Caleb Meyer celebrates with big sis Mckenzie after scoring 26 in a wild win Thursday night. (Frank Meyer photo)
They saved the best for last.
The Coupeville Middle School boys’ basketball program played three games Thursday against visiting Forks, and games one and two were lopsided losses.
But then the 7th grade varsity took the floor, and things took a radical turn.
Storming back from a big early deficit, then not buckling in the final moments as waves of emotion surged on first one side, then the other, of the gym, the Wolves pulled out a heart-stopping 54-51 win.
The victory lifts the 7th graders to 2-1 on the season, and marks the biggest single-game scoring display put down by a Wolf this winter, high school or middle school player.
That came courtesy Caleb Meyer, who scored Coupeville’s final five points en route to a 26-point night.
With CMS clinging to a 49-48 lead, Meyer powered in between two defenders to bank home a bucket, then added three free-throws in the final seconds to blunt a miracle three-ball from Forks.
The Spartans actually had a chance to force overtime, but Coupeville’s defense hung tough, played exactly the way longtime hoops guru Randy King drew it up, and was rewarded when the game’s final shot — a heave from half-court — went wide right.
That capped a sometimes-bizarre game in which CMS fell behind by eight points after just two minutes.
As quickly as they had disintegrated, the Wolves pulled themselves back together, though, closing the first quarter on a 14-2 tear.
Meyer threw down four baskets during the surge, while Coupeville shredded the Forks defense with pinpoint passing.
Grady Rickner was channeling John Stockton in his prime, feeding Xavier Murdy on a quick cut for a bucket, then whipping a laser pass to Meyer for two more on the very next possession.
Trying to top that, the Wolves bounced the ball around like they were playing pinball the next time down the floor.
Hawthorne Wolfe picked a pass out of mid-air, spun up court, fed Murdy, then the Wolf post dropped a pass over his shoulder to a rampaging Meyer, causing jaws to drop along the Forks bench in tribute.
Up 16-12 after one, the Wolves stretched it out to 30-20 at the half.
The highlight came when Meyer pumped home three straight buckets without having to cross mid-court on defense.
Two steals turned into layups, packaged around a loose ball that took a perfect bounce off a shoe right into Meyer’s waiting hands.
Without a moment’s hesitation, the curly-haired grandson of former Videoville owners Frank and Miriam Meyer took a step and sank a running one-hander off the glass.
Forks wasn’t dead, however, and the Spartans regrouped to score more in the third quarter (23) than they had in the entire first half.
With Meyer, Murdy and Wolfe all in serious foul trouble, and a very thin bench, the Wolves headed into the fourth trailing 43-39 and looking like they might crack.
Course, they were just bluffing.
Logan Martin and Cody Roberts bought King valuable time, ably filling in for the guys with four fouls, then Coupeville’s defense won the game.
Wolfe picked off back-to-back passes, hitting the jets and turning both into breakaway layups, then CMS took the lead for good by getting back to the pinball passing attack.
Meyer found Roberts, who was cutting inside, for a bucket, before Connor Barton pulled off the prettiest play of the night on a give-and-go that he capped by banking the ball home over his shoulder while sliding through the paint.
Another Wolfe steal, this one kicked out to Murdy for a layup, broke Forks collective back, before Meyer closed things out with his furious final five (points).
His 26, which edges the 23 scored by Wolf freshman Jered Brown in a high school JV game Wednesday as the season’s biggest offensive display, was backed by Wolfe, who drained 15.
Barton knocked down six, Murdy banked in five and Roberts added a bucket to round out the scoring.
8th grade varsity:
Jake Mitten dropped in a gorgeous jumper in the final seconds of the first quarter, pulling Coupeville within 10-8 as the teams went to the first break.
Then things fell apart, hard.
Unable to deal with Forks full-court press, which was headed up by a quicksilver guard with very fast hands, or the Spartans considerable size advantage, the Wolves splinted in the second quarter.
A 24-1 surge left Coupeville crippled, and it never recovered, falling 71-30.
Forks had three high school-sized front court players, and the Spartans dominated the glass relentlessly.
On ONE possession they pulled down FIVE consecutive offensive rebounds.
While Forks shooting touch from close range wasn’t as impressive as its glass game, you get that many rebounds, one has to drop … eventually.
The Wolves rallied a bit in the second half, making things much more competitive, with Mitten and Sage Downes finishing with 12 points apiece.
Daniel Olson knocked down four free throws, Dakota Eck sank a bucket and Ben Smith and Alex Jimenez brought intensity and fight on the defensive side of the ball.
7th grade JV:
A bad first quarter (22-2) doomed the Wolves, as they fell 58-28.
Gabe Shaw paced the Wolves with eight, while Martin and Aiden Burdge each hit for seven, with Burdge netting a long three-ball.
Roberts (4) and Miles Davidson (2) also tallied points.
