Freshman Hawthorne Wolfe went for a team-high nine points Wednesday as Coupeville boys basketball opened a new season. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
It’s been 3,264 days since Coupeville and Oak Harbor played a varsity high school boys basketball game, and some things have changed.
Back on Dec. 21, 2009, the Wolves had a high-flying, veteran-heavy squad which finished the season 16-5, with one of those wins a 66-61 toppling of their Island neighbors.
Jump forward nine years, and this time the Wildcats boasted experience (and a lot of speed), with a roster stacked to the brim with battle-hardened seniors in 11 of 12 roster slots.
Meanwhile, CHS hit opening night with just one senior, only two returning full-time varsity players, and four of its nine active players making their varsity debut.
So, not a total surprise the large 3A school drilled the ultra-small 1A school Wednesday to the tune of 79-31.
But, while the final score might sting in the moment, the night was not a total loss for Coupeville.
For one thing, it was just one game in an 18-game schedule, a non-conference bout at that, and, hopefully, chock full of lessons for a new-look Wolf squad.
“That’s the beauty of basketball season; it’s not like football, where we have to wait a week to play again,” said CHS coach Brad Sherman. “We can have short memories, take some things in to work on at practice the next two days, then get out there and play (against fellow 1A school Bush) Saturday afternoon.”
Oak Harbor, which was led by the wicked fast Dorian Hardin and the three-ball-flinging Terrell Crumpton, blew out to a 17-0 lead, picking apart the young Wolves with withering defense.
Coupeville didn’t stop the bleeding until Wolf big man Ulrik Wells banked home a free throw late in the opening quarter, followed by a trey from the top off the fingertips of point guard Jered Brown.
The Wildcats seized control by using their press to force turnovers, while holding the Wolves without back-to-back scores for much of the game.
The only small CHS run came midway through the second, when it used four free throws and a Wells jumper in the paint that rattled around for an eternity before plopping through the net, to go on a 6-0 mini-surge.
The ‘Cats, by contrast, put together a second rampage, opening the second half on a 16-0 tear, ending any minor hopes of a Wolf comeback.
“We knew it would be a tough game, facing a very athletic opponent,” Sherman said. “We struggled with their pressure, just trying to do a little too much.
“We will work on executing our break like we know we can,” he added. “It’s a first game, early in the season; against a team like that, you expect some bumps and that’s OK – as long as we are learning and getting better each week.”
Learning is the key word, as three of Coupeville’s top four scorers on the night – Hawthorne Wolfe, Sean Toomey-Stout and Koa Davison, were making their varsity basketball debut.
Toomey-Stout, a football phenom who sat out his sophomore basketball season while recuperating from an injury, gave the Wolves an injection of toughness, while Davison teamed with Wells to provide CHS with some pop in the paint.
The night’s brightest spot, however, might be Wolfe, Coupeville’s floppy-haired, three-ball-spraying, bobbin’ and weavin’ answer to “Pistol” Pete Maravich.
He’s only a freshman, and showed it at times Wednesday, but the upside on this one is huge.
Wolfe splashed a pair of balls from behind the three-point arc on his way to a team-high nine points, but he also had a pair of sweet set-up passes, picking up assists on buckets by Brown and Davison.
Better still, he proved to be a scrapper, hitting the floor frequently and refusing to be bullied by the older Wildcats when there was a battle for a loose ball or re-directed rebound.
That was a trait also demonstrated by his older teammates, with Dane Lucero and Jacobi Pilgrim banging down in the pits and Mason Grove and Jean Lund-Olsen doing their best to disrupt Oak Harbor’s blazing guards.
Toomey-Stout rattled home seven points to back Wolfe’s nine, with Wells (6), Davison (5), Brown (3) and Pilgrim (1) also tallying points in June Mazdra’s score book.
Hardin and Crumpton each went for 17 to pace Oak Harbor, while Haven Brown popped for 13.
Sophomore Matt Kelley, the lone non-senior on the ‘Cat roster and a former Coupeville athlete through middle school, slipped a single, solitary, free throw through the twines.
Along with the loss, Coupeville took a physical hit, or rather two, as Gavin Knoblich rolled his ankle in warm-ups and Brown took a substantial shot to the chest in an area where he had previously had surgery.
One limped back to the bench before tip-off, while the other spent most of the second half with an ice pack wrapped to his chest, and neither’s status is 100% clear for Saturday’s game.
Whomever is ready and able to go against Bush will come out ready for a scrap, though, which pleases their coach.
“Lots of basketball games ahead,” Sherman said. “I really was proud of the guys. They could have put their heads down and quit, they never did that.
“They worked dang hard and left the locker room tonight ready to get back at it tomorrow,” he added. “Says a lot about their character and desire to grow as a team.”
JV:
For a moment, an upset seemed on the horizon. Then the rim turned unforgiving.
Unable to buy a bucket for an agonizingly long time, with shot after shot slithering back out of the bucket, the Wolf second unit saw an 8-3 lead turn into a 43-22 loss.
In the first couple of minutes, however, things were peachy, as freshman Logan Martin hit a gorgeous turnaround jumper to start the season, before Daniel Olson and Grady Rickner splashed three-balls from the back reaches of the parking lot.
Then nothing would drop, near or far.
A couple of treys mixed with some fast-break points off of steals helped Oak Harbor run off 17 consecutive points to end the first quarter, and the damage was done.
The rim wasn’t much more forgiving in the second quarter, as a Cody Roberts free throw and a Tucker Hall put-back off of an offensive rebound was all CHS could muster in the second quarter.
The second half was much more competitive, as the teams plowed through an increasingly rough-and-tumble affair.
With plenty of elbows flying and some fiery words exchanged after fouls, the two squads went toe-to-toe, and mouth-to-mouth, with Coupeville winning the third quarter scoring battle and hanging tough in the fourth.
Olson, who was handcuffed to the bench by early foul trouble, rebounded to score seven of his team-high 10 points in the second half.
Hall tossed in four in support, while Grady Rickner (3), Martin (2), TJ Rickner (2) and Roberts (1) also scored.
Sage Downes, Miles Davidson, Alex Jimenez and Chris Ruck rounded out the opening night roster, with Jimenez acquitting himself nicely when running the point under constant pressure.
C-Team:
The night’s biggest mismatch, as a very inexperienced Wolf team faced a Wildcat unit which has played together as a group for some time.
Wanting to build a winning attitude from the ground floor, Oak Harbor coaches elected to keep all their freshmen together on one team, regardless of talent level, and it’s a group to keep an eye on.
On opening night, the ‘Cats rolled to a 63-16 win, dropping seven treys and running away with the game early.
Shawn Day and Gage McLeod paced Oak Harbor with 16 points apiece, with the sweet-shooting Day singing the net for four three-balls.
Coupeville got scoring from five of the seven players on the roster, with Jaylen Nitta, Ben Smith and Brayden Coatney leading the way with four points apiece.
Jonathan Partida and Chris Cernick each added a bucket, while Andrew Aparicio and DJ Stadler also saw floor time for the Wolves.
While it was a rough opener, veteran coach Scott Fox is in it for the long haul, as are his players.
“Oak Harbor has played together for five years and it showed. They looked real good today,” he said. “We have kids who have never played basketball before and played well at times. It’s going to get better from here.”
