Davin Houston (left) and Aiden O’Neill (center) had big games Wednesday in Seattle. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
It was close for a hot second.
OK, maybe two seconds.
And then the Coupeville High School JV boys’ basketball squad flipped a switch, lit the jets, and ran their hosts off the floor while playing Wednesday night at The Bush School in Seattle.
For one brief moment, the Wolves trailed 6-5 in the early going, and then, wham, bam, go put some ice on your dome, as CHS romped to a 54-20 victory.
The non-conference win, coming against a 1A foe, lifts Coupeville’s JV to 1-1 on the season.
The Wolf young guns will largely be fans this Saturday when their varsity counterparts host Toledo — though a couple of guys will swing up to join the #1 team — not returning to action as a team until Dec. 9, when they travel to Sultan.
Thanks to Toledo not having a second unit, new JV coaches Craig Anderson and Jon Roberts will coach their first five games on the road.
Which just gives them, and their team, a chance to use the out of town run to get everything in sync before they make their home debut.
Wednesday night the Wolves struck first, with Aiden O’Neill going coast to coast to get the scoreboard up and going, before Bush crawled back into the game.
The host Blazers only held the advantage for about the length of time needed for Coupeville to bring the ball up court once, however.
Jack Porter pulled off a three-point play the hard way, banging his way inside for a bucket and free throw, and the Wolves were off to the races.
Up 11-6 at the first break, CHS poured it on in the second frame, stretching its advantage out to 27-10 by the half.
O’Neill was a fireball, picking off passes, careening in for buckets, and teaming up with Landon Roberts to pile up a ton of assists.
If Bush had any grand plans to mount a comeback, those plans died on the white board.
Jack and Johnny Porter were twin terrors on the boards in the third quarter, while Camden Glover pounded the ball down low.
The best scoring play may have come when freshman Davin Houston made off with a steal and hit Roberts in stride for the breakaway bucket.
The fourth quarter was nothing but good times, as Coupeville romped to a 14-0 run across the final eight minutes.
Capping things off was a three-ball from O’Neill, the ball launching from the parking lot and splashing home for an emphatic exclamation point to the game.
For their part, Coupeville’s coaching duo, who moved up from the middle school program to helm the JV, celebrated their first high school win with a couple small nods to each other.
“We got off to a good start, played tough D, and shared the ball as allowed,” Jon Roberts said.
“Got some playing time in with a few who didn’t get much or any at Mt Baker. Good win for the squad.”
Jack Porter paced the Wolves with a game-high 14 points, while Johnny Porter threw down 11 in support.
O’Neill (9), Jayden McManus (6), Houston (6), Glover (4), Roberts (2), and Riley Lawless (2) joined the offensive attack, with Sage Arends also seeing floor time.
