Jordan Ford, here hauling in a rebound, was one of the few bright spots for Coupeville Wednesday night. (John Fisken photo)
One team came out fired-up. The other was in a much more tepid mood.
And it showed, as South Whidbey used a big first half to race past host Coupeville 61-36 Wednesday night in a non-conference boys’ basketball game.
The loss dropped the Wolves to 0-2 on the young season and left CHS coach Anthony Smith more than a bit frustrated. After having a long locker room talk with his team, he didn’t mince words.
“We were not ready to play. The boys were just not ready tonight,” he said. “They (South Whidbey) wanted it a lot more than us.
“We had so many unforced turnovers and they’re a good enough team to take advantage of that.”
If there were any bright spots for Coupeville, a big one was that the Wolves played better in the second half, at least as far as the scoreboard went.
Down 36-13 at the break, after enduring 18-7 and 18-6 quarters, CHS battled the Falcons almost even after halftime.
They were nipped just 13-10 in the third and actually won the fourth quarter, though just by a point at 13-12.
Playing without their leading scorer from opening night (sophomore Hunter Smith was sidelined with a back injury) the Wolves turned to their most reliable veteran, Wiley Hesselgrave, and he responded.
Fighting through a flock of Falcons every time he touched the ball, he went for nine of his team-high 13 in the second half.
Another positive was the inspired play of senior Jordan Ford, who worked hard for his first eight points as a Wolf hoops star.
Six of those points came off of rebounds that he snatched and then took right back up, while his final two came on a pair of free-throws after being hammered while driving 1-on-3 in the paint.
“Jordan was a real bright spot for us tonight,” Anthony Smith said. “He hasn’t had that much chance to really play organized ball before, but once he really gets it going, he’ll be a big boost for us.”
South Whidbey hit the floor running, breaking out to a 7-0 lead before Gabe Wynn momentarily stopped the bleeding with a soft jumper from the side.
Shots weren’t dropping for the Wolves, however, and they didn’t get another field goal until the final seconds of the quarter, when Risen Johnson exploded the length of the floor on a breakaway.
The Falcons, paced by explosive senior Chase White, a South End resident who had played for Archbishop Thomas Murphy the last three seasons, quickly put the game away.
They out-ran, out-passed, out-moved and out-shot the Wolves in the first half, and a 13-5 advantage on made free throws didn’t hurt.
Coupeville put together some nice mini-runs in the second half, but it wasn’t enough.
The Wolves had an 8-3 spurt in the third sparked by a trey from Hesselgrave, then closed the game on a 10-4 run that included an especially sweet three-point bomb off of Johnson’s fingertips.
Ford and Johnson scored eight apiece to back Hesselgrave’s 13, with Wynn (4) and Ryan Griggs (3) rounding out the scoring tally.
Dante Mitchell, Desmond Bell, DeAndre Mitchell and Jared Helsmstadter all saw floor time, as well.
