The present and the future, as Wolf gunner Logan Downes inspires a young Coupeville hoops star. (Angie Downes photo)
For a brief, shining moment, the unthinkable became possible.
But then it was gone.
Trailing by 18 points entering the fourth quarter Saturday, the Coupeville High School boys’ basketball squad almost pulled off a comeback for the ages.
Ripping off 13 straight points thanks to a ferocious defense, the Wolves made visiting Auburn Adventist Academy flinch, and flinch hard, but the Falcons regrouped and closed out a 64-53 win.
The bi-district playoff victory sends the private school ballers to the 2B state tourney, while Coupeville falls a win shy of making a return trip to the big dance.
The Wolves, who snapped a 34-year state tourney dry spell last season, finish 14-9 and can return eight of the 12 players on this year’s final varsity roster.
Not making state stings, especially since CHS had two cracks at punching their ticket, but also lost to La Conner on a disputed game-ending call two nights ago.
But not returning to Spokane isn’t unusual, as half of last year’s 16-team field, including defending state champ Liberty (Spangle) didn’t earn an invite this season.
Kalama (3rd last season), Colfax (4th), Toutle Lake, Ilwaco, River View, and Mabton also missed out, with Kalama crashing to 2-18 after losing a large group of seniors.
Coupeville also took a hit in graduation, losing six players from the squad which went 16-2 last season, but the Wolves never bottomed out.
After opening with a series of games against 2A and 1A foes, Brad Sherman’s squad won the two-day Cascade Hoops Classic in Leavenworth, bouncing always-tough Kittitas and Manson.
The Wolves hit a smooth groove in the middle of the season, winning 11 of 13 games at one point, including one in which Jonathan Valenzuela banked in a game-winning buzzer-beater three-ball to knife La Conner on its home court.
Saturday’s winner-to-state, loser-out game pitted the two #1 seeds in the District 1/2 tourney, after La Conner shocked the hoops world by upending both Auburn and Coupeville to get back to state for the first time since 2019.
The Wolves and Falcons played a non-conference game Feb. 2 in Auburn, with Coupeville winning 58-52 as Logan Downes scored 32 of his game-high 40 points in the second half.
Like in that first contest, CHS fell behind by 13 points in the first half, though this time the deficit was achieved in a much-quicker, more-shocking manner.
As in the Wolves fell behind 13-0 while having considerable trouble cracking Auburn’s slap-happy full-court press.
Coupeville didn’t put a point on the board until freshman Chase Anderson drained a pair of free throws at the 3:26 mark of the first quarter, enduring being hit in the head as he crashed to the hoop.
Chase Anderson, only a freshman, provided a huge burst of energy and defensive scrappiness for Coupeville this season. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
The Wolves first field goal finally found the bottom of the net with less than two minutes to go in the opening frame, with Nick Guay popping a shot off a feed from Anderson.
The fab frosh came right back around with a bucket off of an offensive rebound, followed by baskets from Downes and Valenzuela, and the comeback was seemingly launched.
If someone walked into the gym right as the second quarter started, with Auburn clinging to an 18-12 lead, they would have had little idea of the carnage which came before.
That second frame was a slugfest, often quite literally, as both teams picked up a string of fouls, and things got chippy.
Coupeville got within four, Auburn surged back to a 10-point lead, then the Wolves hit four straight free throws — with two courtesy a technical foul called on the visiting coach — to cut things down to 29-23.
Unfortunately for home fans, the Falcons plunged a dagger in, as an Auburn guard slipped through a crowd of players and splashed home a three-ball which hit the floor right as the halftime buzzer shrieked to life.
That bitter taste on the back of the tongue carried over into the third quarter for the Wolves, as they struggled to put points on the board.
The best moment of the night came on a wild play in which Downes shot cross-court to outrun a rival for a ball after it was poked loose.
Somehow snagging the madly bouncing orb a step away from going out of bounds, the Wolf junior zipped a pass to Cole White in the far right corner while balanced, barely, on one foot.
