On this day in 1990 these Wolves combined to score 50 points in a 61-56 Coupeville basketball win. Back, l to r: Ben Biskovich and Sean Dillon. Front: Frank Marti, Jason McFadyen. (Photo courtesy McFadyen)
Every day a milestone.
Pluck a date out of time, flip open a random scorebook from the past, and chances are you’ll find something of interest.
Today we jump back 30 years, to December 27, 1990, a moment when the Coupeville High School boys basketball squad rode the hot shooting touch of Sean Dillon to pull out a nail-biting 61-56 win over Vashon Island.
Two seasons out from its last trip to the state tourney, a rebuilt Wolf hoops program was starting to hit its stride again that day.
Legendary CHS coach Ron Bagby was in his final season calling the shots on the hardwood, and he had a team full of guys who could fill up the hoop.
In fact, all four guys featured in the photo with this story would finish their prep careers among the top 56 Coupeville scorers all time.
That’s out of at least 391 Wolves to tally at least a point between 1917-2020.
Well, it’s actually probably well more than 400 players, but some of those really old-school CHS scorebooks and stat sheets continue to evade capture.
For now, we have Jason McFadyen at #24 all-time (654 points), with Dillon at #48 (469), Frank Marti at #49 (462), and Ben Biskovich at #56 (407).
When the Wolves took the floor Dec. 27, it was their first action in nine days, back when they bombed Orcas Island 69-49.
Coupeville would get one more game in before 1990 clicked over to 1991, but it was run off the floor by an Australian traveling team on the 29th, so we’ll focus here on the 27th.
If there was any rust in the Wolves collective shooting touch after a week-and-a-half of rest, it doesn’t show up in the scorebook.
CHS blew out to a 19-10 advantage after one quarter of play, with six different players popping the ball through the rim.
Dillon, who would finish second to McFadyen in the season scoring race, edged out just 261-258, led the way all game against Vashon.
Later he would marry the former Becca Jenson, a volleyball star who was a year behind me at Tumwater High School (small world), but on this date his thoughts were still on torching nets.
The first seven of his game and season-high 22 points came in the opening eight-minute stand, and Dillon lit a fire under his teammates.
Vashon didn’t go away quietly, however, steadily hacking away at the lead over the next two quarters.
A 13-9 run in the second cut the deficit to 28-23 at the half, then things got really tight at 44-41 heading into the fourth.
Dillon dominated in the third quarter, gunning in 11 of Coupeville’s 16 points, hitting shots from all angles.
He banked home four field goals — neither team connected on a three-point bomb in the game — while also hitting three of four free throws in the frame.
Charity shots were anything but for both teams, however, as the Wolves netted just 17-31 (54.8%) from the line, while Vashon was an even-worse 12-23 (52.1%).
And yet, free throws proved to be Coupeville’s salvation down the stretch.
The Wolves crashed hard to the hoop (or so we would presume from the stat line), garnering twice as many free throw attempts in the final frame as their foes did.
While CHS only banked home nine of 18 free shots in the fourth — possibly giving Bagby a coronary — Vashon couldn’t catch up, thanks to netting just five of nine at the stripe during the finale.
Marti, for one, actually did pretty well after being fouled, sinking four of five freebies as part of his six point-performance in the final quarter.
He finished with 12 points, backing up Dillon’s 22.
Biskovich knocked down 10 and the duo of Brad Haslam and McFadyen banked in six apiece.
Brian Barr (2), Todd Smith (2), and Brian Hageman (1) rounded out Coupeville’s offensive attack, while Todd Brown and Nate Steele also saw floor time for the Wolves.
Future star Troy Blouin was also listed on the active varsity roster that night, but didn’t play.
He would get his moment later, however, scoring 256 points over the next two seasons, which would be the first two of a 20-year run for Randy King as CHS boys hoops guru.
