Jacob Lujan clamps down on defense. (Julie Wheat photos)
The Wolves swept the Turks right out of town.
Playing in their next-to-last set of games Monday, the Coupeville Middle School boys’ basketball squads romped to three wins in as many games against visiting Sultan, dominating for a solid three-hours-plus.
The CMS boys wrap their season next Monday, Dec. 15, with a home rumble against South Whidbey, but first, they’ll have some time to pause and reflect on a set of stellar performances.
How the day played out:
Level 1:
The final score doesn’t tell the true tale.
While the scorebook will tell you Coupeville beat Sultan 49-40, the Wolves were actually up 49-26 midway through the fourth quarter when they cleared the bench.
And while the feisty Turks took advantage to make a late run, there was never any doubt CMS would walk off with a bit of revenge for a loss at Sultan way back in the season opener.
Now 3-4 on the campaign, Coupeville’s top team has won three of its last four and is clicking on both ends of the floor.
That was evident Monday, as the Wolves bolted out to a 17-8 lead after one quarter of play, and never looked back.
River Simpson, Diesel Eck, and Kamden Ratcliff took turns setting the net on fire, while birthday boy Gracen Joiner skied high to deliver an impressive blocked shot which set off the Wolf faithful.
With the Wolf defense clamping down on the Turks, Coupeville got out and ran, pushing the pace and catching Sultan napping several times.
Simpson was very effective in the early minutes, drilling a runner, swishing a pullup jumper in traffic, then tossing a three-ball through the bottom of the net with a quick flick of his wrist.
When the Turks tried to stem his scoring, the Wolf 8th grader fired off passes to his teammates, who continued the destruction.
Eck hit three buckets in the first frame, with two of those coming off of offensive rebounds, while Ratcliff kicked off a perfect run for the Wolves at the free throw line, before pilfering the ball and streaking away for a layup.
Coupeville notched all six of its charity shots in the game, with Ratcliff, Simpson, and Trey Stewart each draining both of their chances.
Sultan hung tough, slicing a point off the lead to get back within 27-19 at the half, but could make little inroads overall, as both Eck and Xander Beaman came up big with blocked shots, while Trey Stewart was flying end-to-end for gorgeous breakaway buckets.
The Wolves busted the game wide open in the third, opening with an 8-0 run sparked by Eck channeling a young Shaquille O’Neal in the paint, before Aiden Wheat capped the quarter with a textbook perfect play.
Snagging a long offensive rebound, he immediately rolled ever so slightly to his right, went airborne again, and drained a jump shot from the side to put an exclamation point on things.
Six more points in a row to open the fourth staked CMS to its biggest lead at 49-26, before head coach Alex Evans made sure to get his supporting crew some solid minutes on the floor.
Coupeville’s attack was led by Eck, who banged away for 18 points, while Simpson added 13, and Trey Stewart banked in 12.
Ratcliff (4) and Wheat (2) rounded out the scorers, with Beaman, Colton Ashby, Joiner, Darius Stewart, and Jacob Lujan all chipping in with hard work on defense.
Aiden Wheat (far left), Trey Stewart (1), and Co. celebrate in an earlier game.
Level 2:
Coupeville’s hottest team made it five wins in a row, romping to a 47-17 rout to get to 6-1 on the season.
Five different Wolves scored in the first quarter as CMS built a 9-2 lead, with Coupeville big man Les Queen swatting shots left and right as he prevented Sultan from getting any kind of shooting rhythm going.
While the Turks did hang tough for a few moments, crawling back within 11-8 midway through the second, that was when RayLynn Ratcliff’s squad flipped the switch.
Coupeville ended the half on a 12-0 tear, with Queen scoring eight and Braxten Ratcliff and Brady Sherman swishing sweet jumpers, then kept the pedal through the metal after halftime.
Braxten Ratcliff went off on a scoring binge to open the third, rattling the rim for the first seven points of the half, while the Wolf defenders hit the board with a savage intensity.
Queen finished with a game-high 18 points, outscoring Sultan by himself, while Ratcliff notched 12 while playing in perhaps the brightest pair of pink basketball shoes ever seen on a Cow Town court.
Xander Flowers (6), Brayden Grinstead (3), Hayden Maynes (2), Abel O’Neil (2), Sherman (2), and Nico Strong (2) also scored, with Mario Martinez and Henry Purdue seeing floor time for the Wolves.
Hayden Maynes dares you to try and drive.
Level 3:
The only game in which the Wolves trailed, but just for a hot second.
Down 4-2, Jaylen Nitta’s team rallied quickly, then poured it on to capture a 37-13 victory which lifts them to 2-4 on the season.
Luke Blas opened the scoring for Coupeville with a twirling jumper, while Logan Flowers and LJ Schultz banged home back-to-back buckets to send CMS to the first break holding an 11-6 lead.
Once again, the offense was sparked by scrappy play on defense, with Burke Winger rejecting a Sultan shot, and Logan Dees hitting the floor to battle for loose balls.
The Wolves shoved the lead all the way out to 21-6 late in the second quarter, with Flowers capping a personal run of seven straight points by draining a three-ball set up by a pinpoint pass from Blas.
Coming out of halftime, the Wolves got creative, running multiple lob plays, with Blas and Gabe Reed slipping past the defense, hauling in high, arcing passes, and ringing up points with twisting layups.
While the offensive attack slowed down a bit in the fourth quarter, with the two teams combining for just five points, the defensive intensity only ratcheted up.
Vincent Alguire and Winger kept the glass spotless, hauling down rebounds on a regular basis, while Oliver Miller was a rampaging madman (in a good way), frequently disrupting passes and poking balls free to keep the Turks from getting shots off.
Logan Flowers paced the Wolves in scoring, popping the nets for a season-high 16 points, while Blas (8), Schultz (6), Reed (4), and Dreyke Mendiola (3) also kept the scorebook keeper busy.
Miller, Logan Dees, Jon Driscoll, Alguire, Dom Durbin, Jack Bailey, Winger, and Gabe Ketterling rounded out the roster.
Logan Flowers busts through the defense.
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