Chase Anderson, seen in action last season, rattled the rims for 17 points Thursday. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Full roster, full intensity.
After missing two key players on opening night, the Coupeville High School varsity boys’ basketball team was back at full strength Thursday but came up just short in a physical early-afternoon rumble with visiting Forks.
The Wolves clawed back from a 16-point deficit, overcame an ejection of a starter — on a questionable call — and showed considerable grit, but the Spartans held on late to pull away for a 59-49 win.
The non-conference loss drops Coupeville to 0-2 on the young season, but Brad Sherman’s squad will get a chance to bounce back fast with a home game Saturday against Eastside Prep.
CHS netted its first basket of the game, knotting things at 2-2, thanks to a wham-bam series of plays, with Mahkai Myles rejecting a Forks shot, Aiden O’Neill chasing down the ball and firing off a laser of a pass, and Chase Anderson hauling in the outlet heave and slapping home the layup.
Unfortunately for the Wolves it would take almost 12 minutes of floor time to net their second field goal.
Free throws from Davin Houston and Malachi Somes kept Coupeville within 14-6 as the first quarter ended, but then Forks pushed the lead all the way out to 22-6 midway through the second frame.
The Wolves had some good looks at the basket but couldn’t get anything to go down until O’Neill took over.
He followed up a made free throw by connecting on back-to-back three balls, one from each side of the floor, to kick off a 17-3 explosion to close the half, getting CHS back within 25-23 at the break.
O’Neill also had a coast-to-coast run for a bucket, while Sage Arends was feeling it as well, sinking a three-ball of his own, then closing the half with a steal and layup.
But while Coupeville was back in the game after the rally, it was never able to capture the lead.
Three times in the third quarter the Wolves again cut the margin back to two, with Camden Glover channeling Dikembe Mutombo with back-to-back blocked shots on defense, while Somes converted a bucket off of an offensive rebound.
Forks didn’t flinch however, stretching the lead back out to eight by the end of the third and as many as 14 in the final frame.
An 8-0 Coupeville surge, with three different Wolves scoring, cut the deficit to 50-44, but Forks was able to close out the win while camped at the free throw line.
The Spartans didn’t shoot all that well at the charity stripe, making just 12 of 27 freebies while CHS was 16-20, but it was enough to disrupt any flow for the Wolves.
Not helping was an overly touchy third ref who had a bad angle on a play during a battle for a loose ball, but still stroked out on the spot, spittle flying as he angrily ejected a Wolf defender for reasons known only to himself (and his missing seeing-eye dog).
Anderson, who missed the opener as he rehabs various injuries, returned Thursday to lead the Wolves with 17 points, continuing to work his way into history.
Now sitting with 616 career points and counting, the CHS senior moves from #36 to #32 on the program’s all-time scoring list, passing Joe Whitney (601), Denny Zylstra (602), Greg White (604), and John O’Grady (611) on a chart which dates back to 1917.
O’Neill pumped in 14 points to back up Anderson, with Somes (6), Arends (5), Houston (4), and Glover (3) also scoring, while Liam Blas, Myles, Easton Green, and Riley Lawless saw floor time.
Coupeville Sports 