Braves cannot match high-scoring Coupeville in loss

It was a good news, bad news kind of night for Braves boy basketball at Coupeville last Tuesday.

The good news is La Conner held unbeaten Coupeville, ranked No. 4 in state 2B boys’ polls, to nearly 20 points under their per game scoring average.

The bad news is the Braves still found themselves on the short end of a 54-29 conference verdict Jan. 4, falling to 3-4 overall and 1-2 in NW2B play,

La Conner played the Wolves on equal terms over the final three quarters but couldn’t overcome an early 27-2 Coupeville run fueled by three-point specialist Xavier Murdy.

Murdy put up 13 points, including three perimeter treys, during the pivotal first quarter. He tallied 10 points in the second period, including three more jumpers from beyond the arc.

Murdy finished with a game-high 24 points, nearly matching La Conner’s team total.

Interestingly, Murdy entered the contest as just Coupeville’s fifth leading scorer, producing a tad under 10 points per outing.

The Wolves wedded Murdy’s first half hot streak with tenacious full-court pressure defense, clamping down on La Conner shooters and repeatedly contesting passing lanes.

Transition buckets, coupled with long-range accuracy from Murdy and Hawthorne Wolfe, allowed Coupeville to build its insurmountable lead of 25-0.

Through the first eight minutes, the Wolves repeatedly converted La Conner turnovers into easy scores, an indoor scoring avalanche on a cold, wintry night.

The Braves then ramped up their own defensive effort, limiting Coupeville to 27 points the rest of the way – the same amount it had scored in the first quarter alone.

That marked a rare cold stretch this season for the hosts, one for which the Braves – though coming out on the short end – could take a bow afterward. The 54-point total was Coupeville’s lowest of their 2021-22 campaign.

“Our players made some good adjustments in the second part of the game,” head coach C.J. Woods told the Weekly News. “We had Coupeville playing a little out of rhythm in the third quarter, which was great.

“The great thing is that we’ve had really, really good practices since then,” Woods added. “The intensity, energy and finally getting players back is helping. We’ve yet to have a full, healthy team together at once, so there’s still a lot to look forward to.

“There was a definite step forward with our boys this week at practice after that game,” said Woods. “We got to see the energy level needed to play with teams like Coupeville.”

Josh Denton and Isaiah Price paced La Conner with eight points each. Miles Sydzik and Mason Wilson added five tallies apiece. C.J. Edwards (2) and Haydin Dinius (1) also scored for the Braves.

Coupeville (6-0 overall, 4-0 in NW2B standings) entered the contest scoring at a 72.4 point per game clip, just off the 76.5 school standard set by the 1969-70 Wolves team – led by center and top point producer Jeff Stone, who would go on to play at Seattle Pacific University – that posted a 22-4 mark and qualified for the state tournament.

Ironically, two of Coupeville’s four losses that year were to La Conner, which was tripped up at a highly competitive district tournament. This season’s Braves squad gets a second shot at Coupeville Feb. 10 at Landy James Gym.

La Conner’s previously scheduled Saturday home rematch with Concrete, whom the Braves crushed 67-16 last month, was postponed due to COVID-19 protocols within the Lions program.

Woods expects the game will rescheduled for February.

La Conner was to resume its NW2B slate last night opposite Orcas Island. The Braves are scheduled at Mount Vernon Christian this Friday (Jan. 14) in an 8 p.m. tipoff. The Vikings entered the week sporting a 2-4 overall mark.

Coupeville’s junior varsity boys defeated La Conner’s 40-14 in the early game Tuesday.