Logan Martin was one of five Wolves to score in double figures Saturday, as the Coupeville JV scored a season-high 82 points in a win over Port Townsend. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
All about that balance, baby.
The Coupeville High School boys JV basketball team is loaded with gunners, and Chris Smith’s squad can kill you in a billion different ways.
That was shown one more time Saturday night, as five different Wolves hit double-digits in scoring as their team set a season scoring high while paddling visiting Port Townsend 82-63.
With the non-conference victory, the young guns improve to 9-5 on the season, guaranteeing they will finish with a winning record.
The Wolf JV has three games left on the schedule, with home games against South Whidbey (Jan. 28) and Granite Falls (Jan. 31), then a road trip to Sultan (Feb. 4).
Coupeville’s second squad beat all three of those schools the first time they played this season.
Saturday’s matchup with Port Townsend was a makeup of a game postponed by bad weather, and the Wolves were primed.
Barely a minute into the game, Daniel Olson crashed to the hoop, sucked in a dart of an inbounds pass and whipped home a layup, putting CHS up 4-2.
You could have called the game at that exact moment, as the visiting RedHawks would never gain the lead.
Of course, if they did, we would have missed out on another 31 minutes of highlight reel-worthy plays from the high-flying Wolves.
The passes zipped on this night, the defense was harsh and unyielding, often leading to breakaway buckets, and every guy in a Wolf uniform had a bead on the basket.
Five different Coupeville players scored in the first quarter, with Grady Rickner leading the way with a quick seven points courtesy a three-ball from the top of the arc, and a couple of long runs which led to note-perfect layups.
Both of those latter plays were set up by pinpoint ball movement, with Olson and Logan Martin firing long outlet passes which soared over scrambling defenders, then dropped on to Rickner’s waiting fingers.
When he wasn’t kicking the ball up court, Martin was banging it home as well, dropping a three-ball of his own right after arcing in a sweet little jumper in the paint.
The prettiest play of the quarter came at the very end, however.
With the clock racing to 0:00 and Smith exhorting his players to pick up the pace and get their rears up the floor, Cody Roberts came ambling by, dribbling into position.
Juking his defender off his feet, the lanky Wolf snapped to a stop and let a rainbow fly free, dropping an NBA-worthy three-ball through the bottom of the net as his coach did a double fist pump and the buzzer sounded.
If Roberts shot was a dagger, there were plenty more where that came from, as the Wolves blew open the game in the second quarter.
Sage Downes, who would finish as the second-highest scorer in the game, didn’t notch his first bucket until he converted a layup off of a steal to stretch the lead to 30-18.
With that play reigniting his scoring mojo, the middle of Angie Downes three sons then started dropping buckets like mad, slashing to the hoop time and again on his way to nine points in the quarter.
Coupeville went to the halftime locker room up 42-23, but not before Olson set up a Rickner layup with a laser-guided pass which tore the fabric of time as it also sliced ‘n diced two hapless defenders who watched it fly by their heads.
The biggest roar from the crowd came on a play by Miles Davidson, however, as he came rumbling down the right side of the floor, went airborne, and scooped up an underhanded shot, all while being whacked upside the head and body.
The ball kissed the glass and plopped through, then Davidson banked in a free throw to cap the game’s most hard-earned three-point play.
Port Townsend kept coming in the second half, but other than a brief fourth-quarter run fueled by three consecutive three-balls, could offer little resistance.
Everything was working for Coupeville, from T.J. Rickner playing like a savage down in the paint, to urban legend Chris Ruck exploding off the bench to score the game’s final bucket.
By the time all the scorebook totals had been added up, the Wolf offensive attack was remarkably well-balanced.
Grady Rickner, finishing with 18 points, narrowly edged out Downes, who slapped home 17, while Olson (12), Martin (11), and Roberts (10) all had hot hands of their own.
T.J. Rickner (7), Davidson (5), and Ruck (2) also scored for Coupeville, while Alex Jimenez was a beast on the defensive end of the floor.
