Logan Downes rained down 40 points Friday night. (Andrew Williams photo)
Everything but the victory.
Playing for the first time since it won the Cascade Holiday Classic in Leavenworth Dec. 28, the Coupeville High School varsity boys’ basketball squad put up a spirited fight Friday night.
But Orcas Island wouldn’t miss a dang shot.
Or so it seemed, as the visiting Vikings dropped daggers when it mattered most, holding off the Wolves, who rallied from 10 points down before falling 67-64 in their conference opener.
The loss drops Coupeville to 5-5 overall, 0-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, while Orcas sits atop the NWL with a shiny 2-0 mark.
The game was a beautiful brawl, featuring 19 three-balls, numerous hustle plays from Coupeville’s wrecking crew, and, oh yes, a 40-point performance from Wolf gunner Logan Downes.
Knocking down a Damian Lillard-worthy trey right before the final buzzer to get to the milestone, the CHS junior scored the most points I’ve seen a high school player score in one game in a writing “career” which began back in 1990.
It was just eight points off Coupeville’s single-game record of 48, set by Jeff Stone way back in 1970, and gives Downes 244 points through the first 10 games of the season.
He’s scored 21 or more eight times this year, with 33 against Forks and 30 against Kittitas before Friday’s 40-piece.
That leaves Downes not that far off Stone’s 10-game pace (276) when he scored a Whidbey Island single-season record 644 points during the 1969-1970 season.
But while Downes will get a lot of the buzz, his teammates came up huge in their own ways.
It started with big man William Davidson, who crashed to the floor twice in the first quarter to corral loose balls, keeping plays alive when turnovers seemed imminent.
Toss in Dominic Coffman and Nick Guay drawing crucial charging fouls, Zane Oldenstadt anchoring Coupeville’s efforts on the glass, and Alex Murdy shredding the psyche of the Viking ballhandlers, and Brad Sherman’s squad attacked with fury.
With a special shout-out to the Dominator, for the play in which he ripped a ball loose, found himself airborne and dangerously close to the endline, so promptly drilled the ball off a rival’s crotch.
It was vintage Coffman, a brutally efficient way to create a turnover on Orcas, and a play which warmed the hearts of ’80s NBA fans everywhere.
Dominic Coffman crashes through the paint. (Bailey Thule photo)
In between the crotch shots and floor burns, the teams combined to put on a precision-shooting exhibition.
Eight of the 19 three-balls dropped in the first quarter, with both squads claiming four treys apiece.
Murdy sank the last two, while Cole White and Downes both made the net pop as well, but Orcas clung to an 18-14 lead at the first break.
The Vikings, playing fast, loose, and aggressive, stretched their lead out to 10 points midway through the second quarter, though late three-balls from Ryan Blouin and Downes kept Coupeville in the game.
Trailing 34-26 at the half, the Wolves chipped away at the lead by largely going away from the long-range shot in the third quarter.
Murdy did pop one trey, but Downes had the hot hand, throwing down 11 points on a variety of slashing runs at the hoop as CHS came all the way back.
The Wolves knotted things up at 40-40 with seconds to play in the third, only to see Orcas get a steal and breakaway bucket to reclaim the lead right before the buzzer.
That was merely the setup for a wild and woolly final frame, with the teams combining for 49 points across the final eight minutes.
Coupeville tied the game at 44-44 on back-to-back buckets from White — off a feed from Davidson — and Downes, but the Vikings were relentless.
Nailing the final three of its nine three-balls, Orcas roared back in front at 56-47 with a minute to play, taking a lot of the air out of the Wolf fans.
Though, if you gave up then, you were being fairly short-sighted, as Coupeville had one big, frantic, final rally to stage.
It started with a three-ball from Downes, came to life with a trey off the fingertips of Murdy, and continued through an endless series of free throws.
Time and again the Wolves crashed hard to the hoop, drew fouls to stop the clock, and scraped away at the deficit with charity shots.
But the clock truly stops for no man, and Orcas had an annoying habit of refusing to fully break.
The Vikings hit their own free throws, for the most part, and a late breakaway layup sealed the win right before Downes sent the fans home with Coupeville’s 10th, and final, three-ball.
The Wolf marksman scored 28 of his 40 points in the second-half Friday and jumps to #55 on the all-time CHS boys career scoring chart, which dates back to 1917.
Downes passes Tony Ford (432), Del O’Shell (440), and Frank Marti (462) and sits with 468 points with home games against Mount Vernon Christian (Jan. 10) and Darrington (Jan. 13) next up.
Murdy bounced the rims for 14 points in support and made some family history.
With 310 career points, Alex passes Uncle Allen Black (305), while still pursuing big brother Xavier Murdy (482).
White and Blouin rounded out Friday’s offensive attack, netting seven and three points respectively, while Nick Guay, Coffman, Davidson, Chase Anderson, and Oldenstadt all saw floor time for the Wolves.
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