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Their record is perfect, but the La Conner High Lady Braves still look for ways to get better. “We’re always wanting to improve, to grow as a team,” veteran La Conner head coach Scott Novak said after his charges routed Auburn Adventist 60-23 last week. The focus that night was rebounding. Senior front-liner Anna Cook led all scorers with 16 points, yet surpassed that total on the glass. Cook grabbed a game-high 18 rebounds — most of those coming at the offensive end — to pace La Con...
The La Conner Braves didn’t stay down long after a tough 68-60 loss at Auburn Adventist last week. They rebounded by topping Mount Baker in a big non-league weekend test at home. And it was big on several levels. Not only did the Braves need to rebound from the Auburn setback, but La Conner knew going in it faced a tall order posed by Mount Baker’s front court tandem of Timothy Soares and T.J. Bass. The 6’8” Soares was coming off a 19-point, 18-rebound effort in Mount Baker’s 63-57 overtime...
Raymond High wasn’t Gull-ible enough to buy into talk this was a rebuilding year for the La Conner Braves. The Gulls instead spent all week prepping hard for Saturday’s first round State playoff matchup in Aberdeen with the NW2B Braves. Good thing they did. La Conner, behind senior quarterback Trey Johnson, unveiled a polished and balanced attack that produced four first half touchdowns and another score after the break while piling up nearly 450 yards in total offense. And, as events unf...
Theirs was a weekend business trip to Yakima, not one to work on tans. Yet the La Conner High Lady Braves returned home bronzed anyway. All of which made their annual stop at the Sun Dome yet another bright shining moment for one of Washington’s premier volleyball programs. La Conner, 21-4, captured the bronze medal at last week’s State 2B net trials, defeating District tourney rival Mossyrock in four sets to place third and finish in the hardware. And, in what certainly bodes well for the futur...
The third time’s a charm. The fourth, historic. At least that’s the case for the La Conner High football program, which earned a fourth straight trip to the State playoffs with a convincing 53-20 NW2B win Thursday at Orcas Island. It marks the first time in modern school history that Braves grid teams have qualified for post-season in four consecutive years, an elated La Conner head coach Johnny Lee said Sunday afternoon. “I did some research,” Lee confirmed, “and this senior class is the first one to make it to the playoffs all four years of...
If the journey of a thousand miles indeed begins with a single step, the La Conner High volleyball program has already made giant strides in its pursuit of another State net crown. The Lady Braves drove twice to Southwest Washington last week for District tourney tests against top-flight foes. They returned somewhat road weary, but geared up for another 2B title run. “We probably logged a thousand miles in a week for Districts,” said La Conner head coach Suzanne Marble, whose 18-3 club hits the road again tomorrow for Yakima. The Lady Bra...
Having already survived a rough road, the La Conner High volleyball team drives to Adna tonight for a key District net match with Napavine. Lady Braves head coach Suzanne Marble sees the long sojourn as merely another business trip for a 17-1 club looking to punch its ticket to Yakima and the State 2B Tournament next week. These Lady Braves, after all, are truly road warriors. They barely had time to savor twin NW2B league and tourney titles, plus the selection of senior captain Emma...
Conner High can once again zero in on a fourth straight post-season grid appearance. The Braves, who at one point in the campaign harbored only scant hopes of reaching the playoffs, find themselves clearly back in the mix. This by virtue of a convincing 17-0 home victory over Friday Harbor. By blanking the Wolverines, La Conner not only avenged an earlier 39-21 loss at Friday Harbor, but also improved to 5-2 in conference play going into tomorrow’s 1:30 p.m. NW2B finale on Orcas Island. S...
On a cold, gusty Saturday night in Bellingham, La Conner High head football coach Johnny Lee was blown away by his team’s ability to storm back from an early deficit. The Braves churned out nearly 250 yards on the ground and checked in with one of their best performances to date despite the blustery conditions, scoring three second half touchdowns to edge Bellingham 21-14 in non-league grid action at Civic Field. “It was a great win for us,” said Lee, whose club improved to 6-2 overall. “I re...
Game officials struggled with calls during much of La Conner High’s home soccer match against Orcas last week. Braves head coach Steve Deleon had less trouble making right calls, however. Two, in particular, were on target. The first was starting Matt Semrau in goal. Semrau let nothing past him, forcing a best-of-five shootout round after regulation play and two overtime periods ended in a scoreless deadlock. The second of Deleon’s spot-on calls was shifting senior Erick Reinstra to the net for...
It came as little surprise that the La Conner High football team hit on all cylinders Friday night. The Braves, after all, were cranked up having their Cam back. As in Cam Hansen, who had been sidelined by injury of late, a stretch that included last week’s tough loss at Concrete. Hansen returned on a limited basis to help ignite La Conner’s late season playoff drive, scoring a touchdown that lit a spark for a Braves’ attack that cruised to a 41-8 romp past league rival Darrington. With the w...
The La Conner High girls’ soccer team twice saved its best for last against NW2B rivals. And the timing couldn’t have been better. The injury-riddled Lady Braves kept their league title hopes alive and kicking with a pair of key comeback wins last week. La Conner, which improved to 5-1 in conference play, edged Mount Vernon Christian 3-2 after weathering a sluggish first half. The Lady Braves followed a similar script in their 4-1 Thursday triumph over Orcas. The twin wins set up a crucial home match with NW2B co-leader Friday Harbor tom...
La Conner High brought its ‘A’ game — and then some — to a major invitational volleyball tournament in Wenatchee on Saturday. The Lady Braves, fresh off a straight-sets win over league rival Orcas, placed fourth at Wenatchee in a field of 1A-4A net powers. “It was a great tournament for us at this point of the season,” La Conner head coach Suzanne Marble said afterward. “It really gave us a chance to see where we are.” And, for the most part, Marble liked what she saw. La Conner, the only 2B program in the tourney field, won...
