Future remains bright for La Conner girls' basketball

The La Conner High Lady Braves have put together several nice post-season runs in recent years.

But don’t look for the local hoop program to hit the finish line anytime soon.

If anything, La Conner girls’ basketball — which has treated fans to clutch play on several levels this year — looks to be gearing up for repeated State title drives well into the future.

The La Conner eighth-grade girls’ team finished its season last week with a big win over previously unbeaten Conway.

With that triumph, the La Conner girls finished the campaign with an 8-2 mark, the two losses having come earlier in the season to Conway.

The eight-member La Conner team, coached by Mike Carrigan, was composed of Kaylonna Gobert, Maya Masonholder, Maya Medeiros, Ketelina O’Brien, Kayla Rasler, Anna Jane Thulen, Katie Watkins, and leading scorer and rebounder Avery Sloniker.

Watkins and O’Brien joined Sloniker, who tallied 82 total points, in posting nice numbers through the season.

“Avery,” he said, “was the one we would go to when we needed points inside against some of the teams that had a height advantage on us.”

Kennedy Miller and Ellie Marble served as managers of the La Conner team, which played in a six-school league along with Conway, Darrington, Concrete, Orcas, and Mount Vernon Christian.

Under the league format, eighth- and seventh-grade teams practice together but play separate games.

The La Conner eighth-graders survived a major setback midway through the season when Medeiros went down with a sprained knee.

“I was really proud of the way the girls stepped up and filled in after the loss of Maya Rose,” Carrigan said. “Kaylonna Gobert was a big help in that area, stepping in to help fill that hole.”

The team was blessed to have players able to handle a variety of roles, he said.

Rasler was a defensive standout and often was assigned to guard the opposition’s best player.

Masonholder and Thulen provided the “backbone” of the team, Carrigan stressed, citing their versatility and ability to play all positions well.

O’Brien, he added, was penciled in at point guard and served as the team’s “quarterback” with her solid leadership and superb dribbling and passing skills.

Besides her athleticism, Watkins was part of the glue, according to Carrigan, that held the team together with her enthusiasm and contagious sense of humor.

“She was also the leading free throw shooter on the team,” he noted.

The La Conner eighth-graders truly embraced the team concept both on and off the floor, Carrigan insisted.

“But really,” he said, “all of these girls pulled together as a team and made it possible for us to have the season that we had. Every one of these girls has the talent to go on and play at the high school level. It will be fun to watch them in the years to come.

“I would also like to thank the parents,” he said, “for their fantastic support throughout the season.”