Hunter Bronec, fan favorite, hard at work. (Chloe Marzocca photo)
It started as a low rumble, then became a roar.
“I love you, Hunter!!” echoed off the walls of the Coupeville High School gym, as Wolf JV players hooted and hollered as swing player Hunter Bronec prepared to check into Friday night’s varsity hoops game.
A fourth-quarter appearance by the lanky young gun, who hit the floor like a ball of fire unleashed, was the perfect cap to a night on which everything went right for CHS.
Putting 13 players into action, with 10 of them scoring, Wolf coach Brad Sherman crafted a perfectly calibrated team win, shepherding his squad to a 64-25 dismantling of visiting Darrington.
The victory, Coupeville’s fifth in its last six games, lifts it to 1-1 in Northwest 2B/1B League play, 7-5 overall.
With another game roaring up fast — a road trip Saturday to face non-conference foe Neah Bay — being able to spread out minutes and keep his top guys fresh was exactly Sherman’s hope.
And, like the A-Team before him, the prairie hardwood sage does love it when a plan comes together.
Coupeville jumped on the Loggers quickly, with Logan Downes going off for seven points in about seven seconds.
A layup, off of a dish from Jonathan Valenzuela, a three-ball from the right side, and then a steal and breakaway bucket and the Wolves and their scoring ace were ready to punch the pedal through the metal.
Toss in back-to-back buckets from Valenzuela, with William Davidson and Downes zipping perfect set-up passes to the silky-smooth senior, and Darrington had few answers.
Dominic Coffman, rampaging from one end of the floor to the other and enjoying his best offensive performance of the season, capped the first quarter with another steal and swooping layup.
Powered by 11 points off the fingertips of Downes, the Wolves had a 19-6 lead heading into the first break, and it felt like much more.
Darrington couldn’t generate much offense, and definitely couldn’t slow down Coupeville, which got points from six different players in the second quarter en route to building a 38-14 halftime lead.
The Wolves attacked from all angles, with Alex Murdy and Downes droppin’ three-balls, while Ryan Blouin, Cole White, and Coffman converted steals into points.
Dominic Coffman will devour your soul. (Chloe Marzocca photo)
Fab frosh Chase Anderson turned an offensive rebound into a bucket, snagging an air ball and putting it back up and in a millisecond before a shot clock violation, while White got fancy.
Streaking down court after picking the pocket of a Logger ballhandler, he was headed for a layup, only to find his path blocked at the very last second.
Stopping on a dime, White stepped back and drained a short jumper over the arms of a defender, the ball splashing home as dad Greg nodded in approval from the Wolf bench.
“Just the way I did it back in the day,” was what his expression seemed to say.
To which Sherman arched one eyebrow in the direction of his assistant coach, then went back about his business.
Job #1 was getting quality floor time for everyone on the roster, and he nailed it.
With the Wolf starters sitting out most of the second half, Coffman and Nick Guay picked up the scoring slack, the former jamming the ball down the throats of the defenders, the latter showing off a series of slick inside moves.
When the ball went back outside, Blouin made the Loggers pay, knocking down a pair of second-half treys to help push the lead out to 40.
Before the running clock kicked into play, Murdy also delivered a crowd-pleasing defensive gem.
Darrington had the ball on the break, with a Logger careening into the paint in hopes of netting a rare bucket.
Instead Murdy emphatically stuffed the shot, rising up to rip the ball away while delivering a death stare which made his feelings recognizable to everyone in the gym, from the first row to the top of the bleachers.
“Don’t try that again, son. Just don’t.”
Playing his fewest minutes of the season, Downes paced the Wolves with a game-high 16 points, enough to help him achieve a personal milestone.
With his first quarter three-ball, the junior, who entered play Friday averaging a hair under 25 points a night, became the 50th Wolf boy to score 500 career points for a program launched in 1917.
Downes, who heads to Neah Bay with 512 points and counting, passes Jason Bagby (499) and David Lortz (502), moving from #51 to #49 on the all-time list.
He got plenty of support Friday, with Coffman ringing up a season-high 10 points, while Guay banked in nine and Blouin rippled the nets for eight.
Anderson (6), Murdy (5), White (4), Valenzuela (4), Jermiah Copeland (1), and Zane Oldenstadt (1) also scored for the Wolves, with Bronec, Davidson, and Quinten Simpson-Pilgrim seeing floor time.
Quinten Simpson-Pilgrim and Co. have won five of their last six. (Bailey Thule photo)
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