Gabe Wynn scorched the nets for a season-high 20 Saturday in a loss to Vashon. (John Fisken photo)
Offense was not the issue.
Despite playing on back-to-back nights, after a long, late trip to Bellevue Friday, the undermanned Coupeville High School boys’ basketball squad put up its season-high in points Saturday night.
Unfortunately, visiting Vashon Island went a bit bonkers from behind the arc and rode 11 three-balls to a 75-62 non-conference victory.
The loss, which came despite Wolf captains Hunter Smith (25) and Gabe Wynn (20) combining for 45 points, drops the Wolves to 1-7 on the season.
Coupeville has a road game at Concrete Tuesday, then gets a nine-day Christmas break from competition.
The Wolves didn’t get in from Bellevue until 12:30 AM Saturday morning, and, with just eight players available against Vashon, had to push through tired legs and minds.
It seemed to sting them in the early going, as Vashon roared out to a 19-8 lead at the first break.
CHS senior Brian Shank was doing his best to counteract the Pirates attack, dropping seven points in the opening quarter.
It was blunted by three treys from Vashon, though, as the Pirates broke Coupeville’s zone with red-hot shooting and closed the quarter on a 12-1 spurt.
The Wolves mixed things up, extending their zone, then switching to man-to-man, but Vashon seized any little opening and was ruthless in torching the nets.
The lead grew to 40-24 at the half and 59-39 after three, before cresting at 25 early in the final period.
To their credit, the Wolves put together their most sustained run of the night after that, cutting the lead in half and preventing Vashon from ever being able to pull its starters.
Smith poured in 14 of his team-high 25 down the stretch, hitting five buckets, a trey and a free throw.
“Give credit to my guys — they worked hard and never quit — they just got tired,” said Coupeville coach Anthony Smith. “My team battled.”
Wynn did most of his damage in the middle two quarters, ringing up 15 of his season-high 20 in the second and third. He paced CHS with three long bombs.
Shank, who battled through foul trouble after his early hot start, finished with nine, while Hunter Downes slid seven through the twines and Cameron Toomey-Stout banged home a free throw to round out the scoring.
Ethan Spark, Kyle Rockwell and Ariah Bepler also saw floor time for the very-thin Wolves.
Vashon was led by Casper Forest, who netted 26, and Jacob Chavez, who hit for 18. The duo combined to nail nine three-balls.
Coupeville Sports 