Flicking the ball skyward, Coupeville’s wiry junior point guard splashed home his shot, the trey giving him exactly 200 career points with a season left to play.
Other than that, though, and William Davidson and White drawing offensive charging fouls on Falcon ballhandlers, the third quarter was a largely barren wasteland for the Wolves.
Outscored 16-7 in the frame, with Auburn knocking down a trio of three-balls, Coupeville headed to the fourth trailing 48-30 and in dire straits.
Cue up the gut-check defensive stand, as Sherman’s pack came out howling for blood.
Forcing numerous turnovers in the backcourt and converting most of them into wham-bam buckets, the Wolves ripped off 13 unanswered points to open the quarter.
Downes and senior Alex Murdy, who has spilled considerable blood, sweat, and tears as Coupeville’s primary defensive stopper, both rattled home six points during the surge.
The packed CHS gym was rockin’, with the road fans making a fair amount of noise in response to the hyped-up Wolf faithful, and LL Cool J seemed about ready to pop up at midcourt, mic in hand.
“Don’t call it a comeback, just call it a win.”
Except, this time around, Auburn didn’t wilt under the pressure.
Unlike in the first meeting, when the Falcons cracked down the stretch, this time they remained tough and resilient.
Auburn’s seventh, and final, three-ball of the night pushed the lead back to eight, and Coupeville was unable to put together back-to-back buckets at any point in the game’s final four minutes.
For a game in which seemingly every player finished with three or four fouls, there actually wasn’t an extraordinary number of free throws shot, though the Falcons did hit the ones they needed at the end.
Coupeville sank more charity shots — 15 of 25 to Auburn’s 13 of 18 — but left a chunk of points on the edge of the rim.
The playoff loss marked the final appearance for Wolf seniors Dominic Coffman, Jermiah Copeland, Valenzuela, and Murdy.
Alex Murdy (left) and Dominic Coffman played key roles in the rebirth of Wolf boys’ basketball. (Chloe Marzocca photo)
Downes paced the Wolves with a game-high 24 points, with Murdy netting all nine of his points in the fourth quarter.
Anderson (8), Guay (4), White (3), Coffman (2), Valenzuela (2), and Davidson (1) also scored, with Ryan Blouin working hard as a press-breaker.
Murdy, a terror on offense and defense during his Wolf career, finishes with 448 points.
Alex and older sibling Xavier, who scored 482 before graduating last spring, are one of just eight pairs of brothers to both top 400 points during the 106-year run of CHS boys’ basketball.
His running mate, Downes, caps one of the most remarkable seasons put together by a Coupeville hoops star.
The youngest of Angie and Ralph’s three sons scorched the nets for 554 points in 23 games — a hair over 24 points a night — while compiling the second-best single-season total by a Wolf player, boy or girl.
Logan’s junior season trails only Jeff Stone, who scored 644 as a senior in 1969-1970.
The previous #2 scorer was Jeff Rhubottom, who knocked down 459 points in 1977-1978.
Career-wise, Downes sits with 778 points, putting him #15 all-time on the CHS boys’ chart.
He passed Hunter Hammer (755), Barry Brown (769), and Jack Elzinga (770) Saturday, and will enter his senior season needing 360 points to catch Stone and Mike Bagby, who are tied at #1 with 1,137 points apiece.
While that duo tops the boys’ chart, Brianne King, who rained down 1,549 points between 1999-2003, is the undisputed school scoring champ.
Final season scoring stats:
Logan Downes – 554
Alex Murdy – 242
Cole White – 161
Nick Guay – 130
Jonathan Valenzuela – 85
Dominic Coffman – 60
Chase Anderson – 55
Ryan Blouin – 48
Zane Oldenstadt – 12
Jermiah Copeland – 10
William Davidson – 7
Mikey Robinett – 4
Hunter Bronec – 2
Quinten Simpson-Pilgrim – 2
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