Braves blast Concrete for District hoop title

La Conner’s quest for a District boys’ hoop crown was anything but carved in stone early in the Braves’ title matchup with Concrete at home Friday night.

But while Concrete rocked in the first quarter, building an early 11-4 lead, the Braves eventually rolled to a convincing 66-38 triumph before a large crowd at Landy James Gym.

The upset-minded Lions were ultimately buried by a landslide of deep treys launched by La Conner three-point specialist Skylar Krueger, who led all scorers with 22 points, many coming during a pivotal stretch spanning the second and third periods.

Krueger hit four straight free throws that were part of a key six-point swing midway through the second frame that erased an 18-14 Concrete edge.

The sequence began when Krueger drew a shooting foul contested by the Lion bench. The visitors were slapped with a technical foul for putting up too strong an argument.

Krueger promptly sank both the two-shot technical and regular free throws.

The Braves maintained possession and scored again on a short jumper by Sean Hulbert, who finished with six points and seven rebounds — one of 11 La Conner players to land in the scoring column — and the Braves were suddenly in front 20-18.

They never looked back.

Cameron Hansen, who played superbly in the backcourt with 13 points and six assists, followed with a trey and foul shot. Then Krueger netted two more charity tosses as La Conner extended its lead to 26-18.

Dylan Clark kept Concrete in contention at the break with a buzzer-beating jumper.

Clark was the only Lion to reach double-digits, tallying 11 points.

But after trailing just 26-20 at intermission, Concrete managed only five field goals in the second half.

Krueger, meanwhile, went on a scoring binge.

The senior marksman knocked down successive treys that gave La Conner a 34-27 cushion four minutes into the third stanza.

The lead quickly stretched to double figures when Hulbert and Cameron Sherman scored in traffic courtesy pinpoint passes from Hansen, and Krueger meshed yet another three-pointer.

The score began to get out of hand when Hudson Zavala, who netted 10 points, scored on a layup and old-school three-point play, and Hanson and Erick Reinstra each hit buckets.

Taylor Swanson’s trey with just under two minutes to play pushed La Conner’s lead to 30, and all of a sudden, it was hard to remember Concrete had been in command for much of the first half.

Things changed just that quickly.

“The main thing is we didn’t panic when we got behind early,” Braves’ head coach Scott Novak said afterward. “We stuck with our game plan and continued to go to our strengths.”

One of those strengths was the outside shooting of Krueger.

“I’m pretty excited about this win,” Krueger said. “The team really played well after a slow start. I have to give all the credit to my teammates. When I’m hot, they’re always looking to get me the ball.

“We’re all really excited to get to play again at home,” Krueger stressed.

The Braves, now 16-5, advance to host a yet-to-be-determined opponent later this week in Bi-District play. The game will be either Thursday or Friday, depending upon the status of Auburn Adventist.

Novak took pleasure in being able to savor what he called “a total team win.” The La Conner mentor praised his entire roster, and noted the spark provided by Hansen, Reinstra, and senior frontliner Wil James.

“These are guys who can do multiple things for us,” he said. “Cameron and Erick can give us scoring if we need a boost offensively, and Wil is such a smart player, who always makes good things happen.”

La Conner is hoping even more good things are on the horizon as the Braves push deeper into post-season.