All three Coupeville vs. La Conner boys’ basketball games this year were tense brawls. (Bailey Thule photo)
All the emotions were on display.
Elation. Despair. And a whole lot of confusion.
Trapped in a packed gym with two rabid cheering sections operating at a full-throated roar for two hours-plus, Coupeville and La Conner waged a magnificent, sometimes confounding boys’ basketball playoff thriller Thursday night.
In the aftermath the Braves, somewhat improbably, claimed the District 1/2 tourney crown and the program’s 43rd trip to state — even though they will carry a losing record to the big dance.
On the other side, the host Wolves, who beat La Conner twice during the regular season, were dazed, but not KO’d.
Brad Sherman’s squad, which fell 63-61 after a gut-punch final few seconds, return to their own gym Saturday to face Auburn Adventist Academy in a 6:45 PM rumble.
Beat the Falcons, who they thunked on the road earlier this season, and the Wolves punch a return ticket to state after breaking a 34-year dry spell last season.
Lose Saturday and they are done.
Coupeville will carry a 14-8 record to the floor Saturday, while La Conner, which is just 11-12, awaits the release of the state brackets Sunday afternoon.
The Braves reached the promised land dropping eight three-balls, coming up with countless key rebounds, and, in the moment, getting two free throws from Braden Thomas with 0:00.4 of a second to play.
After leading for most of the game, but never able to pull away, Coupeville fell behind by six points late in the fourth quarter.
Thanks to La Conner clanking five free throws in the final 25 seconds, while the Wolves netted all four of their charity shots, CHS still had a chance to send the game to overtime on the final possession of the game.
Thundering up-court under heavy pressure, Wolf junior Logan Downes drilled the bottom of the net out with a pull-up jumper, and mass confusion reigned.
With the refs (and fans) in disagreement over whether it was a three-ball (to tie) or a two-point shot fired up from just inside the arc — but action not stopping — La Conner inbounded the ball.
Thomas was fouled a millisecond before the buzzer rang out, by a Wolf defender who likely believed he needed to stop the clock if Downes shot was being counted as a two.
Unlike several of his teammates, who were undone by the screams of the Wolf faithful as they rimmed out their free throws, Thomas never flinched, sliding both of his gift shots through the net.
That left the Wolves with less than a second on the clock and few options, with a baseball-style pass the length of the court sailing up, up, and away as La Conner’s fans went berserk.
While the final seconds provided the final score, the Braves won the game earlier in the fourth quarter.
After trailing from midway through the second quarter until midway through the fourth — but never by more than eight points — La Conner came up huge in crunch time.
The Braves hit four of their eight treys in the final frame, and the real killer was two of those three-balls were set up by offensive rebounds.
Coupeville fought doggedly all night, but La Conner had an uncanny ability to win 50/50 balls at the end, and it stung.
The Braves pulled ahead 47-46 on a jumper from Isaiah Price, taking their first lead since 20-18, then stretched their advantage out to 56-50.
The one thing keeping Coupeville in the game was the play of Cole White, who went off for all 10 of his points in the fourth quarter.
And they weren’t easy buckets, as the wiry junior guard hit three jumpers while surrounded by defenders, converted an offensive board into a bucket, and drained both of his late-game free throws.
White’s charity shots pulled the Wolves to within 58-56, while Downes went the length of the floor, slashing between bodies for a layup to make it 60-58.
Logan Downes finds the bottom of the net. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
When La Conner split a pair of free throws with 10.4 seconds to play, that set up the frantic finale.
The game started intense, and never let up.
Coupeville jumped out to a quick 9-2 lead, only to have the Braves pop a trio of three-balls to get back in the game.
Alex Murdy slapped home nine points in the opening quarter, while Downes rang up five more, but La Conner tied things at 16-16 when Thomas netted three free throws with no time on the clock after being fouled on a three-ball attempt.
After a little back-and-forth to open the second quarter, Coupeville seized the lead at 21-20 when Downes drilled a three-ball, then briefly stretched its advantage out to six points before heading into the half up 31-27.
Murdy was a rampaging two-way warrior in the first half, but the Wolves also got big moments from everyone on the floor.
From Dominic Coffman draining free throws, to freshman Chase Anderson knocking down a breakaway bucket set up by a Murdy steal, to Jonathan Valenzuela pulling off an impressive airborne steal and bucket combo, the highlight reel was full.
The third quarter was the lowest-scoring frame of the night, as the two teams circled each other, punching and counterpunching.
Downes rang up all nine of Coupeville’s points, while Murdy delivered a tooth-rattling block, but La Conner closed on a 6-0 mini-run to pull back within 40-38.
That set up a fourth quarter full of offense, with the team’s combining for 46 points in the final eight minutes.
And, depending on which side of the gym you were sitting on, vastly different emotional states as you exited in search of your car.
For Wolf head coach Brad Sherman, who spent his first moments post-game the way all coaches should — getting hugs from his pack of young sons — there was a trace of disappointment, but much more pride.
“Our boys played their hearts out tonight,” he said.
“Tough loss. But that’s basketball – sometimes it doesn’t go our way.
“I told them to come in tomorrow with heads high, ready to get right back to work,” Sherman added. “And knowing them that’s exactly what they are going to do.
“They have shown resilience at every turn this season and they’ll do it again.”
How close was this brawl? Both big threes combined to score exactly 51 points.
For La Conner, that was Ivory Damien with 19, Thomas with 18, and Price with 14.
For Coupeville, Downes rippled the nets for a game-high 26, with Murdy knocking down 15, and White closing hard with his 10.
Valenzuela (4), Nick Guay (2), Coffman (2), and Anderson (2) rounded out Coupeville’s scoring attack, with William Davidson and Ryan Blouin also seeing floor time.
With his 26 points, Downes rises to 754 and counting for his three-year career, pushing past Dan Nieder (729) and Steve Whitney (730) to move into 18th place all-time for a program launched in 1917.
Heading into Saturday’s game, he is a bucket away from toppling #17 Hunter Hammer (755), with #16 Barry Brown (769) and #15 Jack Elzinga (770) not far off.
Further down the career scoring list, Guay’s first-quarter free throws lifts him to 132 points, pushing him into a tie with Craig Anderson.
That’s notable — for me at least — since Anderson is both an assistant coach for the Wolves and the dad of the aforementioned fab frosh Chase.
106 seasons of Wolf basketball, so many hidden connections.
