La Conner girls basketball team wins at Coupeville

Though idle for two weeks beforehand, the unbeaten La Conner High School girls’ basketball team had no trouble shaking off the rust at Coupeville last Tuesday, Jan 4.

La Conner returned to action showing machine-like precision in its half-court offense while also scoring repeatedly off its high-octane transition game enroute to a convincing 69-13 NW2B road triumph.

With icy road conditions having nixed a much-anticipated Dec. 30 matchup with 4A Kamiak, La Conner was revved up for this tipoff.

“This was our first game in two weeks and we played hard the entire game,” La Conner head coach Scott Novak told the Weekly News afterward. “Our timing got better as the game went on.”

Their timing was pretty good at the outset as well.

The Lady Braves, ranked No. 2 behind Warden in state 2B polls, bolted to a 24-3 first period lead and never looked back. The margin swelled to 40-5 at halftime.

Sarah Cook, the reigning WaFd Bank/SB Live Washington State Athlete of the Week, paced the victors with 24 points, seven rebounds and six assists – turning in a stellar performance on the court where her uncle, Mike Wilbur, had buried an epic buzzer beating jumper in 1981 Tri-District play that clinched a state tourney berth for that La Conner team.

Ellie Marble dominated in the paint for the Lady Braves, posting a double-double – 19 points, 17 rebounds – to go along with seven steals.

Seven La Conner players landed in the scoring column.

Novak said his club benefitted from crisp passing enhanced by well-timed off-ball cuts.

“We had some nice transition baskets and moved the ball well,” Novak stressed.

La Conner’s Juna Swanson, Josie Harper and Rachel Cram each dished off four assists. Cram added five steals and deflected nine Coupeville passes.

The hosts struggled throughout at the offensive end.

Consider that Abby Mulholland, who tied Maddie Georges as the home team’s scoring leader, didn’t join the point parade until the late going via an old-fashioned three-point play – banking home a putback off an offensive rebound, drawing a foul and then meshing the ensuing charity toss.

The win was La Conner’s ninth straight and fourth in NW2B contests to open the 2021-22 campaign. Coupeville fell to 4-3 in all games and 3-2 in conference pairings.