Cole White kickstarts the offense. (Bailey Thule photo)
Pull on your padded underwear and get ready to rock.
Saturday’s varsity boys’ basketball bout between host Neah Bay and visiting Coupeville was not for the faint of heart.
The teams combined for 151 points, and probably just as many bruises, in the kind of down-and-dirty brawl which had fans on both sides of the bleachers hyperventilating.
And the best news, at least for faithful readers of this blog?
Coupeville roared back from a 13-point deficit, overcoming both the scrappy Red Devils and a hail of foul calls to pull out an electrifying 76-75 win in CHS coach Brad Sherman’s 100th game on the bench.
Then the Wolves and their fans booked it out of town, fleeing seconds after Neah Bay’s potential buzzer-beater clanged off the rim — intent on making it to the final ferry of the night.
While bouncing across the rutted backroads of small-town America, Coupeville’s hoops stars could bask in the glow of a job well done.
Playing their second game in less than 24 hours, the Wolves proved to be resilient second-half warriors and are now 8-5 after winning for the sixth time in their last seven games.
Friday’s home league win against an overmatched Darrington squad was just the appetizer, with Saturday’s non-conference tussle a true test.
The Wolves, who have played a tough early-season schedule as they prep for making a run at earning a repeat trip to the state tourney, went toe-to-toe with Neah Bay in the early going.
Logan Downes had a hot hand, pumping in 12 in the first quarter, with a final free throw being his 300th point of the season.
That charity shot, coming after teammate Jonathan Valenzuela yanked down an offensive rebound, then spun and nailed a dagger of a jumper, pulled Coupeville within 17-16.
Jonathan Valenzuela floats in for a bucket. (Chloe Marzocca photo)
If there was a downside, it came courtesy of the refs, who seemed to delight in whistling Coupeville on a frequent basis, including handing out a questionable technical foul on the Wolves.
What’s funny is you look at the scorebook, and the final foul tally for the entire day was 20 for CHS, and 17 for Neah Bay.
Yet it felt, at least in the first half, much more unbalanced than that, proving perception doesn’t always equal reality.
And to be fair, it wasn’t just the fouls, as Neah Bay was locked-in and stroking the ball, popping shots to push its lead out to 36-23 late in the half.
Coupeville rallied right at the end, with Dominic Coffman turning a steal into a breakaway bucket and Alex Murdy nailing one of his four three-balls, but the Red Devils still led 36-28 at the break.
Whatever wisdom was imparted in the locker room was crucial, however, as the Wolves seemed like a different team in the second half.
A 14-2 run, kicked off by a Cole White jumper and capped by eight straight points from Downes — including both a three-ball and a three-point play earned the hard way — gave CHS its first lead in forever.
Then, after a brief rally by Neah Bay to go back in front at 49-46, Coupeville claimed the advantage for good.
Murdy lowered his shoulder and rumbled up the middle for a bucket, followed by back-to-back treys from Downes, and Coupeville never trailed again.
Not that Neah Bay faded away, as the Red Devils cut their deficit to 54-53 heading into the fourth quarter and responded to every Wolf run with one of their own.
Downes and Murdy both dropped a pair of three-balls in the final frame, but Coupeville couldn’t pull away as the clock ran down.
First the Wolves were up seven, then later nine, and both times the Red Devils charged back into the fray.
Neah Bay only had four three-balls to Coupeville’s nine, but the two biggest came in the final seconds, as Red Devils sophomore Makyah Chambers buried a pair of pressure-packed treys with Wolf defenders hanging all over him.
Coupeville’s secret weapon down the stretch turned out to be Nick Guay, who scored all six of his points in the white-hot glare of prime time.
Three times the lanky junior sliced through the defense and banked in layups to preserve his team’s lead in the final minute, with Murdy and Downes setting him up with note-perfect passes.
In the end, the game came down not to a big shot, but to the Wolves executing the small play, and doing it on repeat.
Three times in the final 10 seconds Coupeville had to get the ball inbounds in the backcourt, knowing Neah Bay would quickly foul.
The Red Devils couldn’t send the Wolves to the free throw line until foul #3, but they could hack and chop and hope for a turnover while trying.
Instead, three times White stepped out of bounds, and three times Downes faked, spun, pivoted and made just enough room between himself and his defender to pull in the pass, cling to the ball with an iron grip and absorb getting smacked.
Try as they might, the Red Devils never came close to a steal, and finally sent Coupeville to the line for a one-and-one attempt.
Deciding the day needed just a bit more drama, the basket spit out Downes initial free throw try, giving Neah Bay a chance to make a miracle as it grabbed the rebound.
To the joy of the Wolves, and the staggering disappointment of the Red Devil fans, though, a long three-ball clanged off the rim, and a put-back wouldn’t go down.
That set off a half-celebration, half-stampede for the door from anyone with a Whidbey address.
Later, after the hubbub settled down, the 100-game coach marinated in a memorable win.
“Really just very proud of the way our guys came together and got it done against a tough, scrappy team tonight on the road,” Sherman said.
“Showed a ton of grit – especially the energy the boys came out of halftime with!”
Dominic Coffman (on floor) and William Davidson bring the defensive heat. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Coupeville got big contributions from all 10 players to see the floor, with Zane Oldenstadt, William Davidson, and Ryan Blouin fueling the defensive effort.
Downes torched the nets for a game-high 36 points — the second-best effort of his high school career — marking the fourth time he’s topped 30 in the last seven games.
That pushes him to 324 points on the season (24.9 a night), and 548 for his career.
Downes passed former Wolf greats Cody Peters (518), JJ Marti (520), Gary Faris (524), Brad Miller (526), Jerry Zylstra (527), and Gary Hammons (533) Saturday, and sits #43 on the Wolf boys all-time scoring chart for a program launched in 1917.
Murdy came up huge on both ends of the floor, adding 18 points of his own to the cause, lifting his own career total to 333, while Guay (6), White (6), Valenzuela (4), Coffman (4), and Chase Anderson (2) also scored.
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