By DAVID SVIEN
Special to the News-Times
Every night a new milestone.
Or at least it may seem that way for Coupeville High School senior Logan Downes, as he chases his place among the Wolf hoops immortals.
The four-year varsity basketball player, and youngest of Ralph and Angie’s three sons, only has a few names from the past to catch, and seemingly plenty of time to get there.
Downes became just the sixth Wolf boy, and tenth player in school history, to crack the 1,000-point club, doing so in the first game of 2024.
Playing deep in the wilds of Darrington Jan. 5, in a gym straight out of the movie “Hoosiers” – complete with unique rounded backboards instead of the now-conventional square ones — he slashed to the basket at the end of the first quarter.
Beating the buzzer, and the three Loggers defenders who tried, and failed, to close off the paint, Downes slapped home one more layup, this one lifting him from 999 to 1,0001 points.
While he didn’t get much more activity that night, with Wolf coach Brad Sherman moving his starters to the bench to watch the rest of a 72-30 rout, Coupeville’s gunner wasn’t done.
He popped for 30 more points back at home Jan. 8, as Coupeville upended previously-unbeaten Auburn Adventist Academy 69-57 in a showdown of two of the best teams in the 2B classification.
The non-conference win lifted the Wolves to 9-2 on the season, and has Downes sitting with 1,035 points.
He passed two more greats from bygone eras with his performance against the big city brawlers, sliding past ’70s big man Jeff Rhubottom (1,012) and ’50s man-mountain “Big” Mike Criscuola on the CHS boys all-time scoring chart.
Coupeville is in its 107th season of boys’ basketball, and Downes has just three players ahead of him – Randy Keefe (1,088) and co-leaders Jeff Stone and Mike Bagby, who, against all odds, each tallied exactly 1,137 points.
Stone, who went on to a long career at Oak Harbor High School as a coach, teacher, and athletic director, piled up his points in three seasons – Coupeville had a junior high in the late ’60s and 9th graders weren’t eligible to play high school ball – while Bagby played four.
With the Wolves chasing a second trip to the state tourney in the last three seasons, Downes is averaging a hair over 23 points a night.
Maintain that pace, and the silky sniper will bust the career scoring mark in his own gym.
Weather permitting, Coupeville traveled to Orcas Island Friday night for a league rumble, then heads back to Cow Town for four straight home games.
The Wolves host La Conner (Jan. 16), Mount Vernon Christian (Jan. 19), Neah Bay (Jan. 20), and Concrete (Jan. 23) in consecutive games.
If Downes catches Stone and Bagby, it will give him the CHS boys record, though he could then pivot and chase the top three scorers in school history – female stars Brianne King (1,549), Novi Barron (1,270), and current Norwegian pro hoops star Makana Stone (1,158).
