Both La Conner basketball teams ousted from state playoffs

State seeding sent La Conner High School's basketball teams south.

Unfortunately, their hopes of advancing to the round of 12 at the Spokane Arena this week went south as well.

The boys' team was eliminated by Adna with a heartbreaking 66-62 overtime loss in Chehalis on Saturday, a game that saw the Braves battle back from foul trouble and a double-digit deficit to have a shot at winning in the waning moments of regulation.

The youthful girls, meanwhile, with six eighth graders and no seniors on their roster, lost to a veteran Toutle Lake club, routed by 56-19 Saturday afternoon, also in Chehalis.

Boys came close

"The boys played hard and left everything on the floor," first-year coach Lance Lopez said after his team's hard-fought defeat at the W.F. West Gymnasium. "There was nothing more we could've asked from them."

True, that.

The Braves trailed 47-36 late in the third period and appeared on the ropes several times in the second half. But the team repeatedly fought its way back into contention, taking advantage of curious shot selection by Adna, which despite a considerable size advantage inside often took aim from beyond the trey arc.

Down 58-51 with 3:41 remaining in the fourth quarter, La Conner went into a ball hawking full-court press that whittled into the Pirate lead.

Corran Eisen, who led La Conner with 19 points, pulled the Braves to within 58-54 on a long three-pointer off a feed from Ivory Damien. Trailing 60-54, La Conner forced a turnover, setting up a Brayden Pedroza drive and hoop.

After Adna scored on an inbounds pass, Damien drained a corner trey to trim the margin to 62-59 with 1:11 left. Pedroza made the score possible by elevating above taller Adna players to grab an offensive rebound and dish the ball to Damien.

Moments later, securing another turnover, Pedroza knocked down a clutch three-ball in transition, tying the game at 62.

When Adna misfired on a subsequent three-point attempt, La Conner had the ball at midcourt with 0:20 remaining.

The Braves set up a play for a last shot, but Adna forced a jump ball at the 0:04 mark. The ball went over to the Pirates, who missed two short jumpers before the buzzer and the game went into an extra session.

La Conner, hamstrung offensively when Damien fouled out on a contested charging call, went scoreless in the four-minute overtime. Damien joined starter Tyler Cicotte, who had fouled out earlier.

Adna clinched matters on a bucket by Braeden Salme, the game's high scorer with 27 points and the Pirates added two insurance free throws in the final seconds.

La Conner crossed up Adna off the opening tip by employing a man defense when the Pirates expected to see a zone. It took Adna about five minutes to adjust, by which time the underdog Braves – seeded 15th out of the 16 State 2B entrants – built a 10-7 lead.

Damien and Pedroza each meshed two-pointers while Eisen and C.J. Edwards drilled three-balls for the strong start.

Pedroza (18), Edwards (13) and Damien (12) joined Eisen in double figure scoring.

The team finished the campaign with a 16-8 mark.

Adna (19-7) advances to face No. 7 St. George's tonight in Spokane.

Girls game a rout

The No. 12 Toutle Lake girls are going to Spokane, too, after ending the Lady Braves' season.

The Fighting Ducks (20-6) bolted to a 12-0 lead in the first four minutes. Toutle Lake's physical style and length made it hard for La Conner to get open looks either at the basket or to find passing lanes.

The Lady Braves finally got on the board when Shaniquah Casey, who led the team with seven points, scored on an inbounds pass from Kim Williams midway through the opening frame.

Toutle Lake built a 19-7 first period lead and never looked back, feasting on two dozen turnovers.

Coach Joe Harper remained optimistic despite his club's slow start.

"This score," he said during a break between the first and second quarters, "isn't that bad. Keep your heads up."

But the Ducks, with five seniors, saw their lead swell to 35-10 at the break and 45-15 entering the final stanza.

La Conner hit just 22 per cent (8 of 36) of its shots from the floor. It left a slew of points at the charity stripe, converting just two of 12 free throws.

Williams, an eighth grader, hit the only three-pointer and recorded a pair of assists.

Abi Poulton (2), Maeve McCormick (2), Nora McCormick (2), Lily Dougliss (2) and Kiana Jenkins (1) rounded out the scoring.

The matchup was especially rough. At one point, three Lady Braves players – Casey, Williams and Reese Bird – were injured on the bench. In a tussle for a loose ball, Casey and Bird each had their heads slammed into the floor. No foul was called.

"This isn't rugby, dude," a La Conner fan could be heard yelling at a game official.

The Ducks move on to Spokane today against Rainier.

The Coupeville boys and Friday Harbor girls, were also bounced from post-season play. Friday Harbor fell to Tonasket 77-13 in Wenatchee Friday night. Coupeville came up short, also against Tonasket, losing 65-50 in Arlington Saturday night.