Wolf sophomore Ulrik Wells made his varsity debut Saturday night in Langley. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
There are wins, there are losses and then there are nights you just flip the score-book to another page and say, “Next…”
For a Coupeville High School boys basketball team which has played stellar defense so far this season, Saturday night will not go in the highlight reel.
Unable to stop host South Whidbey in the paint, from behind the arc or from out in the parking lot if the Falcons had chosen to shoot from there, the Wolves fell 73-12.
The non-conference loss drops Coupeville to 1-3 on the season, and undoubtedly stings.
But reality is, Tuesday brings the first Olympic League game, with Port Townsend visiting Cow Town, and having a short memory about Saturday’s debacle will be super important.
What loomed as another exciting chapter in a long and storied rivalry quickly took a dark turn for Coupeville.
South Whidbey came out flying, with Kody Newman hitting a runner in the first tenth of a second of the game.
OK, it might have taken just a wee bit longer than that, but not much.
After that, the Falcons, who finished the night boasting a 5-0 record, put the game away faster than their fans could clap-clap-clap every time their team was on defense.
A 15-0 lead midway through the first quarter turned into a 39-4 edge at the half, and nothing got better for Coupeville from there.
The Falcons were exactly who they were supposed to be.
Lewis Pope was electric, Newman was a slick-passing, dagger-dropping assassin and a gaggle of young but lanky “bigs” dominated on the glass.
Other than a sweet pull-up jumper from Cameron Toomey-Stout, some nice work on the boards from Kyle Rockwell and the varsity debut of sophomore Ulrik Wells, there wasn’t much joy for Wolf fans.
“Not much you can say about that one,” said CHS coach Brad Sherman. “Just not our night, against a very good basketball team.
“Proud of our guys. They kept their heads up and played hard until the end.”
Pope finished with a game-high 31, while Wolf senior Hunter Smith scored every Coupeville point which didn’t come via Toomey-Stout’s jumper.
His 10 on the night lifts his career total to 534.
With that, Smith passes ’90s big man Brad Miller (526) to claim 37th place on the CHS boys career scoring list.
Coupeville Sports 