Sloppy start sinks Wolves / Boys basketball

By Jim Waller • January 20, 2020 1:30 am

A disastrous start derailed the Coupeville High School boys basketball team in a 64-50 loss at South Whidbey Friday, Jan. 17.

The Falcons, thanks to four Coupeville turnovers, raced to a 14-0 lead before the Wolves attempted their second shot.

Erase those 14 points and Coupeville played even with their island rivals.

Coupeville’s Mason Grove finally broke South Whidbey’s starting scoring string with a three-pointer.

South Whidbey’s Carson Wrightson scored 10 points and Dexter Jokinen and Sterling Patton each hit two three-balls in the Falcons’ big opening quarter, and South Whidbey led 23-11 going into the second period.

Wrightson and Patten combined to score all 15 South Whidbey points in the second quarter to help the Falcons take a 38-18 lead into the locker room.

Grove pumped in two three-pointers in each of the third and fourth quarters as Coupeville outscored the Falcons 32-26 the second half.

South Whidbey’s lead ballooned to 28 points midway through the third quarter before the Wolves finished the period on a 16-5 run to trim the deficit to 17, 53-36.

Two buckets by Koa Davison got the Wolves within 12, 60-48, with 2:57 left in the game.

Grove finished the game with seven three-balls and 23 points. Xavier Murdy and Jered Brown both scored 7, Davison 6, Sean Toomey-Stout 5 and Jacobi Pilgrim 2.

Ulrik Wells, the Wolves starting post, was ill and missed the game.

Wrightson and Patten each scored 23 points for South Whidbey (3-1, 11-3).

“We came out slow, but I love the way we responded,” Coupeville coach Brad Sherman said. “We had a ton of energy in the second half and fought hard against a good basketball team.”

“We got quality minutes from a lot of guys,” he added.

Coupeville (1-1, 4-7) faces a rugged week. They host Cedar Park Christian (2-3, 7-7) at 5:45 p.m. Monday, Jan. 20, and then travel to Bothell to face the Eagles again at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 24. In between, the Falcons head to first-place King’s (4-0, 8-7) at 6:45 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 21.