Braves take second in Seattle holiday hoops tournament

The La Conner High School boys’ basketball team got pounded in Seattle over the weekend.

But not on the scoreboard.

The Braves split two closely fought, loosely called holiday tournament games with teams from larger schools, each contest decided in the final seconds.

Ivory Damien and Brayden Pedroza scored 16 points apiece as La Conner edged The Northwest School, the tourney’s 1A host team, 44-41 on Friday night.

The Braves led during much of Saturday’s matchup with 2A Black Hills, but fell 44-42 in Saturday’s title round of The Top of the Hill Holiday Tournament.

Trips to the foul stripe were rare as the often-rugged weekend action showed that basketball can indeed be a contact sport.

Corran Eisen hit a putback in the waning moments to clinch the win against Northwest, which missed two three-pointers in the last 10 seconds that would have sent the game to overtime.

“The boys played hard,” La Conner coach Lance Lopez told the Weekly News afterward, “and got a win in a game that has been the most physical game for us this season.”

Twenty-four hours later the Braves played a game that was equally physical.

“Black Hills is a big, physical team and a big 2A-size school,” said Lopez, whose club will carry a 6-4 mark into this Friday’s NW2B/1B clash at Concrete, where fans of both Skagit County teams will celebrate the “70-plus” year anniversary of the Concrete gymnasium.

The Northwest School, venue for last weekend’s tournament, also boasts a unique athletics facility. Dubbed “The House,” it was built on a former Diamond Parking Lot in Seattle’s Pike/Pine corridor and served to expand The Northwest School’s Capitol Hill campus.

Since 1980, The Northwest School – which doesn’t have an official mascot – has embraced “The House” as its sports teams’ moniker.

La Conner and Black Hills rocked “The House” on Saturday in an entertaining back-and-forth pairing.

Braves’ senior Logan Burks meshed a perimeter trey that gave La Conner a 19-15 halftime lead over the Wolves.

After a 5-0 Black Hills run to open the third quarter, the Braves regained the lead at 22-20 on a Pedroza three-pointer. Black Hills went ahead again at 28-24 before Eisen delivered a trey to trim the Wolves’ margin to 28-27 going into the final stanza.

A step-through by Damien and a Pedroza transition bucket off a feed from C.J. Edwards briefly knotted the score at 34-34.

A Damien layup that would have tied the score at 37-37 was negated by a controversial charge call.

The Wolves held on for a two-point victory despite a Tyler Cicotte trey and Eisen score in the paint as time wound down.

Damien and Pedroza led La Conner with 15 and 13 points, respectively. Eisen (8), Cicotte (3) and Burks (3) rounded out the Braves’ attack.

“Overall, for the tournament, we played well,” Lopez said. “Being the smallest team in the tournament, we had a chance to win the whole thing. We’re proud of the boys’ effort this weekend.

“Both games in the tournament were super physical,” he added, “and not a lot of fouls were called. We’re so proud of the boys for playing through contact and competing.

“The boys played hard this weekend,” stressed Lopez, “and against some bigger teams. We’ll get back to work on Tuesday and get ready for Concrete.”