Coupeville senior Jonathan Valenzuela overcame an eye injury Wednesday, hitting a buzzer beater to upend La Conner on its home floor. (Morgan White photo)
Did he call glass?
For that matter, how clearly could he even see the glass?
Playing with his right eye partially closed off after an early game injury which twice sent him to the sidelines, Coupeville High School gunner Jonathan Valenzuela hit one of the biggest buckets in program history Wednesday night.
Hauling in a cross-court pass from freshman Chase Anderson, the Wolf senior banked in a buzzer-beating three-ball from WAY behind the arc, lifting the Wolves to a stunning 57-56 win over host La Conner.
The shot capped a wild game which featured two Coupeville starters fouling out, the Braves clanging 16 free throws, and massive mood swings.
The fourth-straight win for the Wolves, and seventh in their last eight games, it lifts CHS to 2-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 9-5 overall.
It also keeps Coupeville’s record perfect against fellow 2B schools at 4-0, and flawless in games played off of Whidbey Island, with Brad Sherman’s squad 6-0 when away from the misty isle.
The victory could also have huge repercussions on playoff seeding, with two of three 2B schools in the NWL making the playoffs, and the top seed from that trio hosting its opening bi-district game.
Wednesday’s win leaves Coupeville at 1-0 in the three-team tango, with a home rematch against La Conner Feb. 7 and two bouts with Friday Harbor still ahead.
The Wolverines, struggling at 1-10 on the season, visit Whidbey Jan. 27, then host Coupeville Feb. 10 in the regular-season finale.
La Conner beat Friday Harbor in their first meeting, so the Braves are 1-1 in the seeding chase, with the Wolverines at 0-1.
Those teams play a second time Feb. 3.
For now, thanks to Anderson and Valenzuela’s magic, and a lot of small hustle plays which loomed large in a titanic rumble, Coupeville controls its own destiny.
To get to that point, the Wolves had to overcome the loss of sparkplug Dominic Coffman and leading scorer Logan Downes, who both picked up a fifth foul in a game where CHS was whistled for 23 fouls to just 15 for the home team.
Having overcome a 10-point deficit thanks to a torrid run late in the third quarter, Coupeville was clinging to a 47-44 lead when Downes was sent to the bench with six minutes to play.
With the Wolf junior averaging 25 points a game, the Wolves had to find their offense someplace else in the stretch run, and they did.
Cole White snapped the net on a short jumper, before Alex Murdy buried a three-ball from the top of the arc, and CHS looked golden, up 52-44.
The good times didn’t last, however, as La Conner closed the game on a 12-2 surge across almost all of the final five minutes.
Murdy knocked down Coupeville’s lone bucket in that stretch, converting a highlight-reel run through a pack of Braves, and the final two of his team-high 17 points proved to be huge.
But La Conner was trying to write its own miracle finish, and almost pulled it off, capping an 8-0 run when Braden Thomas sank a short jumper to stake the Braves to a 56-54 lead.
That left four ticks on the clock, the home fans were losing their minds, and everything, and I mean everything, had to go right for Coupeville to pen a Hoosiers-style finale.
So, that’s exactly what happened.
Wolf big man William Davidson alertly called a timeout on the inbounds play, moving the ball from the backcourt to halfcourt.
That put the ball in the hands of Anderson, a stone-cold killer who rarely betrays his youth in the heat of the moment.
The fab frosh had ended the third quarter with a fairly sensational buzzer beater of his own, banking in a runner from the left side to cap a 10-0 Wolf spurt.
That earned high praise from his fellow players and Coupeville fans, who chanted “He’s a freshman!” over and over during the ensuing break in action.
Chase Anderson, seen here in an earlier game, came up huge against the Braves. (Chloe Marzocca photo)
A quarter later, Anderson found himself handed the ball on the sideline, and, as his teammates broke, “The Magic Man” made the absolute perfect entry pass.
Murdy went flying by, sucking defenders with him, which allowed Valenzuela to pop open on the other side of the court.
Anderson, showing off the powerful throwing arm which marks him as Coupeville’s likely starting quarterback once Downes departs the gridiron, launched the ball and dropped it on a dime.
Valenzuela, his right eye bandaged, puffy, and still marked by blood after being roughed up by the Braves during an early-game scrum, never hesitated.
Ball on his fingers, ball flies far away, ball banks home, Wolf faithful lose their collective minds and storm the floor.
Jimmy Chitwood would be proud.
Valenzuela’s bomb capped a rough-and-tumble affair which La Conner controlled for much of the first half.
The Braves, behind a rampaging Isaiah Price, who scored 22 of his game-high 29 in the opening 16 minutes, led 17-13 at the first break, then pushed the lead to double digits twice in the second quarter.
The final time came at 36-26, but Coupeville didn’t break.
Instead, just as they did in their previous game against Neah Bay — another one-point win, just without the buzzer beater — the Wolves clawed back, cutting the lead right before halftime.
Valenzuela and Coffman each hit a free throw, off of the same foul, as Valenzuela, blood dripping down his face, was sent to the sideline after converting the first of what was supposed to be two charity shots.
Anderson closed the half by burying a three-ball, with Murdy snagging an offensive rebound and kicking it out to the young gunner.
The third quarter raised the intensity, with Murdy rejecting a La Conner shot, and Coffman and Cole White drawing offensive charges on the Braves.
Still trailing 42-35 midway through the third, Coupeville reclaimed the lead by scoring the final 10 points of the period, with Valenzuela, White, Nick Guay, and Anderson rattling the rim on successful shots.
That set up the fourth quarter fireworks, with the final result leaving CHS coach Brad Sherman mentally exhausted, but happy.
Winning back-to-back games by a point will do that for a guy.
“Wow! These guys never quit,” Sherman said. “A lot of guys stepped up tonight.
“La Conner is a tough team,” he added. “Really big to leave with a win – specially to do it that way!”
With Downes saddled with rare foul trouble, Coupeville spread its offense among multiple players.
Murdy led the way with 17, reaching an even 350 for his high school career, while Downes banked in 16 of his own in limited minutes.
That was still enough to lift him to 564 career points, and he moves from #44 to #39 on the all-time CHS boys’ career scoring chart for a program launched 106 years ago.
With his work against La Conner, Downes passes old-school Wolf hoops stars Marc Bissett (549), Jim Syreen (550), Roy Marti (551), and Randy Duggan (552).
Anderson (9), Valenzuela (8), White (4), Guay (2), and Coffman (1) also scored Wednesday, with Zane Oldenstadt, Ryan Blouin, and Davidson seeing floor time.
Riding high after back-to-back thriller wins, Coupeville faces one of its biggest tests Friday, when it travels to Mount Vernon Christian to face a 12-5 squad.
The Wolves beat the Hurricanes 44-39 the first time around, but that game was a “non-league” game against a league foe.
Friday’s matchup, however, counts in the NWL standings.
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