Braves lose heartbreaker to Coupeville; rebound with big win against Darrington

The La Conner Braves went from heartache to heartened in 48 hours last week.

The high school team (7-7) rebounded from a tough 57-56 home loss to Coupeville Wednesday with a 64-14 blowout win over Darrington at Landy James Gym Friday night.

With the two-game split, La Conner was 3-2 in NW1B/2B play before last night's conference action at Orcas Island.

The lopsided Darrington triumph helped take the sting out of the last-second setback to the Wolves, which was no ordinary one-point defeat.

It was one of the more heart-wrenching losses ever suffered to Coupeville, a rivalry whose storied intensity of the 1960s and 1970s was revived in a back-and-forth affair witnessed by loud and energetic cheering sections that were as competitive as the players on the floor.

La Conner had appeared to clinch matters when Braden Thomas, who finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds, delivered a 12-foot pull-up jumper that broke a 54-54 tie with three seconds to play.

Then the improbable happened.

Coupeville quickly inbounded the ball to mid-court and called a timeout. From there, out of the team's huddle, Coupeville's Chase Anderson passed inbounds to Jonathan Valenzuela, who quickly spun and flung the ball off glass and through the net for a game-winning three-pointer.

Even more remarkable, Valenzuela hit the big bucket despite sporting a big gash above his partially closed right eye, the result of taking a sharp elbow earlier.

The Coupeville crowd erupted and Wolves players stormed the court as the final buzzer sounded to celebrate what the school's fans called one of the biggest shots in program history.

In literally a split second, Coupeville extended its winning streak to four games and improved to 9-5 overall and 2-1 in league standings.

Thomas showed rare foul shooting proficiency, knocking down five of seven attempts. His teammates were a combined five of 19.

Isaiah Price, scored 22 of his game-high 29 points before the break. Price's stat line included three perimeter treys and eight rebounds.

Brayden Pedroza delivered two three-pointers while C.J. Edwards drained a trey and Ivory Damien chipped in a bucket and free throw.

La Conner left nothing to chance against Darrington. The Braves bolted to a 32-9 halftime lead and never looked back.

Head coach C.J. Woods substituted liberally throughout with eight players joining the point parade.

Thomas led the Braves with 22 points, all in the first three quarters, draining four three-pointers. Price popped in 13 points, also in limited duty.

Nathan Bailey (8), Ivory Damien (7), Pedroza (5), Finn Hakenson (4), Logan Burks (3) and Edwards (2) rounded out the attack.

The Braves played at Lummi Monday night. They entertain Tulalip Heritage Saturday, 7 p.m.

La Conner remains home next Tuesday to meet Mount Vernon Christian, tip-off at 5:15 p.m.