Older brother Hunter (right) was in the gym Friday to witness Logan Downes crack the 600-point club. (Angie Downes photo)
Never celebrate too early.
In other words, if it’s a 32-minute game, you might not want to act like you’ve just won a state title six minutes into play.
That’s a lesson the Friday Harbor High School varsity boys’ basketball team, and its fans, learned painfully Friday night.
The Wolverines all but stormed the floor after a bucket gave them the lead at 10-8, only to then get slapped into oblivion by host Coupeville, which promptly snatched back control en route to a 59-34 win.
Putting eight guys into the scoring column, the hometown Wolves won for the ninth time in their last 11 games and get to 11-6 on the season.
Not only was it nice to win in front of an overflow home crowd after playing four straight road rumbles, knocking off Friday Harbor has major playoff implications for Coupeville.
The seven-team Northwest 2B/1B League has three 2B schools, and two earn berths to the bi-district tourney based on how they do against each other in the regular season.
Coupeville is now 2-0 in the round-robin, La Conner is 1-1, and Friday Harbor 0-2.
The Braves and Wolverines play again Feb. 3, with Coupeville hosting La Conner Feb. 7, then travelling to Friday Harbor for the regular-season finale Feb. 10.
In between that, CHS has a road game Feb. 2 against non-league foe Auburn Adventist Academy.
Wolf hoops coaches (left to right) Hunter Smith, Greg White, Randy Bottorff, and Brad Sherman watch the action on Coupeville vs. Cancer night. (Deb Sherman photo)
Friday’s game plan was all about the Wolves putting themselves into position to earn the #1 seed out of District 1, and Brad Sherman’s squad delivered.
Coupeville jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead, with Logan Downes snapping the net on a jumper, Alex Murdy sinking a long three-ball, and William Davidson powering through the paint for a bucket.
The third of those baskets earned the loudest shrieks from the audience as “The Show Pony,” a killer on the boards who also is a deft passer and drawer of offensive fouls on rivals, put up a rare shot.
Hauling in a pass from Downes and going strong to the rim, Davidson delighted his large, fairly rabid fan base, who were still hyperventilating several minutes later.
That was when Friday Harbor made its move, stirring things up with a 10-1 run to claim the lead and start the chest-thumping.
Said celebration didn’t last long, however, as another Murdy three-ball and a pair of Dominic Coffman free throws capped the quarter, sending CHS to the bench up 13-10.
Friday Harbor did knot things up at 13-13, but never got back in front, as the Wolves had an answer for every one of their rival’s moves.
Downes tickled the twines on a three-ball, cracking the 600-point club, before fellow junior Nick Guay grabbed the microphone and did a saucy solo.
Reeling off nine straight points on his own, with buckets set up by a Cole White feed, a Chase Anderson steal, and a Davidson rebound, the lanky leaper was feelin’ it.
Murdy spun his defender around with a nasty move before swooping to kiss the ball off the glass, and Coupeville’s lead was out to double digits.
While Friday Harbor trimmed the deficit back to 28-20 by halftime, the third quarter was a heartbreaker for the visitors.
Downes and White combined for 16 points as Coupeville ripped off a game-busting 21-8 run coming out of the break, and any chance of a comeback crumbled.
The best bucket was a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am special.
Zane Oldenstadt corralled a loose ball, flipped it to White, then watched as the Wolf point guard flung a crosscourt pass to Downes, who spun, hopped around a defender and banked the ball home.
Or maybe the best bucket was Downes bringing the ball downcourt, draining the final seconds of the quarter, then flicking a running one-hander off the glass to beat the buzzer and drive the final stake through the heart.
From there it was time to coast home and hand Sherman his 50th win as a high school hoops coach, the Wolves punctuating things with a sensational steal and breakaway bucket from the always-aggressive Murdy.
Coupeville’s scoring sheet was properly balanced, with Downes (18), Murdy (15), Guay (9), White (8), Jonathan Valenzuela (4), Coffman (2), Davidson (2) and Chase Anderson (1) all contributing to the cause.
Ryan Blouin and Jermiah Copeland joined Oldenstadt in doing the important little things necessary to set up their teammates scoring.
While the win, and its help to the playoff cause, was the main focus, several Wolves hit personal milestones in the game.
White notched his 150th career varsity point, while Murdy (386) moves closer to the 400-point club and is now the #65 scorer all-time for a program launched in 1917.
And Downes? His torrid run continues.
When he walked off the floor Friday, he did so sitting with 390 points this season.
That’s the most by any Wolf since Makana Stone netted 427 in 2015-2016, and the most by a CHS boy since Mike Bagby knocked down 414 back in 2004-2005.
If Downes were to head to Siberia tonight, his season would be the 16th best in school history.
Only 11 Wolf boys, and two girls, have scored more in a season, with Brianne King (446, 442) and Randy Keefe (398, 397) having done it twice.
One of the guys still ahead of Downes, for the moment, is his head coach, with Brad Sherman shredding the nets for 396 points in 2002-2003.
Career-wise, Downes passes another one of his coaches, Greg White, jumping from #36 to #31 all-time.
Going from 596 to 614 points Friday, he vaults past Brian Miller (597), Joe Whitney (601), Denny Zylstra (602), Greg White (604), and John O’Grady (611).
