Gabe McMurray powers to the hoop for a bucket during an alumni game. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Gabe McMurray was a beast.
One of the big stars at Coupeville High School during my days as Sports Editor at the Whidbey News-Times in the early ’90s, he dominated in multiple sports and left an enduring impact on a writer only a few years older than he was.
The news that he passed away this week, well before his time, hits hard, and I extend my sympathies to his family and friends.
A 1995 graduate of CHS, Gabe scorched the basketball nets for 592 points, and surely grabbed as many rebounds, while playing alongside Brad Miller in one of the most formidable one-two combos I’ve witnessed during my on-again, off-again years in the Coupeville gym.
Standing at six-feet-two inches, he capped his prep hoops career by being named a First-Team All-League pick by Cascade League coaches.
That year, Gabe poured in a team-high 355 points for Randy King’s squad, still one of the best single-season performances by a Wolf basketball player, boy or girl.
That came on the heels of a 235-point performance during his junior campaign, while his first varsity bucket hit the bottom of the net when he was a sophomore.
Gabe, who was also a standout on the football field, was an inductee in the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame, and came back around in his later years to prove he still had it, throwing down buckets in alumni games while often facing off with younger rivals.
He was one of a kind, as an athlete and a person.
Gabe’s former classmates and fellow Wolf athletes gathered on social media to remember him as word filtered out.
In the words of Natalie (Slater) Fisher on Facebook:
“Today CHS lost a friend. You touched many with your kindness, sarcasm, and contagious smile. You will be missed.”
Coupeville Sports 