents middle school basketball teams from playing overtime periods to break ties.

Maybe…

Back in the real world, where all the buckets were fully recorded, Coffman paced the Wolves with six points, while Murdy, Andrew Aparicio, and Brayden Coatney tossed in a bucket apiece to round out the scoring.

Coen Killian, Nick Armstrong, Alex Wasik, Chris Cernick, Caleb Sonntag, Jaden Goodrich, and Josh Upchurch also saw floor time for CHS, with Cernick playing strongly on the defensive end of the floor.

The Wolf C-Team returns to action next week with three games.

They host Cedar Park Christian Tuesday, January 14, host Sultan Jan. 15 in a rescheduled game, then travel to South Whidbey Jan. 17.