Wolves Cole White (front) and Logan Downes ponder their place in the universe. (Chloe Marzocca photo)
One step at a time.
A new-look Coupeville High School varsity boys’ basketball team has opened the season with four of its first six games coming against schools from higher classifications.
It’s been a learning experience for the Wolves, one which is hopefully preparing them for defending their Northwest 2B/1B League title.
Thursday night, playing at home for the second time in a 24-hour period, Coupeville hit a bit of a rough patch, falling 50-29 to 2A Sedro-Woolley.
It was a game where the Wolves held their own in the second quarter and dominated in the fourth yet took it on the chin in the other two frames.
The non-conference loss drops CHS to 2-4 heading into a road trip Saturday to Forks.
That clash with the Spartans marks the first time this season the Wolves will face off with a fellow 2B school.
The goal for Coupeville will be to take what it learned while getting run over by Sedro and turn it into positives.
And there were some strong moments for the Wolves, just not in the early going.
Alex Murdy dropped a pair of runners to provide Coupeville’s only offense in the first quarter, while Sedro ran circles around its hosts while building a 16-4 lead.
A three-ball to open the second frame pushed the Cubs out in front by 15 points, and that’s where the margin remained for the rest of the first half.
Coupeville clamped down more on defense, and got some tentative bursts of offense, but couldn’t quite get everything to gel at the same time.
That set up a fairly miserable third quarter, with the Wolves absorbing a 16-2 Cub run fueled by a trio of three-balls.
Mixing up his lineup in the final frame, CHS coach Brad Sherman found a unit which clicked, and the Wolves refused to go quietly.
Coupeville closed the night on a 13-3 tear, with Ryan Blouin and Jonathan Valenzuela dropping buckets while they and their teammates increased the defensive intensity.
The Wolves got under the skin of Sedro-Woolley’s coach a bit, and his whining to the refs earned him a rebuke from the guys in the striped shirts.
So, there was that, which was nice.
Overall, Coupeville’s 29 points was its lowest total of the season, by far, as the Wolves rattled the rims for between 54 and 81 in all of its previous games.
Murdy banked in eight to pace the Wolves, with Logan Downes (6), Blouin (5), Valenzuela (4), Nick Guay (2), Dominic Coffman (2), and Chase Anderson (2) also scoring.
Mikey Robinett, Cole White, Jermiah Copeland, Quinten Pilgrim-Simpson, Zane Oldenstadt, and William Davidson rounded out the roster.
Chase Anderson heads to the rim. (Chloe Marzocca photo)
