Summer no vacation for new-look Braves hoop team

School let out on Monday, but there’s little rest ahead for the La Conner Braves basketball team.

Players have already begun cracking open their dictionaries — at least figuratively — as the new-look squad seeks to define itself during a hectic 25-game summer slate, followed in July by open gyms and individual workout sessions.

The La Conner program has taken numerous big hits to graduation the last three years, so June once again will be a time for experimentation.

Veteran head coach Scott Novak is hopeful that in the next couple weeks his charges can blend together and develop a winning chemistry that carries over to the 2014-2015 campaign.

The season ahead, with Friday Harbor dropping down to the 2B ranks, will likely feature a tougher league title race. And then a dangerous Auburn Adventist club looms in the post-season, one which apparently will offer fewer Regional tourney berths due to District realignments.

La Conner bowed out at Regionals last year after having placed fourth in the State Tournament in 2013.

The Braves must replace a senior group led by leading scorer Hudson Zavala and inside threats Cameron Sherman, Sean Hulbert, and Wil James.

A reshuffled lineup means the La Conner attack should look somewhat different next winter.

“Hudson,” explains Novak, “had the ability to create offense if we got bogged down. Right now, we’re probably looking at having to score by committee.”

The good news is the Braves seem to have plenty of options to bring to the table.

La Conner, for instance, defeated Granite Falls 33-32 in a comeback thriller Thursday, sealed when Cameron Hansen hit a step-back trey on a pick-and-pop play with seven seconds to play.

The Braves had trailed the entire game and were coming off an earlier summer league loss to the 2A Tigers.

“We did a lot of good things in the second half,” said Novak, who substituted liberally throughout.

La Conner entered the game shorthanded, playing minus projected starting guard Matt Finley, a lockdown defender, and athletic Wilson Crawford, a fine perimeter shooter.

But depth favored the Braves.

Sophomore guard Scott Lindeman hit a pair of deep three-pointers and delivered several nice passes, playing what Novak called “his best game of the summer.”

Hansen, who hit the game-winner, has a skill set perhaps most similar to that of Zavala. He can either run the point or swing to shooting guard.

“He’s a good, solid player,” Novak says of Hansen. “He can do a lot of different things.”

Returnee Taylor Swanson is what Novak calls a steadying influence in the backcourt.

“He’s poised and handles pressure well,” says Novak, “and we seem to play better when he’s in there. He makes us a better team.”

La Conner got an unexpected lift Thursday from Erick Reinstra, a crafty, 5’-11” swing player who played extended minutes despite donating bone marrow to his sister, Ashlyn, earlier in the week.

“Erick has really good basketball instincts,” Novak says, “and has an uncanny ability to get inside against taller defenders.”

Taylor Ebersole, like Lindeman, rose to the occasion against Granite Falls.

“It was definitely one of his better games,” says Novak. “The thing about Taylor is he can play inside or he can go outside and face the basket.”

Post players Zach Harris and Logan James patrolled the paint, managing to cover lots of space when La Conner went to match-up zone and box-and-one defensive looks in the second half of the Granite Falls game.

“They’re both hard workers who can be a presence in the middle,” Novak says.

Brady Nelson, likewise, played well defensively.

“He’s another good defender,” says Novak, “who can also score the ball a little bit.”

Sophomores James Hulbert and Buda Luna will bring quickness and athleticism to the mix, Novak says, while baseball standout Max Miller is another candidate on a roster of interchangeable parts to float between the backcourt and front line.

“At this point,” says Novak, “it’s pretty safe to say that once again we’ll need to be a good defensive and rebounding team that’s strong fundamentally.”

The work the Braves put in this summer, he says, will go a long way toward determining if La Conner passes that test.