Lady Braves battle to fifth place at Spokane

La Conner had a winning recipe at Spokane last week – until it lost its Cook.

The third-seeded Lady Braves were in a tight semifinal contest with eventual State champion Tri Cities Prep when starting guard Sarah Cook was literally knocked out of the game.

And the rest of the State 2B girls’ hoop tournament, it turned out.

Cook was tripped and flung to the Spokane Arena floor when double-teamed, suffering a mild concussion and being deemed unable to play the rest of the Hardwood Classic.

La Conner (21-5), which had cruised past eventual tourney runner-up Liberty Spangle (23-5) in the Regional round in Everett and defeated hometown favorite St. George’s (18-11) in Spokane quarterfinal action, settled for a fifth place finish after falling 54-39 to TCP (28-1) Friday night and 54-43 to top-seeded Wahkiakum (25-2) Saturday afternoon.

Lady Braves coaches couldn’t help but wonder afterward how the team might have fared had Cook been available the entire tournament. The 5’-6” freshman had scored two early buckets and La Conner trailed TCP just 9-7 when she was injured.

“The injury to Sarah had a great impact,” La Conner head coach Scott Novak insisted. “She was playing so well for us. We were really thrown a curve when that happened to Sarah. Not having a key piece in there was a big deal.”

Fueled by 24 points and 12 rebounds by Talia Von Oelhoffen, an NCAA Division I prospect, TCP thus advanced to edge Liberty Spangle 50-42 in Saturday’s title clash.

La Conner’s Justine Benson nearly matched Von Oelhoffen point-for-point, finishing with 19 tallies, including a nice 15-foot jumper that pulled La Conner within 24-21 late in the second period.

But the Lady Braves would get no closer.

McKenna Martinez ended the half with a run-out that put the Lady Jaguars ahead 26-21 at the break.

“Von Oelhoffen is a great player,” La Conner assistant coach Loran James said afterward, “but I think Martinez was the difference for them.”

Martinez joined Von Oelhofffen in double figures, finishing with 12 points.

Convincing first victory

Benson had gotten La Conner off to a good start in Spokane, draining a long trey from the corner to open what would be a convincing 56-40 La Conner triumph over St. George’s Thursday night.

Benson paced the Lady Braves with 21 points and 10 rebounds. She and junior post Morgan Herrera dominated the glass as La Conner outrebounded St. George’s 41-24.

Defensively, La Conner limited St. George’s to just 28 per cent shooting from the floor and with its strong rebounding effort often held the Lady Dragons to just one shot per possession.

La Conner seized control with a 16-3 spurt spanning the second and third quarters, converting a 20-18 deficit into a comfortable 34-23 lead.

The Lady Braves’ run was ignited by two-point baskets from Herrera, Cook and Rachel Cram plus two treys apiece by Benson and Juna Swanson.

A Cram floater gave La Conner its largest advantage at 42-25 as the third frame expired.

Saturday cold every way

Cram was a rare hot shooter on a cold Saturday in Spokane, where temperatures were well below freezing and snow was piled throughout the city. One of three La Conner freshman starters this season, Cram led the Lady Braves against Wahkiakum with 14 points on six-of-12 shooting.

Benson added 12 points and Herrera grabbed a dozen rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to stave off the Lady Mules.

Wahkiakum survived a stifling La Conner defense that held the winners to just four makes in 22 attempts from behind the trey arc.

La Conner outscored Wahkiakum 23-20 in the second half, including a 7-0 burst early in the third quarter aided by free throws from Benson, Cram, and Matty Lagerwey.

Wahkiakum, which led 34-20 at intermission, was led by 22 points from game-high scorer Macie Elliot. Jensi Merz chipped in nine points and 10 rebounds for the Lady Mules.

Novak chose to focus on the positive after his club split four games coming out of Tri-District play.

“This was a fabulous year,” he said. “We had an outstanding group of young ladies of high caliber. It was a wonderful group.”

The future bodes well, too, said Novak.

“Last year,” he said, “we made it to Spokane but didn’t place. Our goal this year was to play for a trophy on Saturday, and we did that. Next year the goal will be to play (in the championship game) Saturday night.”

Related notes:

• The 2019 Hardwood Classic marked the final appearance for La Conner seniors Raven Edwards, Kayla Hagen and Lagerwey.

• In addition to the loss of Cook midway through the tournament, the Lady Braves were without guard Ketelina O’Brien, who was sidelined the entire season nursing a knee injury.

• The Lady Braves trophied for the third time in program history, having previously placed third and seventh.

• The La Conner cheer squad and band were delayed arriving in Spokane. A faulty sensor on their bus led to concern its engine was overheating about an hour into the trip. A replacement bus was summoned to the Smokey Point area. That resulted in a two-hour wait and, coupled with a dinner stop in Ellensburg, the band and cheerleaders were still on the road when a new round of snow hit I-90 just west of Spokane. The bus finally pulled in around 11 p.m.

But that wasn’t the end of their troubles. After frigid overnight conditions the bus wouldn’t crank over on Thursday morning. So a new battery was in order. By game time that night, though, band members and cheerleaders alike were in good spirits.