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They had to shuffle their lineup, but a league hoops triumph was still in the cards for the La Conner High School Lady Braves at Friday Harbor Saturday afternoon. Minus two starters, including Skagit County leading scorer Ellie Marble, the visitors dealt the hosts a lopsided 76-31 NW1B/2B defeat. Seniors Makayla Herrera and Josie Harper each matched Friday Harbor's team point total with career best 31-point outings. Herrera's point production included her first two perimeter treys of the...
There's no doubting Thomas regarding the La Conner High School boys' basketball team's resurrected post-season hopes. Senior transfer Braden Thoma confirmed that in a big way at Friday Harbor Saturday, scoring a game-high 19 points to pace La Conner in a key 61-45 NW1B/2B win at Turnbull Gym. Thomas, making his sixth start after transferring from Anacortes, delivered two of the team's nine outside treys as they won their third straight game and squared their season mark at 6-6. La Conner has...
In a fast-paced, often physical non-conference home hoops clash with Clallam Bay Saturday afternoon when several players were flung to the floor – and one even crashed into the scorer's table – the La Conner Braves continued to raise the ceiling on their '22-23 campaign. The boys high school team recorded its second straight blowout win with a 67-22 romp past the Bruins, a nearly identical outcome to the previous night when the Braves posted a 67-27 triumph at NW1B/2B rival Concrete. With the tw...
The ending of La Conner High School's home girls' basketball game with Neah Bay last Tuesday is one fans would just as soon forget. But what happened at halftime will remain a fond memory for years to come. Several decades of Swinomish Indian Tribal Community members who played basketball at La Conner were honored during intermission of the much-anticipated non-league matchup, which the Lady Reds won on Amber Swan's no-look, over-the-head shot in the paint off an inbounds pass as the final...
Talk is usually cheap but for the La Conner High School girls' basketball team it paid huge dividends ahead of the Lady Braves' 79-2 NW1B/2B blowout win at Concrete Friday night. Coming off a tough two-game slide – close losses to 1B powers Mount Vernon Christian and Neah Bay – La Conner (8-3) amped up its defensive energy against the Lady Lions. "We had a pretty honest meeting Tuesday with the girls while watching our game film of Neah Bay," head coach Joe Harper said, referencing a hea...
The two-sport college athlete is a rare bird these days. But Skagit Valley College boasts one in Sarah Cook, who has excelled at both volleyball and basketball in her first year as a Lady Cardinal. An All-State selection in both sports at La Conner High School, where she graduated in 2022, Cook has seamlessly transitioned to collegiate athletics. At 5'-8", Cook was versatile enough to be listed as both an outside hitter and libero for the SVC volleyball program last fall. Her season highlights...
The Kiwanis Club of La Conner has chosen its November students of the month. Kendall Lee is the high school student for November. Her parents are Jason and Dawn Lee. Kendall is a sophomore at La Conner High School. She is her class ASB treasurer. She plays the flute in pep band and recently joined the knowledge bowl team. Kendall plays soccer and tennis both in school and outside of school. After graduation she would like to study emergency medicine. Kellie Cayou-Lockrem is the November middle school student. Her parents are Josh and Va...
When it came time for state officials to choose a Washington Interscholastic Activities Association Athlete of the Week for girls’ 2B basketball, the decision was pretty much a slam dunk in mid-December. La Conner’s Josie Harper was the clear choice. The senior point guard helped lead the high school Lady Braves to convincing wins against three larger schools, opening the ’22-23 campaign with an impressive 7-2 record despite playing a tough early non-conference schedule. Harper scored a game-high 30 points in a home triumph over 4A Jacks...
During her three decades at La Conner Schools, Suzanne Marble has established a level of excellence unrivaled satewide. Now the entire nation is aware. Marble, a member of the Washington State Coaches Association Hall of Fame who has guided La Conner teams to seven state volleyball titles---four since 2018---has been named a 2022 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Co-Coach of the Year. She shares the national honor with Diana Kramer of New Bremen High School in Ohio. Kramer’s teams have captured three Ohio state crowns in the p...
La Conner Schools Transportation Supervisor Kim Pedroza is leaving the school district for a similar post with the Stanwood School District. School Board President Susie Deyo formally recognized the many contributions Pedroza has made at the panel’s monthly hybrid meeting Friday morning. Pedroza will be hard to replace, a point underscored by transportation staff member Randy Swift, who juggles driving, maintenance and classroom instructional assignments. “Our coach has gone to Stanwood,” Swift lamented, “and we’re in the process of finding s...
'Tis the season to put-up Christmas trees. At school, it's also the time of year to remove diseased trees and trim back others that are intruding on campus buildings. La Conner School District staff will take out "five sickly trees" plus trim several more over the upcoming winter break. "Three of these sick trees will be removed from the front of the high school," district staff stated in a release last week, "and four others will be limbed back in that area. One tree will be removed from...
Mount Vernon Christian played well but needed an almost miracle to edge La Conner 65-61 in boys' hoops action at their home court Saturday. The Braves (3-5) had seemingly won the game when Isa Gonzales-Rojas sank two of three free throw attempts for a 56-55 lead with two seconds remaining in regulation. He had been fouled on a desperation three-point heave from midcourt. The winds of fortune then shifted in favor of the Hurricanes. Referees nixed the second of Gonzales-Rojas' made free throws...
