Toss out the first quarter and it was a thriller.
After a cold start Friday in Bothell, the Coupeville High School varsity boys basketball team played strongly across the game’s final 24 minutes.
Unfortunately, the Wolves could never crawl their way back from a 21-point deficit at the first break, and fell 69-45 to host Cedar Park Christian.
The loss drops Coupeville to 1-5 in North Sound Conference action, 4-10 overall.
CHS will get a quick chance to bounce back, as it caps a busy week with a home non-conference tilt with Port Townsend (3-10) Saturday.
Tip-off is 4:30 for JV, 6:00 for varsity.
Friday’s game was a marked improvement for the Wolves, who lost 87-44 to the same Cedar Park squad four days ago.
It didn’t start out that way, as Coupeville fell behind 26-5 at the first break, but things got much better from there on out.
The Wolves outscored the hot-shooting Eagles 15-11 in the second quarter, with Hawthorne Wolfe leading the way with five points in the frame.
The sophomore sniper got plenty of help in the quarter, as seniors Sean Toomey-Stout and Koa Davison added four points apiece.
While the Wolves couldn’t get the lead down much more, they did hang tough with CPC, being outscored just 43-40 across the final three quarters.
Wolfe and fellow sophomore Xavier Murdy each pumped in 10 points to spark the offense, while Toomey-Stout banked home nine.
Davison and Mason Grove added six apiece, with Ulrik Wells and Jacobi Pilgrim both netting a bucket.
It was the first appearance for Wells in several games, as the Wolf big man has been recuperating from illness.
Gavin Knoblich, Jean Lund-Olsen, and Jered Brown also saw floor time for Brad Sherman’s squad.
Coupeville’s top two scorers on the season, Wolfe and Grove, continue to work their way up the Matterhorn that is the CHS boys basketball career scoring chart.
Both gunners passed four more former Wolves with their scoring efforts Friday, as Wolfe, who has 345 points, rose from #76 all-time to a tie with Timm Orsborn for #71.
He slid by Mike Vaughan (337), Kevin Faris (339), Byron Fellstrom (340), and Robin Larson (342).
Grove, who sits with 327 points, is hot on Wolfe’s trail, and jumps from #85 to #81, passing David Ford (323), Harold Buckner (323), Ian Smith (324), and Utz Conard (326) on a chart which covers 103 seasons.
JV falls:
“They wanted revenge and got it.”
It was a rough night for the Wolf JV boys, who fell 66-38 to a CPC squad they had beaten earlier in the week.
The loss drops Coupeville’s young guns to 4-2 in North Sound Conference action, 8-5 overall.
Logan Martin led the way for the Wolves, banging home a team-high 11 points, while Daniel Olson chipped in with nine.
Alex Jimenez (7), Grady Rickner (4), Cody Roberts (3), Miles Davidson (2), and TJ Rickner (2) also scored for Chris Smith’s squad.
C-Team cancels:
Coupeville was originally set to play a third game, but had to opt out due to a lack of players.
Patrick Upchurch’s team returns to action Saturday with a road doubleheader in Granite Falls, with games against the host Tigers and Sultan.
The Wolf roster will be supplemented with several players plucked from the JV squad.