Chase Anderson swoops to the hoop. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
Cole White bleeds, Coupeville leads.
Whether it’s a full-blown geyser or a little scratch, when the pale prairie point guard displays even a little bit of red, the Wolf varsity boys’ basketball squad usually finds inspiration.
Wednesday night was no different, as White got dinged (but just a bit) and CHS romped to a 68-42 win over visiting South Whidbey.
The non-conference Island rivalry victory lifts Coupeville to 13-4 heading into a major matchup Saturday in Puyallup against always-dangerous Chief Leschi.
The Wolves prepped for their clash with the Warriors, who are also 13-4, by picking apart their next-door neighbors.
Jumping on the Falcons early, Coupeville mixed four first-quarter three-balls from Logan Downes with a series of breakaway buckets to stake themselves to a 26-8 lead at the first break.
South Whidbey was down just 7-6 midway through the opening quarter, before White spurred his team into action.
First, he collected an offensive charge on a rumbling, stumbling Falcon, before immediately stinging his rivals at the other end of the court on a sweet lil’ runner in the paint.
After that it was Downes ripping off treys like he was a World War II machine gunner, spraying bullets everywhere, with almost all of them hitting their target.
Coupeville continued to pour it on in the second frame, opening things on a torrid 11-2 run to stretch the lead all the way out to 37-10.
The Falcons had no answer for the Wolves, as Downes continued to splash down bombs from behind the arc, while White and Chase Anderson ran laps around their defenders, outsprinting them end to end on breakaways.
A three-ball from Ryan Blouin shoved the advantage out to 28 points, before the visitors (slightly) carved things down to trail “just” 40-18 at the half.
The Wolves celebrate another bucket.
The treys kept dropping, and the net kept popping, as the third quarter played out, with Downes (twice), Nick Guay, and Blouin connecting as CHS turned the game into a blowout at 62-30 heading into the fourth.
With the starters having long since departed to chill on the sideline, Wolf bench players wrapped things up.
Coupeville’s last bucket might have been its best, with sophomore swing player Aiden O’Neill slashing around the defense to convert a three-point play the hard way.
South Whidbey, which had been outscored 30-0 from the three-point line, finally got one to drop as the final buzzer sounded, but it was (way) too little, (way) too late.
Downes paced all scorers with 29 points, hitting seven treys, and becomes the first Wolf boy to compile two 400+ point seasons.
He threw down 554 points as a junior, and now has 416 in his final go-around, the sixth-best single-season total for a CHS boy across 107 seasons.
White knocked down 12 in support, with Anderson (10), Guay (7), Blouin (6), O’Neill (3), and Hurlee Bronec (1) also tallying points.
Anderson and Blouin reached personal milestones in the win, with the former cracking the 200-point club and the latter joining the 150-point club.
William Davidson, Quinten Simpson-Pilgrim, Mikey Robinett, Hunter Bronec, Zane Oldenstadt, and Timothy Nitta also saw floor time as the Class of 2024 improved to 51-19 as varsity hoops players.
Coupeville Sports 