The Coupeville boys basketball squad took its first step toward the goal of winning the Northwest A League crown with a convincing 62-46 victory over the Friday Harbor Wolverines last Friday night.
Led by senior forward Chris Good’s 15 points and 10 rebounds, the Wolves won their league opener in what will be the final opportunity for the nine seniors on the varsity squad to earn a league championship.
“I want us to play hard every game,” said Good after the contest. “We have a bunch of seniors on this team and it’s our last chance to win league.”
The Wolves jumped out to an 18-7 first-quarter lead over the Wolverines thanks to the quick start of guards Casey Clark and Brad Sherman. After Sean Callahan opened the scoring, Clark and Sherman hit three-pointers from opposite corners as the Wolves raced to a 8-3 lead. Good, the Wolves’ leading scorer on the season, then scored two straight buckets to extend the lead. Sherman then came back and drilled another three on an in-bounds play to make the score 15-5. The quarter ended with Friday Harbor in an 11-point hole.
After the game Callahan, who had 15 points on the night, praised the play of the Coupeville guards and the quick lead.
“When they’re on, it opens up so much for us,” he said. “We need them to keep doing that once the league gets rolling. I think that everyone plays much better when we’re playing with a lead.”
Friday Harbor made a little run in the second quarter to get the lead down to seven, but the Wolves’ interior was just too much for the Wolverines. Friday Harbor was tall, but lacked the bulk to contend with Coupeville’s big men. After Coupeville called a timeout, the 6-foot-3 Callahan scored on an assist from 6-foot-6 Brian Roundy. The next time down the court Roundy get a hoop of his own to make the score 31-20 at the half.
“Kids like (Brian) Roundy came in and extended the lead,” said head coach Randy King. “It was a nice team win. We played smart and had a nice balance.”
In the third, Good and Callahan began to chew up the Wolverines inside. Friday Harbor started to press and the Wolves took advantage by tallying several easy buckets.
“They were tall and they were pretty good down low, but we were just a more powerful force than them,” said Callahan.
Sherman then scored four quick points and grabbed a steal that led to a Good basket putting Coupeville up 50-30. The Wolves led by 22 at the end of the third quarter, and all that was left was running out the final eight minutes. With the game in hand, King put in his reserves and the starters were on the bench, an uncomfortable position for Good.
“I didn’t like it,” he said. “But it was good to get our first league win, now we’ve got to continue.”
The Wolves traveled to Concrete yesterday for another league game (results will be published in Saturday’s edition of the News-Times). Next up for the squad is an important meeting with the Orcas Island Vikings at home on Friday. Orcas knocked Coupeville out of a chance to go to the district tournament last season and several team members have pointed to the contest as an important one.
“The season has gone pretty good so far,” said Clark. “Orcas should be tough.”
