Patience pays off for Lady Braves hoop team

Good things come to those who wait.

So it was that the La Conner High girls’ basketball team was rewarded for its patience when the Lady Braves routed Coupeville 63-31 in non-league action at Landy James Gym Friday night.

With the lopsided win, La Conner remained undefeated in eight starts on the campaign.

But, perhaps more important, the Lady Braves avenged a tough loss at Coupeville a year ago.

In that game, which saw senior point guard Kelley McClung sustain a season-ending injury, Coupeville broke open a tight contest with a 10-0 spurt that bridged the third and fourth periods.

The decisive run was ignited by Madeline Strasburg’s deep trey off glass as the third quarter buzzer sounded.

Strasburg led all scorers that night with 12 points.

But that was then.

The Lady Braves were eager to write a different script this time around.

“I think that game a year ago was definitely on their minds,” La Conner head coach Scott Novak said of his charges. “They came out focused and played excellent basketball from the outset. I think they definitely wanted to avenge that loss at Coupeville.”

As evidence, consider that Strasburg — who along with teammate Makana Stone crafted the 2014 Coupeville victory — was held scoreless on Friday.

Stone, who controlled the paint at Coupeville with nine points, eight rebounds, and three blocked shots, was often forced to the perimeter in the rematch at La Conner.

She led the visitors with 13 points, including an outside trey.

“Stone had a nice game,” conceded Novak, “but she had to work for everything she got.”

La Conner frontliners Adiya Jones and Anna Cook, by contrast, made the game look easy.

Jones finished with a game-high 18 points, including four of five free throws. She also grabbed eight rebounds — five of which were at the offensive end — and dished off a pair of assists.

Cook, meanwhile, chipped in 14 points and led all players with nine rebounds. And, in another display of La Conner’s deft interior passing, Cook recorded three assists.

Rarely did Coupeville have an answer for the Jones-Cook tandem in the blocks. When the Lady Wolves did sag defensively, in an attempt to stifle La Conner’s inside scoring muscle, the hosts landed knockout punches from the trey stripe.

Katie Novak joined Jones and Cook in double-digit scoring, meshing 12 points, including a pair of three-pointers.

Novak also notched four steals and fed teammates for three scores.

Nikaya Edwards also drained a trey and was one of seven La Conner players to reach the scoring column, with five tallies.

Kamea Pino, who led the Lady Braves with six assists, also had five points. So did Emma Christianson, who was three of four at the charity stripe and added an assist.

Ashley Watkins rounded out La Conner’s scoring with four points.

After waiting a year to get another shot at Coupeville, La Conner got off to a quick start, bolting to a 16-6 first period lead.

The Lady Braves built a convincing 25-point halftime margin courtesy a 21-7 second quarter run.

A major factor in the win, according to coach Novak, was La Conner’s near flawless execution of its offense.

The Lady Braves committed just 11 turnovers, and several of those miscues came long after the outcome had been decided.

“One of our team goals going into each game,” Novak said, “is to have under 15 turnovers, so to finish with 11 is outstanding.”

The Lady Braves will be looking for a similar effort when they resume NW2B play this Friday at Shoreline Christian.

La Conner brings a 3-0 conference slate into the 6 p.m. tipoff.