Mason Grove knocked down 21 points Friday as Coupeville won on Senior Night and punched its playoff ticket. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
Hawthorne Wolfe added 18 points, including four free throws in the final moments to clinch the win.
Playoffs? We’re talking about the playoffs.
Rallying from an eight-point second-half deficit on Senior Night Friday, the Coupeville High School varsity boys basketball squad beat visiting Granite Falls 75-72.
With the win, the Wolves, who honored 11 seniors in pre-game ceremonies, improve to 2-6 in North Sound Conference play, 6-11 overall.
They also clinch a postseason berth, and will play their regular-season finale next Tuesday, Feb. 4, to decide if they are the #4 or #5 seed from their league.
Beat Sultan on its home floor, and Coupeville is #4 and opens the double-elimination district playoffs Feb. 10 on the road against Lynden Christian (13-4), the #1 seed from the Northwest Conference.
Lose Tuesday to the Turks, and the Wolves host Mount Baker (5-13), the #4 seed from the NWC, Feb. 8 in a loser-out game.
However the rumble with Sultan plays out, Friday’s win gives the CHS hoops stars a huge boost.
“It was a big win for our seniors on Senior Night, and we responded really well after halftime,” said Coupeville coach Brad Sherman. “I’m really proud of how hard they played to get that W.”
The game was decided under the bright lights of the fourth quarter, a time when the Wolves got points from six different players and refused to crack under pressure.
Holding a 54-51 lead entering the final frame, with that advantage thanks to Mason Grove rifling home a three-ball to end the third quarter, CHS was still on edge.
It had nothing to worry about, however, as one Wolf after another came through in crunch time, turning back a scrappy Tiger squad which knew it would be eliminated from playoff contention with a loss.
The teams traded blows, but Coupeville never gave back the lead in the fourth.
The Wolves attacked in waves, with Jacobi Pilgrim muscling his way inside for a key put-back off of an offensive rebound, and Grove sinking a trey which hit the rim, started to go down, popped back up, then flopped back through.
Coupeville hit the boards with great intensity, controlling the paint, and it paid off.
Sophomore sensation Xavier Murdy, who missed a huge chunk of the season recovering from a preseason injury, has been a jolt of lightning since his return, and Friday showcased all the different weapons he has at his disposal.
With the lead in doubt, X-Man came through with two epically big rebound put-backs, then he slid to the side and let some of his senior counterparts pen their part of the winning tale.
Gavin Knoblich, a grinder and a hustler who lives to do the down ‘n dirty work, netted a bucket down low, then put a perfect pass on to the fingertips of fellow big man Koa Davison as he rolled through the paint on his way to the promised land.
But, even with all that, the game wasn’t decided until sophomore Hawthorne Wolfe, who spent the days leading up to this game working relentlessly on his free throw shooting, iced things.
Tuning out the deafening screams of Granite’s JV players, who thought (wrongly) they could buffalo him, Joan McPherson’s grandson calmly, quietly, laid down the law, scoring Coupeville’s final five points from the line.
As each charity shot arced upwards, then splashed downwards, the Tiger faithful choked on their screams, while the Wolf faithful went progressively more bonkers for Wolfe (and his dead-eye shooting).
The final two times he strolled to the line, while being slapped and talked-up by a fired-up Grove, Wolfe sank both of his chances, pushing three-point leads out to five and erasing Granite’s chance to tie the game on a three-ball.
Trailing 75-70 with under 20 seconds to play, the Tigers ran headlong into a ferocious final defensive stand, and meekly surrendered, unable to do anything other than toss in a largely meaningless layup as the clock struck 0.9 seconds to play.
That set off a celebration for a CHS team deep in seniors, and a jam-packed gym which had come out to hail what might have been their final moments on their home hardwood.
Both teams had begun the game with fire in their bellies, and a deep desire to grab an early advantage.
Only problem is, both rims refused to accept any incoming shots for a very long time.
Three minutes and 18 seconds of scoreless ball later, Coupeville broke through on a pair of Grove free throws, then things got goin’.
Ulrik Wells popped for six points in the opening frame, hitting a pair of jumpers off nice feeds from Wolfe and Grove, packaged around a rebound put-back, and CHS went to the first break up 16-14.
After the teams played through five ties in the first frame, they tacked on two more (momentary) stalemates in the second quarter, the last at 26-26.
Grove airmailed a pair of three-balls to keep the Tigers jumpy, but a late mini-run by Granite helped the visitors carry a 40-34 lead to the halftime locker room.
The margin stretched out to eight early in the third quarter, but then Coupeville’s gunners, a Three Musketeers trio made up of young upstarts Murdy and Wolfe, plus grizzled old-timer Grove, went to work.
X coaxed a three-ball through the net to start the comeback, while Hawk ripped off back-to-back treys, the first tying the game at 44-44, the second shoving Coupeville back into the lead.
While there would be one more tie after Wolfe’s second bomb, at 51-51 right before Grove dropped a punctuation mark at the end of the third, CHS never trailed again.
Granite kept coming, kept fighting, but Coupeville had an answer each time, whether it was Wells rejecting a shot into the rafters, or Davison imploring his teammates to keep their intensity sky-high during a timeout.
As his team celebrated with their parents, fellow students, and fans, Sherman was able to gaze at the scorebook and enjoy an especially well-balanced scoring performance.
Grove popped for a game-high 21, while Wolfe rattled the rims for 18, and Murdy banked in 17.
Davison (9), Wells (6), Pilgrim (2), and Knoblich (2) also scored, with Sean Toomey-Stout yanking down endless rebounds, Jered Brown running the point with precision, and Jean Lund-Olsen giving the Wolves a jolt of electricity in the early going while making his first start.
With sophomores Murdy and Wolfe the only non-seniors on the varsity roster, Sherman also honored Chris Cernick, Tucker Hall, and Chris Ruck during opening ceremonies.
While the focus was rightfully on the win and the approaching departure of the seniors, stat fans can also take a moment to note that Coupeville’s leading scorers, Wolfe and Grove, continue to climb the career scoring list.
After entering the night #64 and #68 all-time, respectively, for a program in its 103rd season, they exited the court as #59 and #61.
Separated by just seven points (Wolfe has 389, Grove 382), the duo leapfrogged former CHS greats such as JD Wilcox, Chad Gale, and Mike Millenbach.
