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Sarah Cook was a multiple sports standout at La Conner High School, and she is enjoying similar success as a freshman at Skagit Valley College. After a stellar volleyball season with SVC last fall, Cook joined the Lady Cardinals basketball team and helped Skagit post a 17-12 mark and secure a Northwest Athletic Conference playoff berth. As a result, Cook was a second unit selection to the 2023 NWAC North All-Region Team. She filled the SVC stat sheet much as she did while at La Conner. Cook...
La Conner High School junior Tommy Murdock has picked up where he left off last year. Which is in the winner's circle. Murdock, the reigning Washington state class 2B 300-meter hurdles champion, opened the 2023 track and field season by sweeping two hurdles events in a 10-school invitational meet at Whittaker Field last Wednesday. Murdock captured his signature event, the 300 hurdles, with a 0:42.75 finish. He also took top honors in the 110-meter hurdles, clocking a winning time of 0:16.32. He...
There was a definite chill in the air but the Braves still managed to swing hot bats late in their non-league baseball home game with Northwest Christian Thursday afternoon. La Conner squared its early season mark at 1-1 by scoring five runs in the final two innings to record an 8-7 comeback triumph. Middle infielder C.J. Edwards sparked rallies in the fifth and sixth frames by drawing lead-off walks and coming around to score each time. In the fifth, with La Conner trailing 7-3, Edwards advanced to third when a sharp grounder from Kaleb Otis w...
The high school girls' basketball team saved its best for last in Spokane last week. The sixth-seeded Lady Braves, fueled by a monster second half from game-high scorer Ellie Marble, erased a 10-point fourth quarter deficit to beat Adna 52-46 Saturday morning to claim fourth place at the Washington state 2B Hardwood Classic. Down 39-29 early in the final stanza, the team staged an improbable comeback to match the team's finish at Spokane last year. "It was fantastic and so much fun," said first...
Public education has evolved far beyond the traditional three r’s – readin’, ritin’ and ‘rithmetic. At La Conner Schools three other letters – C, T and E – are helping spell success for students. CTE is the abbreviation for Career Technical Education, an increased district emphasis the past few years, most notably Daniel Castillo’s home construction class that is building a tiny house. The program’s mission hasn’t gone unnoticed. The La Conner Rotary Club donated $1,000 to the district’s CTE curriculum, gratefully accepted by school bo...
They hit a roadblock in Chehalis Friday, but the path to Spokane this week is again clear for the La Conner High School girls' basketball team. The No. 6 La Conner Lady Braves fell 52-44 to third-seeded Napavine in state regional basketball action at W.F. West High School over the weekend, sending head coach Joe Harper's charges into a loser-out round of 12 matchup today at 3:45 p.m. against No. 11 Northwest Christian of Colbert at the Spokane Arena. The winner advances to the state...
Turnabout is fair play. After having lost two tense games to conference hoops foe Coupeville – one on a desperate three-point buzzer beater – the underdog La Conner Braves avenged themselves with a dramatic 63-61 triumph Thursday, securing an improbable bi-district title and state tournament berth. La Conner, seeded 15th out of 16 state entries, faces No. 10 Chief Leschi this weekend in a loser-out contest. The winner advances to the state 2B Hardwood Classic round of 12 March 1 at the Spo...
The girls' basketball team is going back to Spokane. Winners of the Northwest Bi-District title, they were seeded sixth in the 16-team state girls 2B Hardwood Classic. They face No. 3 Napavine in first round regional action this weekend. The winner advances to the Spokane Arena March 2 against either Davenport, Raymond, Adna or Warden. The loser tips off March 1 opposite Forks or Northwest Christian of Colbert. La Conner (19-4) enters state action after Coach Joe Harper's team drubbed NWC-Lacey...
It was an up and down night for La Conner High School basketball teams at Coupeville to end the regular season Feb. 7. The girls team improved to 17-4 overall and 7-1 in league action with a convincing 48-22 triumph despite resting Skagit County leading scorer Ellie Marble, who is nursing a lower back strain in advance of bi-district playoffs this week. With Marble, a 6'-0" senior power forward scoring at a 22.0 point per game clip unavailable, coach Joe Harper's charges did much of their...
Funny the difference a few days makes. The La Conner Braves started last week suffering one of their toughest defeats Jan. 31, a humbling 56-31 home loss to Mount Vernon Christian. They rebounded quickly, first posting an amazing comeback home win Feb. 3 over conference foe Friday Harbor, clinching a 2B bi-district playoff berth. They earned a earned a moral victory the next night in a hard-fought loss to 2A Burlington-Edison. "These kids play hard, real hard and it's starting to pay off,"...
Though shorthanded at times, the La Conner High School Lady Braves held the upper hand in three lopsided hoops wins last week. La Conner defeated 1A Meridian and NW1B/2B rivals Mount Vernon Christian and Friday Harbor by double digits to improve to 16-4 going into last night's late action at league foe Coupeville. The 65-18 weekend home victory over Friday Harbor was especially impressive since the team was without injured point guard Shaniquah Casey and leading scorer Ellie Marble saw only...
After losing last second heartbreakers to Coupeville and Orcas Island, the La Conner Braves flipped the script and won a hard-fought 58-54 non-conference hoops battle with Tulalip Heritage at Landy James Gym Saturday night. Ivory Damien scored a game-high 23 points and Braden Thomas added 21 to assure a happy ending for the Braves and their fans. But Tulalip provided plenty of drama before the curtain fell. The Hawks, trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half. They pulled to within...
After being eclipsed by one of the state's budding shooting stars, the La Conner High School Lady Braves brightened their prospects for a deep post-season run with a stellar 81-77 win at 4A Skyview in Vancouver, WA. Saturday afternoon. La Conner (13-4 overall) rebounded from a 79-54 setback Friday night to 4A Union High and its freshman phenom Brooklynn Haywood, who at 14 already has scholarship offers. Haywood poured in a Union school record 50 points – including seven three-pointers and a p...
The La Conner Braves went from heartache to heartened in 48 hours last week. The high school team (7-7) rebounded from a tough 57-56 home loss to Coupeville Wednesday with a 64-14 blowout win over Darrington at Landy James Gym Friday night. With the two-game split, La Conner was 3-2 in NW1B/2B play before last night's conference action at Orcas Island. The lopsided Darrington triumph helped take the sting out of the last-second setback to the Wolves, which was no ordinary one-point defeat. It...
There was plenty of highlight reel material when the La Conner High School girls' basketball team swept conference foes Coupeville and Darrington at home last week. The Lady Braves routed Coupeville 72-16 Wednesday and romped past Darrington 69-9 Friday, extending their winning streak to four games and improving to 11-3 going into Tuesday's action at Orcas Island. "Those two games gave us the opportunity to get playing time for everyone," said head coach Joe Harper. "It was also a chance for us...
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...
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...
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...
