The Coupeville High School boys basketball team roared back from a 16-point deficit but couldn’t hang on in a 49-46 loss at Cedarcrest Tuesday, Jan. 18.

The Wolves led 15-14 after the first period, then Cedarcrest took off. The Red Wolves led 27-21 at the break and upped the margin to 16 midway through the third quarter.

Now it was Coupeville’s turn. The Wolves rattled off 18 straight points to go in front with 3:30 to play. From there the game remained close.

Down by one with 30 seconds left, the Wolves had a chance to go in front, but Ian Smith’s 10-foot jumper bounced out. Coupeville fouled Zack Taylor and he drained two free throws to give the Red Wolves the lead 49-46 with 20 seconds left.

The Wolves had trouble getting a good look, and Nevin Miranda’s three-pointer at the buzzer missed.

Coupeville coach Randy King said the big comeback was spear-headed by a strong defensive effort: “We just shut them down, did a nice job defensively. We played a good man-to-man defense.” Cedarcrest came into the contest averaging 65 points per game.

King said Coupeville extended its defense and pressured the Cedarcrest guards, knowing if the Coupeville defenders got beat post Hunter Hammer was there to protect the hoop. King said, “We played hard, we played well.”

The Red Wolves double-teamed Hammer and limited the 6-7 center to six points, but Hammer still influenced the game.

Besides his defensive presence, he hauled in 20 rebounds, which helped limit the Red Wolves’ second-chance opportunities.

Tyler King picked up the scoring slack by hitting four three pointers on the way to a career-high 19 points. Ben Hayes added 14 points, Smith five and Miranda two.

Coupeville committed only seven turnovers.

The Wolves (2-6, 3-10) face King’s (5-3, 6-6) Friday, Jan. 21, at 5:15 p.m. Coupeville needs a win as it tries to catch the Knights and secure the No. 1 1A seed in district.