Jason McFadyen, shooting during an alumni game, made an auspicious debut for CHS basketball during the 1988-89 season. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
It was the season after THE season.
The 1987-1988 Coupeville High School boys basketball team finished 19-6, won 12 straight games at one point, and went to the state tourney.
Then, everyone graduated.
Well, not totally everyone, but close.
When the 1988-1989 hoops season rolled around, there were only three returning players from the 13 who had scored a season before.
Tony Ford, who was the #6 scorer for the state-bound team, was back for his senior year, while Chad Nixon and Jason Legat, who each banked home a single bucket in 87-88, were also still around.
While the latter duo only combined for 16 points in 88-89, Ford seized his opportunity and scored much of his team’s buckets during his final go-round.
In fact, his 276 points, which gave him 432 for his prep career, was more than the next three Wolves combined to score that season.
Sophomore Jason McFadyen rattled home his first 122 varsity points in 88-89, the start of a 654-point career which has him sitting at #24 all-time in Wolf boys history.
But he was the only other CHS player to top 70 points that season, as the new-look Wolves struggled at times on the offensive end of the floor.
So, why is this all important?
For several reasons — the biggest being I have the scorebook from that 88-89 season, followed by we’re in a pandemic that has shut down games for nine months, and I need stuff to write about.
Plus, in the middle of an otherwise so-so season, Ford delivered one of the great single-game performances in program history.
So, let’s flip open the book and go back to a time when Wolf coach Ron Bagby still prowled the sidelines.
Sultan 37, Coupeville 16
Game one didn’t get off to a great start, as the Wolves were blanked 12-0 through the first eight minutes.
Improbably, CHS actually was within striking distance after three quarters of play, using a defensive lockdown to carve the deficit (slightly) back to 19-10.
But it wasn’t to be, as Sultan nearly doubled its point total with an 18-point eruption in the final frame, with six players scoring.
Coupeville’s leading scorer on opening night? Dean Grasser with a fairly-quiet six points.
Lopez 51, Coupeville 34
An improvement, with the Wolves down just 19-16 at the half.
Lopez had three guys finish with double-digit scoring, though, and that trio combined to score 30 of their 45 after the break, busting things open.
Ford did his best to counter, dropping in 10 of his team-high 13 in the second half, but his teammates only combined for eight points during the same time frame.
La Conner 52, Coupeville 17
Yep, not much to say about this one.
Darrington 64, Coupeville 30
Well, Ford banged home 18 points, so there was that, but the Wolves fell to 0-4.
Coupeville 56, Concrete 44
Best game of the season, and the best half Ford played in a CHS uniform.
When the teams went to the break, Coupeville held a 22-15 advantage, with Jesse Smith and Wayne Hardie each having tallied four points.
After halftime, it was Ford time, as the lanky gunner went off for 22 of his 28 points down the stretch.
All of his scoring came off of old-school two-point buckets, as he missed the one and only free throw attempt he had that night, and Coupeville went without a three-point bomb for the fourth time in five games.
Orcas Island 54, Coupeville 38
This one was knotted 31-31 heading into the fourth quarter, then the roof caved in on the Wolves.
Seven different Orcas players scored during a 23-7 run across the final eight minutes, putting a damper on a 25-point performance from Ford.
Having ended the previous game on a tear, he picked right back up, notching 15 of those points in the first half.
Friday Harbor 57, Coupeville 39
Fun fact – McFadyen, who, remember, would finish as this team’s #2 scorer, didn’t get his first points until game #7 of the season.
This was his fourth appearance, and, like the other three games, the young gun played in just the fourth quarter.
But this time he went off, dropping a pair of three-balls en route to an eight-point quarter, making him Coupeville’s leading scorer for the night.
Entering this game, CHS had connected on just one three-point shot all season, but with McFadyen’s two-fer and a deep bomb by Frank Marti, things were changing.
At least a bit.
Coupeville 38, Crescent 36
McFadyen played in two quarters this time, but didn’t score.
