Brad Sherman doles out hoops wisdom to Xavier Murdy (middle) and Grady Rickner. (Mandi Black photo)
They were ready to rumble.
Surviving a game in which at least two players bled, and three fights almost broke out, the high-flying Coupeville High School varsity boys basketball squad seized control of the Northwest 2B/1B League.
Rallying from an early deficit, the Wolves stormed back to dismantle visiting Mount Vernon Christian 65-48 Tuesday, keeping their unbeaten season alive and well.
Now 5-0 in conference action, 7-0 overall, Coupeville sits a game-and-a-half up on MVC (3-1, 6-3).
Off to the best start since the 1996-1997 team started 12-0, this year’s Wolves are an incredibly balanced unit, something which was on full display against MVC.
The Hurricanes had a notable height advantage, with a pair of six-foot-five heavyweights patrolling the paint, but the Wolves are fast, feisty, and play defense like mad dogs unleashed.
With the Murdy boys terrorizing the neighborhood — Xavier snatching rebounds and Alex driving rival ballhandlers batty — Coupeville used that lock-down D to rally after falling behind 12-4 in the early going.
Hawthorne Wolfe, twisting his body into a pretzel to evade the Hurricane bigs, got things started with a second-chance bucket after yanking a rebound free during a wild scrum.
That lit a fire under Coupeville, with Alex Murdy, Logan Downes, and Wolfe combining for a 12-2 tear to end the first quarter.
At one point, senior banger Logan Martin crushed an MVC shot, rejecting a seemingly sure-thing layup.
When Downes followed it right up by swishing a three-ball while sneering in the face of a would-be defender who was a step too slow, CHS reclaimed its full swagger.
The Hurricanes are a chippy bunch, however, and they were intent on not being pushed around.
So, they pushed/shoved/hip-checked first, second, and last, with bodies being frequently tangled as the refs stepped back and let both teams play fairly fast, loose, and rough and tumble.
MVC snatched its final lead at 23-22 midway through the second quarter, but Coupeville answered quickly enough to make a few heads spin.
Alex Murdy, lighting up the joint all night, knocked down a go-ahead jumper, before Wolfe plucked a ball from a rival, shot down court, then came to a stop on one leg and caressed the net with a three-ball.
Closing the half on a 16-7 tear, the Wolves put a punctation mark on things with back-to-back defensive gems from the Logans.
Martin clamped down on his man during a rumble in the paint, while Downes came flying the length of the court, going airborne to punch the ball free and deny an MVC breakaway.
Sophomore Logan Downes had a strong game on both ends of the floor. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Coupeville continued to pull away in the second half, turning a 32-26 advantage into a lead which ballooned out to 18 points late in the game.
The Wolves, who have shown a willingness to share the ball, feeding the hot hand all season, kept doing that Tuesday.
Alex Murdy dumped in eight more of his game-high 20 points in the third, while Downes beat the third-quarter buzzer, weaving his way through a pack of defenders for a layup which sucked the last bit of life from the Hurricanes.
Turn to the fourth and it was Grady Rickner time, with the sweet-shooting senior raining down pain on MVC, while Xavier Murdy and Caleb Meyer also stung the defense.
X-Man ended the game with his chin bandaged, while at least one visiting player walked past trying to control a bleeding nose.
Add to that several almost-brawls, one sparked by a burly Hurricane bodily flinging a Coupeville player around in the manner of a cowboy trying to rope a wayward calf, and it got the Wolf faithful flexing.
When an MVC player complained about a call, he was met with a lusty “Look at the scoreboard!” from CHS fans anxious to remind the Hurricanes they were, in fact, getting righteously spanked.
The Wolf players largely kept their composure, with Downes, just a sophomore, showing poise as he preached calm, while still flashing a big, slightly-snarky grin every time a Hurricane looked his way.
Coupeville, which is one slim point away from having five different players averaging double-digits scoring this season, once again spread its offense out.
Alex Murdy’s 20 was his best performance as a varsity player and comes a game after big bro torched La Conner for 24.
Downes banged in 14 in support Tuesday, with Rickner (11), Wolfe (10), Meyer (5), and Xavier Murdy (5) also scoring.
Coupeville now has a week of rest, before kicking off a four-games-in-five-days stretch with a road trip to Darrington next Tuesday, Jan. 18.
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