Wolves celebrate anniversay with win, but then fall to Klahowya / Boys basketball

Published 1:30 am Monday, January 22, 2018

The games were a century apart, but the results were the same — a lopsided win for the Coupeville High School boys basketball team.

The Wolves celebrated 101 years of basketball Friday, Jan. 19, with a resounding 81-34 win over Chimacum. The victory came in front of a large crowd of former Coupeville players invited back for the anniversary festivities.

Coupeville played its first game, a 29-7 thrashing of Langley, on the same day in 1917.

All those involved from past teams — players, coaches, support staff and cheerleaders — were honored at last Friday’s game.

At halftime, the top 15 scorers in Coupeville history and the district championship team of 1969-70 were featured. Current Wolf, Hunter Smith, moved into the top-15 list during the game and is now 14th with 761 points.

Those good times were quickly dashed the following afternoon when Coupeville lost a critical game to Klahowya 52-39 in Silverdale.

The win helped the Eagles remain in first place in the Olympic League with a 5-1 record, 10-7 overall.

Coupeville, at 3-3 (5-11), now sits in third, a game behind Port Townsend (4-2, 8-7).

The top two teams qualify for the postseason, which means the Wolves will have to win at Port Townsend at 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 26, to avoid elimination.

Coupeville and the Redhawks split two earlier games. The Wolves won in overtime 44-41 Dec. 12 at home but lost 55-27 at Port Townsend Jan. 9.

Coupeville 81, Chimacum 34

Coupeville coach Brad Sherman wasn’t sure how his team would respond to playing before a large gathering of former Coupeville stars — nervous or energized.

Energized it was.

Ethan Spark opened the game with a pair of three-balls and the Wolves hit six of their first seven shots to lead 14-2. They never let up.

Spark finished the first quarter with 11 points, including another three-pointer, Smith added 8 points and the Wolves led 21-4 going into the second period.

Four players — Spark, Smith, Jered Brown and Mason Grove — each scored at lead 6 points in the second quarter as the Wolves piled up 31 points and led 52-17 at the break. They put together a 22-3 run in the quarter.

Coupeville upped the lead to 68-27 going into the fourth quarter.

Spark ended up with 27 points and six three-pointers, and Smith had 20 points.

Grove, playing only two quarters, hit four three-balls and collected 14 points. Brown added 7 points, Cameron Toomey-Stout 5, Joey Lippo 5 and Hunter Downes 2.

Coupeville also won the junior varsity game 58-25, with Grove scoring 22 points off six three-pointers in two quarters.

“The guys came out really fired up to play,” Sherman said. “We shot well; we got good shots out of our offense, something we have really stressed.

“I like how we played as a team, both on offense and defense.

“It was really a fun night, a special night, for our team and for the former players.”

Klahowya 52, Coupeville 39

After all the offensive fireworks Friday night, the Wolves cooled off Saturday.

After trailing 16-9 in the first quarter, the Wolves outscored the Eagles 10-7 in the second and were down only 4, 23-19, going into the third period.

The Eagles held a slight lead, 27-25, midway through the third quarter, then finished the period on a 12-0 run to pull away.

Tim Coots led the charge, getting 10 of the 12 points.

The Wolves cut the gap to 7 but could get no closer as the Eagles secured the Olympic League win.

Coots finished with 21 points, 16 in the second half.

Smith scored 16 for Coupeville; Spark had 9, Grove 6, Toomey-Stout 3, Kyle Rockwell 3 and Downes 2.