La Conner High used a strong-arm attack to defeat a short-handed Orcas team for a key bounce-back win at home last Friday. Braves’ quarterbacks Trey Johnson and James Hulbert combined to complete 12 of 16 passes for 142 yards en route to a convincing 43-6 NW2B grid victory that kept La Conner in the thick of a third straight league title chase. Orcas, which suited up just 14 players, remained winless in conference play. For La Conner, it was a must-win of sorts, given that the Braves were c...
Both league net teams La Conner High faced last week wore purple-and-gold as the matches unfolded. But, by night’s end, Friday Harbor and Concrete each sported more of a black-and-blue look. That’s because the Lady Braves uncorked a potent one-two punch in flooring both NW2B rivals in straight sets. La Conner downed Friday Harbor 25-16, 25-17, 25-15. The Lady Braves hammered Concrete 25-4, 25-4, 25-10. With the twin wins, La Conner improved to 6-1 overall and have defeated three straight conference opponents. La Conner’s effort against Frida...
La Conner’s Isis Gamble battles for the ball during Friday’s non-league game against Sedro-Woolley. The Lady Braves were bested 3-0. – Photo by Amylynn RichardsLa Conner’s Isis Gamble battles for the ball during Friday’s non-league game against Sedro-Woolley. The Lady Braves were bested 3-0. – Photo by Amylynn Richards...
After serving up a steady diet of triumphs, the La Conner High football team finally tasted defeat with a tough NW2B loss at Friday Harbor last weekend. Still, the 39-21 road defeat wasn’t an entirely bitter pill for Braves head coach Johnny Lee to swallow. “Overall,” he said afterward, “I thought our effort was outstanding. But we kind of wore down in the second half and had some costly third down mistakes that made the difference.” Lee and his staff knew their club was in for a hard trial against a physical, battle-tested Friday Harbor te...
Winning at Darrington is never akin to a spin down Easy Street. So La Conner High volleyball players fastened their seat belts and braced for speed bumps when they faced the Lady Loggers last week in a key NW2B road test. And while the hosts controlled the match in spurts, the Lady Braves showed they were in it for the long haul, outlasting Darrington to escape with a hard-fought four-set conference decision. La Conner broke a 1-1 tie by winning the third and fourth sets by 25-21 and 25-17 margins, respectively. The Lady Braves had taken the...
Beating Bellevue Christian was pretty impressive, despite the lack of style points for a La Conner High team that fashioned a 22-7 non-league grid decision Friday to remain unbeaten in three starts. For the workmanlike Braves, the game was literally a grind. La Conner ground out nearly 300 yards rushing while moving the sticks and controlling the clock against their larger enrollment foes. Cameron Hansen paced the victors, carrying eight times for 148 yards and two touchdowns, including a 92-yard scoring dash in the first quarter. Hansen also p...
The odds seemed stacked against them, but the La Conner Braves had an ace up their sleeve in last week’s league soccer opener with Friday Harbor. That ace was defender Kyla Crawford, who shifted gears in the first half and in the process helped kick-start La Conner’s season with a hard-fought 2-1 victory. Crawford, who started the match on defense, was moved to offense after a Friday Harbor goal and eventually teamed with Isis Gamble to notch the tying score. Taylor Reimland later con...
Bigger isn’t necessarily better. The Woodinville and Squalicum high school volleyball teams have learned that lesson the hard way. The 2B La Conner Lady Braves schooled both larger campus squads in early season non-conference net action last week. The Lady Braves overcame a sluggish start to earn a straight-sets win over 4A Woodinville on Tuesday, then defeated Squalicum 3-1 two nights later. Heather Henriksen sparked La Conner at Woodinville, delivering 14 straight service points after the Lady Braves had fallen behind 6-0 in the opening s...
The undefeated La Conner High football team carved out an impressive clear cut win at Darrington Friday night. La Conner improved to 2-0 in NW2B grid action with a surprisingly easy 52-14 road triumph, turning in a sharp performance in all phases of the game. The Braves were coming off a tight 13-0 opening night win over Concrete, a match that was a physical slugfest throughout. But in the season’s second week, the Loggers literally ran into a buzz saw. It took the form of La Conner safety Budda Luna, making his debut at that spot but l...
In its first major trial of the season, the La Conner High defense didn’t rest. The Braves’ stop unit parlayed a huge fourth quarter goal line stand into a key 13-0 home verdict Friday over Concrete in the NW2B grid opener for both clubs. “I felt the kids played a great, all-around game, especially on defense,” La Conner head coach Johnny Lee said afterward. “I thought our defense tackled extremely well and was quick to the ball all game.” Seth Schuh, who paced the La Conner ground game, also...
They entered spring practices with plenty of question marks, given hefty graduation losses after successive playoff appearances. But if the new-look La Conner High football team doesn’t yet have all the answers or isn’t ready to issue any exclamation points, the Braves have made a statement over the course of a half dozen workouts. That being they have the talent to once again contend for a league title and post-season berth. It’s game experience — or lack of it — among many prosp...
It isn’t often someone leaves Las Vegas with more than they brought. But a La Conner native beat those odds last weekend. Mark Reynolds, who recently completed his first year as a teacher and coach in Bay City, Texas, returned from the Las Vegas area Sunday with his fifth powerlifting title belt. The belt is valued at $600, but what it represents means far more to the 25-year-old lifter. Reynolds took top honors at the Natural Athlete Strength Association USA Nationals Meet in Laughlin, N...
