Caleb Meyer knocks down a jumper for a Coupeville hoops squad which is now 9-0. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
Stay calm. Stay composed. Stay ferocious.
In this most trying of seasons, with each game day bringing with it the threat of postponement if the latest round of Covid testing doesn’t go right, they have endured.
They have united as more than a random group of players — meshing as a true team, willing to have a different hero each game, linked by history, driven by a pursuit of excellence, and thoroughly enjoying the moment.
And that’s why Coupeville High School is one of only two remaining unbeaten teams in 2B boys basketball.
Chief Leschi out of Puyallup is 11-0, and now the Wolves, after a major gut-check win Wednesday on Senior Night, is a pristine 9-0.
Knocking off visiting Friday Harbor 49-34 in a game in which it didn’t claim the lead until the third quarter, Coupeville also improved to 7-0 in Northwest 2B/1B League play.
That puts CHS two games up on Mount Vernon Christian (4-1) as it chases its first boys basketball league title since current head coach Brad Sherman was the one knocking down three-balls twenty years ago.
Wednesday’s win wasn’t a blowout, but it showcased how this fired-up Wolves squad can turn a game around at a moment’s notice.
Coupeville’s slow start was perhaps due to a temporary cold shooting touch.
Or perhaps it was the yearly pitfall of Senior Night, an emotion fest which often hobbles teams.
If so, the Wolves, who paid tribute to Class of 2022 teammate Bennett Boyles, who lost a battle with cancer in middle school, faced a tougher task than most.
Before the game began, fellow seniors Xavier Murdy, Caleb Meyer, Logan Martin, Grady Rickner, and Miles Davidson welcomed Bennett’s mom, Lucienne Rivera, to the floor, embracing her and their memories of her son.
CHS senior Hawthorne Wolfe, the three-ball droppin’ gunner who has worn Bennett‘s name on his basketball shoes, couldn’t be there in person, prevented access by Covid protocols.
But Hawk, like Bennett, was there in spirit.
“That win tonight was a big one for all of our seniors,” Brad Sherman said. “For the guys on the floor, and the ones who couldn’t be.
“They have all given so much to the program and we could not be more proud of them.”
Friday Harbor, which beat Coupeville by a single, solitary point twice last season, came out aggressive, while the Wolves couldn’t get the ball to stay in the bucket.
Meyer pulled off a dazzling drive down the baseline, carving up the defense for a three-point play the hard way, but CHS found itself trailing 12-6 at the first break.
For a team which has broken 30 points in the opening frame more than once this season, the lack of scoring was noticeable.
But Coupeville’s defense, sparked by the Marauding Murdy boys, Xavier and Alex, kept the visitors on their toes, and unable to pull away.
The Wolves also took advantage of Friday Harbor’s penchant for hacking, going to the free throw line on a regular basis beginning early in the second quarter.
Rickner, his body picking up an assortment of bruises along the way, hit five of six at the charity stripe, before Xavier Murdy rippled the nets on a three-ball from Dame Country to close out the half.
Still, as they went to the locker room, the Wolves were in unusual territory, trailing 20-18 in a low-scoring rumble.
There was a mild ripple of tension in the gym, a bit of a concerned look on the faces of former CHS hoops coaches like Ron Bagby and Willie Smith.
But then there was the preschooler tumbling end over end off the bottom row of the bleachers, laughing like a madman, to signal the approaching storm.
Coupeville’s players sprang out of the locker room with purpose in their step, and a glint in their eyes.
Had Sherman gone all Vince Lombardi on them at halftime? Or is this team just able to spark itself back to life?
Maybe a bit of both.
Meyer, who bounded across Coupeville courts through middle school, then went on a walkabout to hone his hoops skills in the big city, strode onto the hardwood, and pulled his teammates close.
Back to end his school days with the guys he grew up with, the last connection to my Videoville days whispered a few words, slapped a few butts, then flexed his biceps and stared down Friday Harbor.
At which point Meyer’s young companion, sophomore wild child Logan Downes — the Anakin to Caleb’s grizzled Obi-Wan, if you will — went ballistic.
A long jumper from the left side, a three-ball from even further back on the right side, then a bank shot on the run, and two free throws to shut the visiting crowd up nice and good.
Logan Downes was scorching in the second half Wednesday, raining down pain.
Downes couldn’t miss, and neither could the old guys, as Logan Martin, Meyer, and Xavier Murdy all rained down three-balls as the Wolves went for the jugular.
Friday Harbor got flustered, driven mad by the ever-snapping CHS defense, and the mistakes started piling up.
Passes went wide and high. Rebounds slipped away, or were yanked away by the Wolves. And the fouls continued to mount.
Once it had its groove back, Coupeville was unstoppable, running the lead out to 38-28 by the end of the third quarter, before opening the fourth quarter on an 11-0 rampage.
The final frame started with an X-Man trey from the top of the arc and closed when the Murdy brothers combined to force a turnover at midcourt which resulted in a breakaway bucket.
Friday Harbor scored the game’s final six points to make the score look slightly closer than reality, but the visitors exited the floor looking like they had a severe case of whiplash.
While all the three-balls dropping from the skies brought roars from the pro-Wolf crowd, the biggest cheer in the final moments came on the kind of play which perfectly captures this team’s mindset.
With his team up by 20 points, Meyer tore like a bat out of Hell down court, then nimbly darted in front of a rampaging Friday Harbor ballhandler, planted himself and waited for the explosion.
Drawing the offensive charge — which also fouled out his no-brakes-required rival — the curly-haired Wolf dynamo jumped to his feet, pumping his fist in glee.
Right along with every one of his coaches and teammates.
The defensive gem capped a night in which Coupeville once again spread out its offense.
Xavier Murdy topped all scorers with 15, while Meyer banked in 12 and Downes popped for all 11 of his points in the second half.
Rickner (7), Martin (3), and Alex Murdy (1) also scored, while Cole White got frisky on defense.
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