Coupeville PA announcer Moose Moran loves calling big plays for Wolf stars like Mason Grove and Hawthorne Wolfe. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
Wolfe is on pace to be the first (or maybe second) CHS boy to score at least 400 career varsity points by the end of their sophomore season.
It’s maybe the best start in program history.
As he heads into a loser-out home playoff game Saturday, Hawthorne Wolfe is setting the nets afire.
With 397 points and counting, the Coupeville High School sophomore has tallied arguably more points at this stage of his varsity career than any other Wolf boys basketball player ever.
At least when it comes to numbers I can 100% stand behind.
There is one reason to pump the brakes, at least a bit.
Wolfe is definitely one of three CHS hoops stars to top 300 points by the end of their sophomore year, with the other two being Mike Criscuola (368) and Mike Bagby (359).
But, when it comes to Criscoula, who played in the ’50s, when 8th graders were eligible for the high school varsity team, his numbers may never be truly complete.
The yearbook for his first season includes him in the team photo — “Big Mike,” rockin’ glasses and a barrel chest, is already a man among boys, even at that early moment — but does not include him on the team’s scoring list.
Which, based on stories told by people from his time period, is a crock.
But all I have to go on is what I have to go on, and newspaper stories of the time are also no help with recreating Criscuola’s 8th grade scoring totals.
So, we’ll toss an asterisk in there and plow ahead.
Either way, Wolfe is chasing legends while helping bring a buzz to the CHS gym.
He’s rattled the rims for 239 points through 18 games as a sophomore, just off senior Mason Grove, who’s singed the nets for 245 points.
Toss in 158 as a freshman, when he led the team in scoring, and Wolfe is a three-ball away from becoming just the 59th Coupeville boy to crack the 400-point club across 103 seasons.
Nothing is guaranteed, and injuries, transfers, and life have all left their mark on the program’s career scoring list.
I mean, Joe Whitney could have been the GOAT, but achieved that status in Lynden, not Coupeville, after transferring before his senior season.
Things happen.
That said, Wolfe, who sits at #59 on the career scoring chart heading into Saturday’s bout with Mount Baker, is set up to make a run at all the records.
Grove, a three-ball assassin from way back, is a hair ahead of him at #57 with 405 points, but, as a senior, time is no longer on his side.
Stay healthy, stay focused, keep working, remain confident, but not driven by ego, hold on to the joy that comes from the game.
Do that, and Hawk and fellow sophomore sensation Xavier Murdy (89 career points and counting) can captivate Wolf Nation over the next two seasons.
If you look at the 31 Wolves who cracked 600 points, almost to a man, their scoring totals went up as juniors and seniors.
From that group, Wade Ellsworth and Rich Morris didn’t score their first varsity point at CHS until their junior season, while Gavin Keohane only had three points exiting his sophomore year.
Six other Wolves also didn’t get their first varsity point until their junior seasons, yet still topped 400 for their careers.
Then there’s Jack Elzinga, who sits with Criscuola, Tom Sahli, and Jerry Zylstra, as ’50s stars whose full numbers may never be finalized.
“The Zinger” tossed in 646 points across his last two years, which puts him #25 all-time.
But, he also played varsity ball as a sophomore during the 1953-54 season, and stats from that campaign seem lost to time, which hurts both him and Zylstra, a teammate on that squad.
Plus, to be fair to the immortals who trod the hardwood in the ’70s, including Jeff Stone (tied for #1), Randy Keefe (#3), and Bill Jarrell (#12), they never had the chance to play four years like Wolfe and Murdy will.
Back then, thanks to Coupeville having a junior high and not a middle school, 9th graders weren’t eligible to play for the high school team.
Life, um, finds a way … to mess with everyone’s prep hoops career.
But we roll on.
So, with all that in mind, a look at how many points every player still ahead of Wolfe on the career chart scored through their sophomore season:
Jeff Stone — 176 of 1137
Mike Bagby — 359 of 1137
Randy Keefe — 293 of 1088
Jeff Rhubottom — 228 of 1012
Mike Criscuola — 368(?) of 979(?) (*Missing 8th grade stats*)
Bill Riley — 160 of 934
Pete Petrov — 201 of 917
Brad Sherman — 203 of 874
Denny Clark — 185 of 869
Arik Garthwaite — 285 of 867
Bill Jarrell — 83 of 855
Hunter Smith — 133 of 847
Corey Cross — 215 of 811
Barry Brown — 221 of 769
Hunter Hammer — 212 of 755
Steve Whitney — 180 of 730
Dan Neider — 143 of 729
Chris Good — 64 of 688
Gavin Keohane — 3 of 677
Virgil Roehl — 192 of 674
Foster Faris — 95 of 668
Pat Bennett — 207 of 659
Wade Ellsworth — 0 of 659
Jason McFadyen — 122 of 654
Jack Elzinga — ? of 646(?) (*Missing sophomore stats*)
Rich Morris — 0 of 637
Kramer O’Keefe — 186 of 636
Wiley Hesselgrave — 142 of 632
John O’Grady — 188 of 611
Greg White — 212 of 604
Joe Whitney — 213 of 601
Brian Miller — 157 of 597
Mike Syreen — 193 of 594
Gabe McMurray — 2 of 592
Pat Clark — 12 of 583
Randy Duggan — 0 of 552
Roy Marti — 16 of 551
Jim Syreen — 176 of 550
Marc Bissett — 41 of 549
Denny Zylstra — 16 of 538
Brad Miller — 66 of 526
Gary Faris — 86 of 524
JJ Marti — 156 of 520
Cody Peters — 0 of 518
David Lortz — 31 of 502
Jason Bagby — 18 of 499
Pat O’Grady — 12 of 472
Sean Dillon — 11 of 469
Frank Marti — 64 of 462
Gary Hammons — 11 of 443
Del O’Shell — 0 of 440
Tony Ford — 76 of 432
Caleb Powell — 113 of 421
Ben Biskovich — 0 of 407
Casey Clark — 0 of 407
Nick Sellgren — 0 of 406
Mason Grove — 51 of 405
Jerry Zylstra — ? of 405(?) (*Missing sophomore stats*)
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