Same song, difference verse.

Ball-handling woes once again undercut a strong physical effort by the Coupeville High School boys basketball team in the Wolves’ 69-39 home loss to Cedarcrest Friday, Dec. 7.

The Red Wolves’ press forced numerous turnovers early and Cedarcrest sprinted to 20-8 and 38-14 leads in the first two quarters. They led 60-27 after three in the Cascade Conference opener for both schools.

Coupeville coach Anthony Smith said his kids played hard, but they “have to play together.”

Cedarcrest’s pressure wasn’t the only problem, Smith said. The press picked up the pace of the game and Coupeville didn’t handle the speed well: “They made us go fast and we made mistakes. It was just up and down with no structure.”

Offensively, the Red Wolves “live or die” by the three-point shot, according to Smith. “They don’t have much of an inside presence, so they like to shoot the three.”

Cedarcrest (1-0, 1-4) knocked down eight treys in the win.

Smith lauded the effort of Nick Streubel, who picked up a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Carson Rinser had six points, Josh Wilsey five, Drew Chan four, Caleb Valko four, Aaron Trumbull two and Aaron Curtin two.

Smith said, “We’ll keep plugging away. That’s our motto, we will play hard.”

Coupeville (0-1, 0-4) entertains Lakewood (0-1, 1-3) at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 11.