Mason Grove netted a game-high 24 points Tuesday, nailing six shots from behind the three-point arc. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Mason Grove’s shooting touch was in mid-season form Tuesday night.
The Coupeville High School senior opened a new basketball season by raining down 24 points at Darrington, including hitting six shots from behind the three-point arc.
It wasn’t quite enough to save the Wolves, however, as they lost a close one to their future league rivals, falling 56-49.
For the moment, the opening night defeat was a non-conference decision, but Coupeville will join Darrington in the Northwest League when CHS officially moves from 1A to 2B starting with the 2020-2021 school year.
Tuesday’s tilt gave Wolf coach Brad Sherman a chance to scope out one of his future rivals.
The third-year hoops guru won’t have much of this current team with him when the Wolves move to the Northwest League, as nine of the 10 players in uniform Tuesday were seniors.
Only sophomores Hawthorne Wolfe, who nailed two three-balls, and Xavier Murdy, who’s sidelined with an injury, will still be in uniform when the change occurs.
While Grove won’t play Darrington again, he made sure the Loggers will remember his name, torching them from multiple angles.
He split up his three-balls, netting at least one in every quarter.
With three treys in the first half, Grove had 11 points at the break, and Coupeville was hanging tough, down just 26-23.
Darrington, which hit four three-point shots to eight by the Wolves, got to the free throw line a ton, but clanked most of them, hitting just 14-32 at the charity stripe.
But the Loggers won by going old-school, showing if you hit enough two-point buckets, all the analytics in the world can’t argue with success.
With Caleb Rivera and Bashaun Williams forming a potent one-two combo, as the Loggers duo tallied 20 points apiece, Darrington didn’t run away with the game, but held on for the win.
Grove kept Coupeville close, rattling home half of his treys after the break, scoring 13 of his 24 in the second half.
The opening night explosion allows the Wolf senior to pass 15 former CHS players on the career scoring chart, carrying him to #138 all-time in the 103-season history of the program.
With 184 points in a varsity uniform, Grove needs to get to 277 to crack the top 100.
Tuesday night, he was backed up by Sean Toomey-Stout, who knocked down eight points, and Wolfe, who finished with six.
Jacobi Pilgrim (4), Jered Brown (4), and Koa Davison (3) also scored for CHS, with Jean Lund-Olsen, Tucker Hall, Gavin Knoblich, and Ulrik Wells seeing floor time.
It was Hall’s varsity debut.
Coupeville returns to action Wednesday, when it travels up the Island to face 3A Oak Harbor. The home opener is Saturday against Orcas Island.
