Cole White tossed in 11 points Thursday in a narrow loss to King’s. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
What’s a Dollar worth? About 19 points and a win, that’s what.
Sparked by the son of former UCLA great Cameron Dollar, King’s Junior High eked out some payback against Coupeville Middle School Thursday, avenging an early season boys basketball loss to the Wolves.
With Jalen Dollar, who wasn’t eligible the first time around, pouring in 19 of his team’s points, the Knights held off a scrappy CMS 7th grade varsity squad, escaping with a 28-25 win in Shoreline.
The elder Dollar played four seasons at UCLA, helping the Bruins win three Pac-10 crowns and a 1995 national title.
He was a major factor in the championship win, an 89-78 upset of defending champs Arkansas in a game played in front of 38,540 fans at Seattle’s Kingdome.
UCLA star Ed O’Bannon, who was the tourney’s Most Outstanding Player, threw down 30 points and snared 17 boards, but it was Cameron Dollar who was singled out for special praise by coach Jim Harrick afterwards.
Stepping in when starting point guard Tyus Edney went down with an injury in the first half, Dollar finished with a game-high eight assists and four steals.
After his playing days ended in ’97, the Bruin legend became a coach and has worked at seven different NCAA schools over the past 20 years. He’s currently an assistant at the University of Washington.
The loss drops Coupeville to 2-4 on the season, but Wolf coach Greg White and his players weren’t hanging their heads after going toe-to-toe with the big boys.
“Tough loss tonight, but the boys actually played their best game of the season,” he said. “They moved the ball well against a press.”
The Wolves hung tough all game, trailing by just a bucket at the half.
King’s used an 11-7 surge in the third quarter, with Dollar dropping a pair of three-balls, to put some room between the teams, only to see Coupeville put together an 8-5 run of its own in the fourth.
Cole White poured in a season-high 11 to pace the Wolves, while Logan Downes popped for nine and William Davidson slapped home five.
Ryan Blouin, Zane Oldenstadt, Nick Guay, Mikey Robinett, and Quinten Pilgrim also saw floor time for Coupeville.
7th grade JV:
The second unit didn’t generate a ton of offense, but played pretty well on defense in an 11-2 loss.
Robinett banked home Coupeville’s lone bucket, while Pilgrim, Justin Wilkinson, Alex Clark, Timothy Nitta, Andrew Williams, and Chris Villarreal were all in action for CMS during the two-quarter game.
8th grade varsity:
Mitchell Hall continues to captivate, but not even he was enough to quell a fierce Knights squad which stormed to a 51-22 win.
The loss drops the Wolves to 1-5.
Hall, who has come on strongly in the past few games, tossed in eight points to pace CMS, while Levi Pulliam knocked down a pair of buckets in support.
Dominic Coffman and Alex Wasik each added three, with Coffman drilling a trey, Alex Murdy and Kevin Partida had a basket apiece and Ty Hamilton, Josh Upchurch, and Jesse Wooten chipped in with hustle and hard work.
All three Coupeville teams return home for their next game, with Northshore Christian scheduled to travel to Whidbey Dec. 4.
Coupeville Sports 