In his 17th season running the Coupeville High School boys basketball program, coach Randy King said he is enthusiastic about the team’s prospects for success.

Last year the Wolves finished 7-7 in Cascade Conference games and 11-10 overall, including a big victory over Oak Harbor in a non-league game early in the season.

Coupeville advanced to the regional tournament and lost 46-36 to Friday Harbor in the opening round.

A number of starting players graduated, but King said he has a good core group of players returning to the lineup.

“I think we are going to have a better overall team than we did last year,” he said.

Seniors Cody Peters and Zepher Loesch are returning and King said both those players are going to be the “big guns” for the Wolf Pack this season.

“Cody is a lot more aggressive than he was last year and Zepher is a strong player who did a good job during the summer season,” King said

Also returning are juniors J. D. Wilcox and Jason Bagby.

“J. D. is a heck of a defensive player,” King said. “We also have a lot kids who played on the junior varsity last year coming back. They all can shoot and play a little bit.”

These players include juniors Chad Brookhouse, Tim Walstad and Erick King, along with sophomores Hunter Hammer, Tyler King and Ian Smith.

“We have a strong sophomore class and good senior leadership. That is going to be a key for us,” coach King said.

Other players who are expected to have an impact this season are seniors Geoff Wacker and Zeb Williams.

Coupeville plans on doing lots of different things this season with the talent it has and playing some exciting basketball.

“We have good quickness and a lot of strength inside,” coach King said.

King said there are several good teams in the Cascade Conference this season and the Wolves are one of them.

“I feel we are going to be in deep every night and I think we can play with everybody in our league,” he said. “I’ve got the feeling that the team is going to lay it out there every night.”

Coupeville plays its first game on the road at Darrington Friday, Dec. 5, and returns home Tuesday, Dec. 9, to face La Conner. Varsity tipoff against La Conner is set for 5:30 p.m.