Big school programs on the La Conner High School girls' basketball schedule have posed few issues for the Lady Braves. Not so with nearby small school rival Mount Vernon Christian, however. The Lady Hurricanes overcame a five-point halftime deficit to hand La Conner a 46-45 NW2B/1B setback at DeKok Court Saturday afternoon. La Conner was playing its third road game in three nights, having bested 4A Kamiak 68-45 Thursday and 2A North Kitsap 52-40 Friday. Mount Vernon Christian, the defending...
Just a handful of games into its schedule, the high school girls' basketball team is already in mid-season form. La Conner passed crisply, defended and rebounded tenaciously, repeatedly scored in transition and executed its high post-low post half-court offense to near perfection in an impressive 73-57 non-league triumph over 4A Skyline at Landy James Gym Saturday. Ellie Marble scored a game-high 25 points, Makayla Herrera registered a double-double and Josie Harper tallied 17 points – i...
The La Conner High School state championship volleyball team is truly in a class of its own. The netters were selected the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association Team of the Month for November among all 2B athletics programs in the state. "It's an incredible group that worked so hard to improve every day and their hard work and determination paid off by capping their 2022 season with a state title," said head coach Suzanne Marble. La Conner captured league, district and state crowns...
Another week, another slew of post-season honors earned by the state 2B champion La Conner High School volleyball program. As expected, senior outside hitter Ellie Marble, who led the Lady Braves to their fourth state title in five years, was named the 2B Player of the Year. The 6'-0" Marble is a top Central Washington University volleyball recruit. She dominated play at the 2022 State 2B Tournament in Yakima last month, totaling 92 kills and 101 digs and was 68 of 72 on serve receive over four...
They took silver, but La Conner Middle School players in the Skagit-Whatcom-Island-Snohomish-Hoops league girls' basketball tournament here Saturday were good as gold in the eyes of coaches Robert Hancock and Jamie Lam. The local team, comprised of seventh graders, advanced through a double-elimination bracket before falling to an eighth-grade entry in the finals of the SWISH championship tourney. La Conner got off to a strong start with a convincing 42-20 win over Sedro-Woolley. "I think this...
The La Conner High School girls' basketball team brought more than its "A" game to last week's home and road openers. The Lady Braves, under first-year head coach Joe Harper, bolted out of the gate with their "2A" game, easily downing Northwest Conference non-league foes Squalicum 50-23 at home Nov. 28 and Anacortes 62-42 Dec. 1. Ellie Marble and Josie Harper each scored in double figures to highlight the season debut at Landy James Gym. The hosts broke it open with a 32-11 run that buried...
La Conner and Wahkiakum are longtime foes in the athletic arena. Soon they might be allies on the judicial front. La Conner School Board President Susie Deyo raised that prospect during the panel’s 90-minute Nov. 28 hybrid meeting. Deyo asked that the board later this month support a resolution and modest financial contribution – perhaps $3,000. The Wahkiakum School District is suing the state government to extend the McCleary decision mandating basic education funding to include campus capital improvement projects. The state Supreme Court in...
The La Conner High School boys' basketball team broke into the win column Saturday with an 84-15 non-league home romp over Cedar Park Christian of Bothell, a multi-campus school with an enrollment topping 1,000 students. Isaiah Price scored a game-high 26 points and Ivory Damien added 24 to lead the victors, whose suffocating full-court pressure defense forced 21 steals enroute to a wire-to-wire triumph. The Braves shot 38 of 80 from the field – 34 of 58 inside the three-point line, mostly layup...
La Conner school board members approved a new district civility policy promoting mutual respect and a positive learning environment throughout the district at its Nov. 28 meeting. This builds on an earlier policy addressing student use of telecommunication devices as part of a campaign to curb bullying. Student school board representative Taylor-Rae Cayou said bullying issues related to uncivil behavior and mental health awareness were topics of discussion at the Washington State School Directors Association conference. “I’m excited you went (t...
Succeeding a Hall of Fame coach is a tall order, but fortunately for the La Conner High School girls' basketball program new mentor Joe Harper stands 6'-5". He takes over from Scott Novak, who guided teams to multiple state tournament appearances and trophy finishes during three decades. For much of his tenure here he coached the Braves and Lady Braves simultaneously. Novak, a 2015 state coaches Hall of Fame inductee, remains on the faculty. His longtime protégé and coaching assistant, Dustin Sw...
There's plenty of drama going on at La Conner Schools these days. Which is just fine, especially when blended in equal measure with comedy, stage craft and set construction. Theater arts, which boasts a long and storied tradition here, is back on campus after an intermission imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. A trio of young college- trained theater aficionados is welcoming La Conner students back to the stage twice weekly as an extracurricular program – similar to the format used in districts w...
It only seems fitting that the high school basketball team plans an up-tempo style this season. That's because the Braves have gotten the 2022-23 hoops campaign off to a running start thanks to logging nearly 80 off-season games. "It's a group that got to be together a ton in the off-season," head coach and athletics director C.J. Woods told the Weekly News. "When you get to be with a group that you enjoy being with, every day we get to play basketball is exciting." Building camaraderie before...
Ellie Marble delivered some big hits in Yakima for the state champion La Conner High School volleyball team this November. In turn, Marble was a big hit with Washington Interscholastic Activities Association officials. Marble was named the WIAA Athlete of the Week based on her play in leading the Lady Braves to a fourth consecutive 2B net title. A 6'-0" senior outside hitter, Marble totaled 92 kills and 101 digs and was 68 of 72 on serve receive over four matches at the SunDome. Marble and her t...
