Lady Braves rebound, claim State bronze at Spokane

Oh, so close.

Those three words best sum up the finish to a splendid 26-1 La Conner High Lady Braves hoop campaign, the best mark in program history.

Coach Scott Novak’s charges traveled more than 300 miles to come within a scant few seconds of vying for a coveted State 2B title at the Spokane Arena last week.

The Lady Braves fell prey to late foul trouble and turnovers in a heartbreaking 59-51 semifinal overtime loss to Wahkiakum, narrowly missing a shot the next night at eventual tourney champ Okanogan.

La Conner had led by 10 points going into the fourth quarter before Wahkiakum’s Tori Wegdahl knotted the score at 46-46 with 19 seconds left to force the extra session.

“I don’t know that we would’ve beaten Okanogan,” Novak said Sunday, “but it would’ve been nice to try.”

La Conner’s hopes were dashed when Adiya Jones was whistled for her fifth foul.

“If she hadn’t fouled out,” Novak said of his team’s leading scorer, “I think we would’ve played for the championship.”

Jones went to the bench with 19 points.

“It was a shame,” Novak said afterward, “because for three quarters we played a great game. Then things kind of got away from us.”

La Conner could take solace, however, in having left the Inland Empire with 34-33 and 61-55 wins over Toutle Lake and White Swan, respectively.

The latter triumph clinched third place for the Lady Braves, matching bronze medal showings at Spokane by the 1973 and 1987 La Conner High boys’ teams.

“You always feel a lot better when you win your final game,” said Novak. “It was one of the things we talked about Saturday before we played White Swan. We stressed that it’s not many teams in the tournament that win their last game.”

Still, it proved no easy task.

La Conner trailed 30-22 at the break as 6’-1” White Swan post Emily Botkin knifed inside for nine points, and the Cougars cashed in on five of seven charity tosses.

Then the tables turned.

The Lady Braves surged in the second half, with Jones tallying 16 of her game-high 20 points and fouling out Botkin with 1:54 to play on a post-up in the paint.

“We really went to Adiya late in the game,” noted Novak. “We passed it into her a lot with their girl (Botkin) in foul trouble.”

Botkin exited with 16 points.

Her departure cleared the way for La Conner’s Nakiya Edwards, who buried a deep trey and recorded two clutch steals — which together resulted in another three points — in the late going.

“Nakiya,” said Novak, “came up big late in the game.”

Same with point guard Kamea Pino and wing Emma Christianson.

Pino scored 15 points and Christianson added another seven, including a putback in traffic early in the fourth quarter that gave La Conner its first lead of the contest at 42-41.

Katie Novak and Anna Cook also landed on the point parade for the victors.

But it was defense, as was the case in La Conner’s gritty opening round win, that ultimately decided matters.

The Lady Braves held White Swan to just two field goals over a key 9-minute stretch spanning the third and fourth frames.

La Conner had likewise thwarted Toutle Lake.

“On Thursday, in that first game against Toutle Lake,” Novak said, “we played some really great defense.”

The normally high-scoring Ducks were off target all night, shooting a woeful 13 of 56 from the floor.

“We really struggled to score,” Toutle Lake coach Brady Hockett said of his club, which rallied Friday and Saturday for fourth place tourney honors. “We had a lot of good shots, but we just didn’t make a lot of them. It’s frustrating, for sure.”

Twenty-four hours later, the Lady Braves would feel his pain.

But not for long.

By late Saturday afternoon, the Lady Braves were focused on the big picture. And they liked what they saw.

“It was easily the best win-loss record and State tournament showing ever for our girls,” coach Novak said, “so our players came home with a lot of good memories.”

In related notes:

• The Lady Braves had placed seventh at Spokane in both 2009 and 2014.

• Novak also praised the 2014-15 season turned in by the La Conner High boys’ team, which finished 18-5, despite a tough schedule. “We only lost five games,” he said, “and four of those were to Auburn Adventist and Friday Harbor, two pretty good teams. And we beat Friday Harbor at home.”

• Last week’s State Tournament was the final appearance for La Conner seniors Cook, Christianson, and Katie Novak. “They’re going to be greatly missed,” said coach Novak, “but if everything falls into place the way it should, we’ll be solid again.”