Hunter Smith singed the nets for a game-high 20 Saturday. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Facts are facts – Bellevue Christian has a very strong boys basketball squad.
Blessed with a six-foot-six guy who can play inside, shoot three-balls and get out and run the floor, plus a pack of speedy gunners to fly cover for him, the Vikings are 7-0 for a reason.
And yet, Coupeville, missing two starters and playing a lineup made up entirely of sophomores at one point Saturday, didn’t get embarrassed.
The Wolves, led by a game-high 20 points from senior Hunter Smith, stayed close through the first half and “won” the fourth quarter.
But, a poor third quarter, in which the visitors went on a 17-3 run and CHS scored on exactly one play in eight minutes, doomed any upset bids and BC left the Island with a 61-38 win.
The non-conference loss, the second in as many nights against a top-level Nisqually League foe, drops Coupeville to 2-5.
The record is a bit deceiving though, as the Wolves sit atop the Olympic League standings at 1-0, and are enduring a rough non-league schedule which should, hopefully, make them stronger when the games start counting towards playoff positioning.
First-year coach Brad Sherman is preaching patience, and using non-conference games as building blocks, and you can see the Wolves making strides.
Saturday, even without starters Cameron Toomey-Stout and Joey Lippo, Coupeville held its own against the much-taller, quicker Vikings.
With Smith rattling home eight points in the first quarter, and Hunter Downes and Jered Brown chipping with a bucket apiece, CHS forced five first quarter ties, and trailed just 14-12 with seconds left on the clock.
Bellevue cashed in with a last-second three-ball to cap the quarter, however, then stretched the lead out to double digits early in the second period.
Coupeville responded by showing toughness in the paint, with Downes converting a put-back off of a rebound before Kyle Rockwell got dynamic.
Taking a pass down low, the senior enforcer squared up Bellevue’s biggest player, backed him down and drained a bank shot while getting hammered on the arms.
Swishing the ensuing free throw, he pulled CHS within 23-17, the closest it would get the rest of the way.
BC, which has eliminated Coupeville from the playoffs the last two years, proved to be too deep and too talented on this night, turning an 11-point bulge at the half into a 25-point lead exiting the third.
The Wolves couldn’t get a thing to drop in the third, with several would-be buckets popping back out under pressure.
Smith broke the skid with a coast-to-coast romp, turning a steal into a breakaway layup, then slipping home a free throw after being mugged on his way to pay dirt.
In the fourth, Sherman gave his young guns some precious floor time, with Brown being joined for several minutes by fellow sophomores Gavin Knoblich, Ulrik Wells, Mason Grove and Jakobi Pilgrim.
Wells earned a well-deserved roar from the crowd when he soundly rejected a BC shot into the cheap seats, while Grove toasted the net on a three-ball for his first-ever varsity points.
Smith’s 20 points gives him 594 for his stellar career, allowing him to pass Gabe McMurray (592) and tie Mike Syreen (594) at #31 on the Wolf boys career scoring list.
Rockwell (5), Downes (4), Brown (4), Grove (3) and Ethan Spark (2) rounded out the scoring attack, while Dane Lucero chipped in with a solid effort on defense.
Coupeville Sports 