La Conner blows past Hurricanes for key win

It seemed like a perfect storm brewing on Friday for the upset-minded Mount Vernon Christian Hurricanes.

They would be playing in front of a large and vocal home crowd and facing a La Conner team that would again be without a key starter — something of a recurring theme for the Braves this year.

This time around it would be versatile wing Brady Nelson, a regular double-figure scorer of late, having to sit out.

Nelson, a senior, was scratched due to the flu.

“We knew that would be a big loss for us going in,” La Conner High head coach Scott Novak acknowledged. “Not having Brady was going to be a big deal. But, fortunately, the guys picked up the slack, and we ended up playing very well at both ends.”

The result was a hard-fought 46-39 La Conner victory that improved the Braves’ conference ledger to 8-2 going into this week’s action, a slate highlighted by a Feb. 3 home date with Friday Harbor.

La Conner and Friday Harbor will likely be playing for a No. 2 District seed — behind Orcas — with the winner avoiding a tourney play-in round, which figures to involve Crosspoint Academy.

But first things, first.

The Braves, who faced Shoreline Christian late Monday, were briefly able to savor the win at Mount Vernon Christian.

“It was important,” said Novak, “that we would come out and get off to a good start and try to take their crowd out of the game. And we did that.”

La Conner raced to a 31-12 halftime lead, then held on as the Hurricanes unleashed a furious second half comeback bid.

“We might have gotten a little complacent with the big lead,” Novak conceded, “but more than anything you have to give credit to Mount Vernon Christian with the way their kids kept scrapping and never gave up.”

La Conner left a lot of points at the charity stripe that helped narrow the final margin.

The Braves were just five of 17 at the line — converting only three of 10 attempts in the fourth quarter — with many of those misses coming on front ends of bonus opportunities.

Free throws didn’t play a major role in the first half, however.

Charlie Cram, Terrance Fornsby, and Khalid Al-Dossari did more than enough damage from behind the three-point arc instead.

The La Conner trio combined for five first half three-pointers.

Cram ended up leading a balanced Braves attack — seven La Conner players landed in the scoring column — with nine points, all on treys.

Fornsby and Budda Luna finished with eight points apiece. Al-Dossari chipped in another seven.

Jeffrey Johnson added six points — all before halftime — and grabbed nine rebounds while blocking a shot and dishing off for another score.

Luna, who has missed several games this year due to illness, gave La Conner a shot in the arm across the stat sheet. He hauled down five offensive boards, recorded five steals, and led the Braves with four assists.

Mount Vernon Christian’s 6’-5” junior post Carter Annema led all scorers with 14 points, including four in the fourth quarter when the Hurricanes closed with an 11-3 spurt.

La Conner was limited over the final 8 minutes to a Cooper Zavala basket and a foul shot from James Hulbert.

John Phifer was also in double digits for MVC, tallying 13 points.

The Braves will be looking to repeat their success at Mount Vernon Christian — hopefully with a healthy Nelson in the lineup — when they entertain the Wolverines on Friday.

Friday Harbor defeated La Conner 56-25 in the two teams’ earlier meeting.

For the rematch the Braves will be pulling out all the stops, including an appearance at Landy James Gym by the popular University of Washington Husky pep band.

As far as what happens on the court, La Conner fans are hoping the second verse won’t be the same as the first.