Coupeville defenders Nico Strong (10), Abel O’Neil (middle) and Les Queen (right) converge on a rival in an earlier game. (Julie Wheat photo)
It was a rumble in the side gym.
While their high school counterparts punched it out with Forks next door Thursday, the Coupeville Middle School boys’ basketball squads did their own dance with visiting Lakewood.
Squaring off with a much-bigger school, the Wolves won one and narrowly lost two in an afternoon of close finishes.
How the day played out:
Level 1:
A single point separated the top squads, with Lakewood sneaking away with a razor-thin 44-43 victory.
While the loss drops Coupeville to 2-4 on the season, the Wolves showed plenty of offensive pop, with a trio of players hitting double-digit scoring on the afternoon.
CMS big man Diesel Eck was rumbling in the paint and popping outside to singe the nets on a three-ball, en route to a game-high 18-point performance.
Backing him up with 10 points each was River Simpson and Kamden Ratcliff, while Trey Stewart banked in three, and Xander Beaman popped for two to round out the attack.
Gracen Joiner, Darius Stewart, Colton Ashby, and Aiden Wheat also saw floor time for the Wolves.
CMS coach Alex Evans (red hat) plots some strategy. (Suzan Georges photo)
Level 2:
Another close one, but this time it was the Wolves who got to howl at the end.
Sparked by 14 points off the fingertips of Les Queen, CMS came out on top 33-31 to run its record to a sparkling 5-1.
RayLynn Ratcliff’s squad has won four straight games, with their only loss this season coming early to powerhouse King’s.
While Queen earned top honors in the scoring column, five other Wolves scored as well, led by Braxten Ratcliff, who made the nets jump for seven points.
Nico Strong (4), Xander Flowers (4), Abel O’Neil (2), and Brady Sherman (2) also tallied points, with Brayden Grinstead, Henry Purdue, Mario Martinez, and Hayden Maynes seeing floor time.
Level 3:
A late run wasn’t quite enough for Coupeville, which fell 29-22 and sits at 1-4 on the season.
The Wolves poured in 13 of their points in the fourth quarter, but a scoreless third stung.
Dreyke Mendiola paced CMS with seven points, with Gabe Reed (6), Luke Blas (5), Alton Hansen (3), and LJ Schultz (1) also making the scorebook keeper burn some pencil lead.
Oliver Miller, Burke Winger, Jack Bailey, Vincent Alguire, Logan Dees, Jon Driscoll, Dom Durbin, and Logan Flowers rounded out the roster, bringing passion and grit to their time on the floor.
Up next:
Two more games left in the season, and they are both Monday matinees at home.
Coupeville hosts Sultan Dec. 8, then wraps the campaign by welcoming South Whidbey to Cow Town Dec. 15. Tipoff is 3:15 PM each time.
Coupeville Sports 