Coupeville’s Mason Grove connected on a trio of three-balls Tuesday, but Sultan answered with 12 treys of its own in a 65-47 Turk win. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Sometimes all you can do is shake your head and mutter “Dang…”
When your team plays strongly, has an early lead and then gets buried under an avalanche of three-balls, the kind of avalanche where six different rival players hit from behind the arc, there’s not much else left to do.
It was that kind of night Tuesday for the Coupeville High School varsity boys basketball team, as visiting Sultan nailed 12 treys en route to a 65-47 win.
The loss, coming in the North Sound Conference opener, drops the Wolves to 0-1 in league play, 0-6 overall.
Even while losing, CHS did not play badly.
The Wolves shot out to an 8-1 lead after freshman Hawthorne Wolfe banged home back-to-back three-balls of his own.
One came during a coast-to-coast jaunt by the fab frosh, who leads his team in scoring this season, while the second was a rainbow set up by a beautifully-timed kick-out pass from deep in the paint by Ulrik Wells.
With Wells and Gavin Knoblich each slapping home a bucket of their own, and Mason Grove exploding off the bench to caress the net with his own three-ball, Coupeville led by as many as five points in the first quarter.
But what seemed like a minor slow-down, with Sultan scoring the final two buckets of the opening frame on inside moves, became something far, far worse.
The free-flowing Wolf offense on display in the game’s early moments sputtered and wheezed for a bit, as the Turks ran off the first 12 points of the second quarter.
The 16-0 surge, which crossed quarters but never slowed down, turned a five-point deficit into an 11-point lead for the visitors, and they would never relinquish the advantage.
Coupeville finally broke the dry spell on a long jumper from Jered Brown, and the Wolves scraped back to within six, but then a disturbing trend starting rearing its head.
Sultan, once it started shooting from behind the arc, rarely missed, and the Turks, time and again, used an artfully-shot three-ball to blunt every single Wolf run for the remainder of the game.
Cameron Gunderson was the primary culprit, swishing six treys as he rolled up a game-high 22 points, but nearly every one of his Turk teammates was locked-in, as well.
The third quarter was a prime example.
CHS cuts the lead to 12 off of an offensive rebound and put-back by Sean Toomey-Stout?
Bam. Bam. Back-to-back Turk three-balls.
The Wolves rebound to cut a 20-point margin back to 13 right before the end of the third quarter?
Bam. Bam. Bam. Sultan hits two treys to close the quarter and a third to open the final frame.
Coupeville’s best sustained play of the night came right after the Turks drained that three-ball to open the fourth quarter.
A 10-0 run, helped out by four free throws, Wolfe making a dash coast-to-coast for a layup and Knoblich slapping home a basket off of a steal and dish by Toomey-Stout, made things interesting.
And then, one last time … bam, bam, as the Turk three-ball express made its final stops.
“Give Sultan credit where it’s due,” said Coupeville coach Brad Sherman. “They shot the ball extremely well tonight. Extremely well.”
While CHS couldn’t match Sultan’s long-range launching (the Wolves hit six treys of their own, with Grove netting three), Coupeville held its own in other areas.
The Wolves won the turnover battle, a special point of pride for Sherman, and a young team in transition continues to grow. The 47 points were a season-high.
“We moved the ball well on offense and got good looks; I’m happy with that,” Sherman said. “I thought our offensive movement continues to improve.
“Also, as a coaching staff, we continue to be impressed with the effort and work being put in by our guys,” he added. “They’ll be here tomorrow, heads up and ready to work, and that’s huge.”
Coupeville will have some time to fine-tune things before its next league game.
The Wolves travel to Concrete Friday for a non-conference clash, then have trips to Port Townsend and Nooksack Valley ahead on the schedule.
CHS doesn’t return to league play until Jan. 4, when it travels to King’s to kick off the final nine games of the 10-game conference season.
Tuesday night the Wolves spread out their offensive load, with eight of the nine players who saw floor time scoring,
Brown singed the nets for a team-high 11 points, with Wolfe and Grove chipping in with nine apiece.
Wells (6), Toomey-Stout (5), Knoblich (4), Koa Davison (2), and Jacobi Pilgrim (1) also scored, while Dane Lucero hit the boards with intensity.
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