Ford, after tallying nine points in the first quarter, was held to a single bucket over the next 24 minutes.
The Wolves went back to hitting no three-balls.
But, they still won, thanks to a 10-8 fourth-quarter edge in which Brandy Ambrose (4), Grasser (4), and John Zimmerman (2) came up big.
Foster 71, Coupeville 43
Ford tossed in 20, but the other team had four guys hit for double-digits.
Sultan 49, Coupeville 44
Not as close as it looks, as the Wolves needed a 17-6 run in the fourth to narrow things.
Finally given the chance to play a full four quarters at the varsity level, McFadyen tossed in a team-high 17 points, including a pair of three-balls, while Ford was the perfect complement, banking home 16.
Watson-Groen 52, Coupeville 30
Down 17-4 at the first break, things didn’t get much better for the Wolves, who were led by Ford’s 15.
La Conner 59, Coupeville 31
Close first half, not so close second half.
Clinging to a 24-21 advantage at the break, La Conner went on a 35-10 run after that, negating another solid night by Ford, who filled the scorebook with 18 points.
Darrington 73, Coupeville 52
Trailing by 30 after three, the Wolves closed strongly with a 22-13 advantage in the final quarter.
McFadyen hit for 17, Ford 16, and, after nailing just seven three-balls on the season, Coupeville netted six in one game here.
Five of them came off of the fingertips of their hot-shooting sophomore stud.
Coupeville 50, Concrete 43
Back in the win column in what must have been a wild one.
Up by seven heading into the fourth, the Wolves frittered the entire lead away, then redeemed themselves in overtime.
Tied 43-43 at the end of regulation, CHS held its hosts scoreless in the extra frame, making the long bus trip home with Bagby more pleasant than it might have been with a total collapse.
McFadyen, Marti, and Ford combined for Coupeville’s final seven points, with Ford topping all scorers on the night with 18.
Orcas Island 54, Coupeville 47
The first time these teams met, it was tied after three quarters. This time CHS was up by a bucket headed into the fourth.
But, once again, the Wolves fell short against Orcas, despite 18 (with four treys) from McFadyen.
Coupeville 49, Lopez 43
Revenge, as the Wolves avenged an earlier loss to Lopez by suddenly becoming fourth-quarter aces.
Down 35-34 on the road, CHS closed on a 15-8 tear, with McFadyen scoring seven of his game-high 18 in the final frame.
He got help from Hardie (4), Marti (2), and Ford (2) down the stretch, with Ford once again busting double digits with a 15-point night.
Friday Harbor 67, Coupeville 41
The visitors got points from all 11 players on their roster and pulled away early.
One bright spot for Coupeville came when Sean Dillon connected on his first varsity three-ball, a precursor of what was to come as he rattled home 469 career points as a Wolf, putting him #48 in program history.
Watson-Groen 67, Coupeville 54
Ford pumped in 24, his third-best total on the season, and McFadyen singed the nets for three more treys, but the visitors led from start to finish.
Leading the way for Watson-Groen was Brad Francisco, who torched the joint for 26, the most scored by any Wolf rival that season.
And thus the campaign ended, with 4-14 a step back after a trip to state.
But, the path for future success was set.
During the 89-90 season, six Wolves scored 100 or more points, the first time the program reached that mark in a decade.
The next season, the 90-91 team had four players top 200, with a fifth missing by just six points.
McFadyen led the Wolves in scoring both those seasons, while Marti, Dillon, and Ben Biskovich, who joined the varsity in 89-90, all topped 400 career points.
Varsity scoring totals for the 88-89 season:
Tony Ford – 276
Jason McFadyen – 122
Dean Grasser – 68
Frank Marti – 64
Brandy Ambrose – 54
Wayne Hardie – 35
John Zimmerman – 34
Jesse Smith – 18
Chad Nixon – 14
Sean Dillon – 11
Ed Cook – 6
Duane Score – 6
Jason Legat – 2
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