Lady Braves smash Concrete in hoops matchup

Concrete took a novel approach to slow down La Conner’s vaunted transition game during NW2B girls’ hoop action at Landy James Gym Saturday night.

The visitors kept two players at the defensive end of the floor, only bringing three potential scorers across midcourt to run their offensive sets.

The ploy did little to change the game’s anticipated storyline.

Far from it, actually. Even with two full-time defenders Concrete saw La Conner blister the nets at a 58 percent (45 of 77) clip. The victors converted nine of 23 attempts beyond the trey arc and were 36 of 54 on two-point shots.

As a result, the undefeated Lady Braves (10-0) turned in their highest point total of the season in a 104-14 rout that saw eighth grader Maive McCormick push La Conner over the century mark with a deep corner jumper in the waning moments.

McCormick (14) and classmate Ellalee Wortham (16) combined for 30 points as La Conner head coach Scott Novak went to his bench early and often.

Senior guard/forward Sarah Cook continued her torrid scoring of late, finishing with a game-high 26 points – all coming in the first three quarters.

Carroll College signee Rachel Cram added 15 points, while Ellie Marble also reached double-digits with 11.

In all, nine La Conner players landed in the scoring column.

Aubrie Sloniker (9), Kennedy Miller (5), Juna Swanson (4) and Josie Harper (4) rounded out the attack.

Novak said playing with a shot clock made it difficult to hold the score down despite making multiple substitutions.

“They would throw the ball in-bounds,” he explained, “and we would steal it and score.”

That was the pattern even after La Conner backed away from its full-court press midway through the opening period.

“We took the press off after we got up by 15 points,” Novak said.

Still, the team notched an almost unheard of 42 steals on the night – eight alone by Harper. They took a 39-2 lead after eight minutes, a margin that ballooned to 68-7 at halftime.

“We still have to play our game,” Novak shrugged afterward, “and we did. The good thing is we were able to play the game. The boys didn’t get to play because of COVID-19.”

The Concrete boys didn’t make the trip to La Conner due to virus protocols within their program, said Novak.

Novak was pleased with how well his charges passed the ball and looked for open teammates, a factor reflected in La Conner’s high shooting percentage. They recorded 32 assists, eight from Harper and six by Swanson, the latter of whom recently signed a letter of intent with Pacific University.

La Conner, ranked second in state 2B polls, was to host non-league foe Klahowya last night ahead of Friday’s 6:30 p.m. test at Mount Vernon Christian.

Novak noted the Lady Braves topped 100 points in a 108-14 first round playoff win over Crosspoint Academy two years ago.