La Conner Lady Braves are dominate in two-game sweep

There was plenty of highlight reel material when the La Conner High School girls' basketball team swept conference foes Coupeville and Darrington at home last week.

The Lady Braves routed Coupeville 72-16 Wednesday and romped past Darrington 69-9 Friday, extending their winning streak to four games and improving to 11-3 going into Tuesday's action at Orcas Island.

"Those two games gave us the opportunity to get playing time for everyone," said head coach Joe Harper. "It was also a chance for us to work on making the extra pass in our half-court offense. Ellie (Marble) had some nice interior passing to Makayla (Herrera)."

Marble dished off four assists to go with her game-high 22 points in the shellacking of Darrington. She also recorded 30 points against Coupeville.

Josie Harper and Herrera joined Marble in double-digit scoring in the Coupeville game. Harper finished with 19 points while Herrera added 14.

Freshman point guard Shaniquah Casey tallied eight points, two steals and an assist.

The story was the same in the Darrington. In addition to Marble, Harper (21) and Casey (10) also landed in double-figure scoring.

Herrera (8), Kennedy Miller (6) and Lily Dougliss (2) rounded out the scoring.

Coach Harper's emphasis on making the extra pass extended from half-court sets to the transition game.

The ball didn't hit the floor on a fast break from Casey to Josie Harper to Marble for a 26-0 La Conner first period lead. Successive passes by Miller and Casey led to a Josie Harper layup and 58-8 fourth quarter Lady Braves' margin. Again, there were no dribbles.

A truer test of where the team stands at this stage of the season comes this week when the Lady Braves go to southwest Washington opposite larger enrollment Vancouver area programs, Union and Skyview.

The Lady Braves resume conference play at home Jan. 31 against Mount Vernon Christian.