Underdog Wolves don’t go quietly in loss to South Whidbey / Boys basketball

By Jim Waller • January 21, 2019 1:30 am

Although the South Whidbey High School boys basketball team defeated host Coupeville 64-43 Friday, Jan. 18, the 21-point win was no cake walk for the favored Falcons.

The game was the annual Coaches versus Cancer event, and fans donated $483.20 to Project Violet at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The Coupeville boys honored Bennett Boyles, a former Coupeville middle school basketball player who died from cancer in 2017, in the pregame ceremonies.

“In our talk before the game, we discussed keeping with the theme of the night,” Coupeville coach Brad Sherman said. “There is a lot more to life than basketball, so we told the kids to enjoy the game, smile a little bit and show some fight.”

Fight, the Wolves did. Coupeville entered the game with a 2-10 record and heavy underdogs to the 11-5 Falcons. South Whidbey established an early lead, but Coupeville would not fold.

“We were honoring someone who went through the fight of his life, and his family, too,” Sherman said.

South Whidbey (4-2, 11-5), leading 12-10, went on a 9-0 run that spanned the first and second quarters to go up 21-10. From that point, the lead hovered around 10 until late in the game as the Wolves wouldn’t back down.

The Falcons led by 12 at halftime, 32-20, and at the end of the third quarter, 49-37.

Coupeville’s Jered Brown opened the fourth period with a three-pointer, trimming the deficit to 9, 49-40. The Wolves would get no closer, scoring only 6 points in the period as South Whidbey pulled away behind 8 points from Kody Newman.

“It was a very competitive game,” South Whidbey coach Mike Washington said. “There was a spirit in the air.

“Coupeville has improved a lot; they got after it.”

Freshman Hawthorne Wolfe, a middle school teammate and friend of Boyles, led Coupeville with 17 points, including three three-pointers. Sean Toomey-Stout added 9 points, Gavin Knoblich 5, Ulrik Wells 4, Brown 3, Mason Grove 3 and Jakobi Pilgrim 2. Knoblich and Brown each sat a large chunk of the game because of foul trouble.

Newman, the Falcons’ do-everything guard, finished with 33 points, nine rebounds, four steals and three assists.

“I am really proud of our guys,” Sherman said. “We were scrappy, diving for balls, working hard.

“I thought South Whidbey played well. It was a good basketball game; two teams fighting hard.”

Coupeville (1-5, 2-11), which continues to hold fifth place in the North Sound Conference and the final of five playoff berths, entertains first-place King’s (7-0, 13-4) at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 22.