Basketball teams will always play more relaxed if they get off to a good start.

Friday evening, the Coupeville boys hosted Granite Falls in a Cascade Conference matchup and the game resulted in a big 69-52 victory for the Wolves.

Jumping out to a 9-0 lead after the opening tipoff, coach Randy King said the Wolf Pack got off to a good start and kind of kept it rolling after that.

“It’s nice to get out in front with a lead and then build on it,” he said.

Coupeville doubled up on the Tigers in the first quarter taking an 18-9 lead and by halftime, extended the margin to 36-23.

The Wolves continued their consistent scoring in the third period putting up an additional 18 points, which allowed King to empty the bench for the final period of play.

“Everybody contributed and it was nice to be able to get the reserve players in the game in the fourth quarter,” he said.

J.D. Wilcox tied for game-high scoring honors with 13 points and Cody Peters added 10 for the Wolves.

Hunter Hammer, Geoff Wacker and Zeb Williams scored eight points each for Coupeville and Jason Bagby had six points.

Brad Beard and Thomas Knudson scored 13 and 10 points respectively for Granite Falls.

“Tonight was a good outing for us,” King said.

King’s 60, Coupeville 43

Playing against always strong King’s High School on the road Saturday night, the Wolves had a tough time against the Knights.

The Wolves played well in the first half of the game, but came up on the short end of a 60-43 score.

“I thought we played as well as we are capable of playing in the first half,” coach King said.

Down by a single point, 22-21 at halftime, Coupeville was out-scored 19-10 in the third period as the Knights began to pull away.

“They put more defensive pressure on in the second half and that was the difference,” King said. “We committed 10 turnovers in the second half and that doomed us.”

Peters scored a double-double in the game with 15 points and 15 rebounds.

“This game was a measuring stick for us to see where we are and what we need to do for the rest of the season,” King said.

Coupeville is 1-2 in league games and 4-5 overall.

Ryan Hoff scored a game-high 18 points to pace King’s.