Winter Preview: Wolf Pack boasts talented returnees

Published 6:05 pm Friday, April 25, 2008

In his 16th season as Coupeville High School head boys basketball coach, Randy King has a talented core group of players returning to the lineup and is looking for some big things to happen in the Wolf Den this season.

“You could say I’m cautiously optimistic,” King said. “We’ve had a couple good weeks of practice and the team has been doing well so far.”

Last season, Coupeville had a tough time against opponents in the Class 1A/2A Cascade League, finishing with a 2-12 record and a 6-17 overall mark.

The Wolf Pack advanced to the opening round of the district playoffs where they suffered a heartbreaking 73-70 loss in overtime to Lynden Christian.

Six veteran players return from last season’s team including 6-6 senior Brian Miller who was voted a second team all-league player last year.

Joining Miller are seniors James Smith, an honorable mention all-league player last season, along with seniors Alex Evans and Kramer O’Keefe.

At 6-3, O’Keefe is another of the Wolves’ big players who is expected to have a major impact this season.

Junior returnees are Zepher Loesch and Geoff Walker, who both had a lot of court time last season as sophomores.

“We have quite a few players coming back,” King said. “We’ve got a lot of experience on this team and we’ve also got some height.”

New to the varsity squad this year are juniors Cody Peters and Zeb Williams, who played on the Coupeville junior varsity last year.

Peters stands 6-4 and should be a big asset to King’s front line.

“This year we have a good combination of shooters and ball handlers, and I think maybe we’ll be a little quicker and a little stronger than we were last year,” King said. “If we can play some good defense, we should be all right.”

King said the Wolves had their hands full in every game they played last year and he doesn’t expect much to change this season.

“The Cascade League has a number of strong teams and I think we should be right in there as well. I think we are going to have a competitive team playing in Coupeville this season and we are going to be ready to play every night,” he said

Coupeville opened the season Nov. 28 with a dominating 76-34 victory over Chimacum.

Coupeville plays host to the Aussie Travelers today, Dec. 1, in a 5:30 p.m. game.