Lady Braves grind out win at Concrete; fall to 1B power Neah Bay

They were in a foul mood throughout, but the La Conner High School Lady Braves were able to smile after grinding out a 57-29 NW2B/1B for a smashing hoops win at Concrete Friday night.

La Conner (7-4 overall, 2-0 in league) won by double digits despite being assessed 21 fouls.

Maeve McCormick led nine La Conner scorers with 15 points, including the team’s lone three-pointer.

Jacqui Lam, Nora McCormick, Kim Williams and Kiana Jenkins – all eighth graders – finished with eight points apiece for the victors.

Another eighth grader, Abi Poulton, added four points on two-of-three shooting.

Lily Dougliss, Izzy Villard and Shaniquah Casey chipped in two points each.

Villard reeled in a team-best eight rebounds and Casey led La Conner with seven steals, which jump-started the team’s decisive transition game.

Maeve McCormick was the prime beneficiary of backcourt turnovers defensive pressure forced . She converted seven of 12 shot attempts, many of them layups off Concrete miscues.

The hosts likewise relied on transition for much of their offense, often releasing guards early on La Conner shot attempts in hopes of scoring on runouts after securing defensive rebounds.

“This was a game we felt like had to grind through,” coach Joe Harper told the Weekly News afterward. “Concrete is very scrappy and fast and they kept leaking out for easy shots in transition.”

Even so, La Conner held Concrete to just 10 points in the first half, enjoying a comfortable 22-point margin at the break after Jenkins beat the buzzer with a 12-foot jumper.

The Lady Braves opened the second half with an 11-0 spurt capped by Villard’s 15-footer.

La Conner enjoyed its largest lead of the game at 51-16 when Lam scored on an inbounds play two minutes into the fourth period.

No safe harbor at Neah Bay

Harper spread playing time around since his charges had to turn around Saturday for early travel to Neah Bay and a key non-league road test with the defending State 1B champions.

“I think it was a good experience for us to take the long road trip there,” Harper said despite a 65-23 loss, “and let me tell you, the trip is long.”

“They are exactly what we want to be in the future,” Harper said, “and we’re taking a similar road to get there by pulling up eighth graders early. They know where to be and are precise in their offense. They’re not easily rattled and are a great example to our girls of what we can be.”

The Lady Reds improved to 7-2 with the win.

Despite loading its varsity roster with eighth graders, Harper said the school’s junior varsity – coached by Scottie Miller and Sheena Jones – continues to make strides, sporting a 6-4 record after having gone 3-11 a year ago.

“Armena Joe and Kat Edwards have really become more involved and are both making an impact on the floor,” said Harper. “Newcomers (and eighth graders) Maddy Miller and Finley Hancock have settled in and really established themselves as players who can handle the ball and score.”