LAKEWOOD — Knowing that his Cougars were shorthanded, coach Matt Hart decided to create disarray on the defense end.

“Our game plan going in was to press and create havoc,” Hart said.

True to their coach’s strategy, the Cougars’ manic pace threw off the rhythm of Coupeville, unfortunately it threw off their own as well in a 54-35 Cascade Conference loss Jan. 14.

Defenses ruled the night as Coupeville’s 1-3-1 zone threw off Lakewood early on — so much so that they had periods where all five players would go a whole possession without looking for a shot.

“We didn’t anticipate that zone that they ran and I think that threw everybody off a little,” said Hart.

Coupeville used that to its advantage, getting a pair of starters, Caleb Graves and Tre Haslom in foul trouble and jumping out to a 27-13 halftime lead.

Putting on the pressure to start the second half, the Cougars began with a 7-0 run, but couldn’t maintain their own hectic pace and continued to fall behind.

Lakewood was without senior posts Tre Haslom and Dillon Knot, who were desperately needed as Coupeville’s strong suit was posts.

“They have four legitimate players out there and we were worried about those posts getting the ball too much,” Hart said.

The quick tempo did keep the ball out of the big men’s hands, but that didn’t keep Coupeville from scoring.

That combined with the Cougars’ 28 percent shooting from the field and 12 turnovers did them in.

Leading Lakewood on offense were Tre Haslom and Justin Peterson, who scored nine points apiece.