Alex Murdy was dynamic on both ends of the floor Friday as Coupeville survived an overtime thriller to get to 14-0. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
Playoffs? We’re talking about playoffs.
Taking the court without two starters Friday — thanks to Covid protocols — the Coupeville High School varsity boys basketball squad survived its biggest gut-check of the season, while moving a step closer to realizing a lot of big goals.
Despite not hitting a field goal in the fourth quarter, the Wolves forced overtime on a pair of Alex Murdy free throws, then held off highly combative Friday Harbor 56-53.
The road win lifts Coupeville to 10-0 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 14-0 overall.
The only unbeaten team left in 2B has one more regular season game left to play — a road trip to La Conner Feb. 10 — then heads to the postseason.
With Friday’s victory, Coupeville clinches one of the two playoff spots available to 2B teams from the NWL.
Beat La Conner, or have the Braves lose to Friday Harbor Feb. 8, and CHS earns the #1 seed.
That would send the Wolves directly to the district title game Feb. 17 — a tilt which will be played on their home court — while also clinching the program’s first trip to state since 1988.
Friday’s royal rumble in a frenzied gym perfectly captured what has made this Coupeville team shine so brightly.
The three-point margin of victory was the smallest of the season, and only the third time an opponent has come within single digits of the Wolves.
But it will stand as maybe Coupeville’s defining moment, as the Wolves absorbed every body blow and got back off the canvas to deliver the night’s final roundhouse in stirring fashion.
Living in the Age of Coronavirus, with three Covid tests a week making it all but impossible to field a full roster most days, Wolf coach Brad Sherman has seen seven of his 10 regular varsity players miss at least one game this season.
Friday night was no different, with Caleb Meyer and Logan Downes sidelined.
But once again, the Wolves seem to live by a simple mantra — if you’re in uniform, it’s your turn in the spotlight. Find a way to win, no matter the odds.
Coupeville could have cracked, probably should have fallen apart as an eight-point lead slipped away late.
But not now, not this season.
Friday Harbor closed the third with a 3-0 mini-surge, then stuffed the Wolves 7-0 over the first seven minutes and two seconds of what we assumed was the final frame.
Trailing 45-43, unable to get a shot to drop from any angle, playing in front of a vocal, testy road crowd, Coupeville needed a spark.
So it turned where it always does — to its defense.
Five Wolves firing as one, attacking, pressing, relentlessly pressuring, making their own luck through hard work and gut-busting intensity.
And, playing on their aunt Mandi Black’s birthday, the marauding Murdy boys made the magic happen.
Xavier yanked a steal out of midair, and flipped the ball to his younger brother, who crashed to the hoop hard (the only way he knows) and got hammered.
Sent to the line with just 58 ticks left on the fourth quarter clock, Alex Murdy silenced the Friday Harbor crowd by calmly flicking a pair of free throws through the net, each shot a dagger to go with a slight curl of his upper lip.
Now, of course, things didn’t end there, however.
The final 50+ seconds of regulation produced no points, while giving everyone in the gym free unlimited angina.
Friday Harbor had a player dribble a ball off his foot, then later missed a three-ball which could have been devastating.
Meanwhile, Xavier Murdy came up with an epic rebound to end Friday Harbor’s final hope, outmuscling two rivals while Wolf fans screamed loud enough to be heard in Bangladesh.
Coupeville fired off a good shot at the buzzer, hoping to claim a walk-off win, but it wouldn’t fall. Mainly because this was the type of game which was fated to go to overtime.
Once in the extra period, the Wolves jumped out in front, never surrendering the lead after Grady Rickner put a rebound back up and in to open things.
Free throws from Xavier Murdy and Logan Martin kept Friday Harbor at bay, while Hawthorne Wolfe slashed through the defense for a twisting layup to stake CHS to a 55-51 lead.
But remember that angina we spoke of earlier?
It resurfaced, after Friday Harbor sliced the margin to 55-53, before BOTH teams missed the front end of one-and-one free throw opportunities with less than 10 seconds to play.
Enter the Wolf defense and exit the angina — at least for one coach.
Coupeville pressured Friday Harbor so badly the Wolverines threw away the ball with 3.4 seconds to play.
Which was immediately followed by the coup de grâce — the host team being whistled for a technical foul after one of its players viciously slammed the ball into the wall in frustration.
Wolfe slipped one last dagger through the net to set the final margin, before he and his teammates played keep-away on the inbounds play, sending one section of fans home happy.
Spoiler: it wasn’t the Friday Harbor fans.
CHS boys varsity coach Brad Sherman (left) discusses strategy with fellow hoops gurus Alex Evans and Scott Fox.
The anxiety-soaked finale capped a game which didn’t go the way most Coupeville contests have this season.
The Wolves trailed for much of the first half, falling behind by as much as 10 points in the opening quarter.
Back-to-back buckets to end the first frame made things a bit closer at 15-9, but Friday Harbor immediately stretched the deficit back out, with the Wolves not claiming the lead until right before the half.
Logan Martin came up huge in the second quarter, shifting from being a rebound-first player to knocking down buckets on his way to seven points in the period.
He tickled the twines on a midrange jumper, with the shot set up by a Cole White feed, giving CHS its first lead at 25-23, then immediately scored again right before the buzzer.
After playing from behind, the Wolves led throughout the third quarter, twice running their advantage out to eight points.
The first time came after Rickner and Wolfe converted back-to-back steals into breakaway buckets, with Rickner getting above the rim for Coupeville’s first legitimate in-game dunk in several seasons.
But each time the Wolves seemed to be set to bust things open, Friday Harbor, which has been a thorn in Coupeville’s side, stayed tough.
Of course, as the final result showed, there’s tough and then there’s Coupeville tough.
Mixing in jumpers and slashes to the hoop to go with his dunk, Rickner popped for a team-high 15 points, while Xavier Murdy banked in 12, and Alex Murdy deposited 10.
Martin (9), Wolfe (7), and White (a big early three-ball) also scored, with Dominic Coffman giving the Wolves a burst of energy off the bench.
With his performance Friday, Rickner breaks into the 200-point club.
With 202 career points and counting, he’s one of four active CHS players to reach the mark, joining fellow seniors Wolfe (768) and Xavier Murdy (417), as well as junior Maddie Georges (234).
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