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La Conner Schools are looking to adopt a new math curriculum intended to better match student learning styles, emphasize development of problem-solving and critical thinking skills, and improve standardized achievement test scores. District librarian Beth Clothier told school board members during their hybrid meeting Monday night that a final staff recommendation on which curriculum to select for La Conner’s respective campuses should be presented to the panel at its April 25 session. “We have a couple favorites,” Clothier said, “but we’re d...
The La Conner High School baseball team was late to the chase in NW2B/1B baseball action at Coupeville last Tuesday. The Braves fell behind early to Coupeville, who took a 7-0 lead despite a late La Conner push across eight runs over the final two innings. In the end, the Wolves posted an 18-8 victory. La Conner fell 0-2, both conference setbacks. The Braves, scheduled at Orcas yesterday, resume NW2B/1B play this Friday when they entertain Concrete at 4 p.m. Despite their loss at Coupeville, head coach Jeremiah LeSourd felt his team made...
Always a versatile player during her four years with the La Conner High School girls basketball program, Sarah Cook regularly filled the team’s stat sheet. Now Cook is filling her personal trophy case with a slew of honors following a stellar senior campaign during which she helped lead La Conner to a fourth-place finish at the Girls’ 2B Hardwood Classic in Spokane earlier this month. Cook has garnered a NW2B/1B Most Valuable Player recognition and was selected to play in the State 1B/2B Senior All-State Game. Earlier this season, she was voted...
La Conner High School had all bases covered early in its game Friday at Darrington. The Braves just couldn’t bring those baserunners home. La Conner opened the contest by loading the bases with none out. “Unfortunately,” head coach Jeremiah LeSourd said after his club’s 7-0 conference setback, “that was as close as we got to scoring.” Braves starting pitcher Haydin Dinuis yielded just one run through four frames, at which point the hosts held a slim 3-0 lead. Darrington blew the game open, however, with four unearned runs in the home fourth...
La Conner fans know how good their high school girls basketball team is. The evidence is in the selection of La Conner players to the Scoreboard Live 2B All-Hardwood Classic Team and the annual 1B/2B Senior All-State Game in Seattle last Saturday. Junior Ellie Marble and senior Sarah Cook were named last week to the popular sports website’s Hardwood Classic second unit All-tourney team after having helped lead the Lady Braves (23-2 overall) to a fourth-place finish in Spokane earlier this month. Cook, in addition, joined Juna Swanson in a M...
Town officials plan to focus on signage this year, and La Conner School Board members intend to follow suit. Board president Susie Gardner Deyo and Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) Executive Director Mick Hoffman conferred on a variety of topics, most notably how to better promote sportsmanship at interscholastic events. “We talked about what we can do to step up sportsmanship,” Deyo told fellow board members during a 90-minute March 14 hybrid special meeting. One strategy is to increase signage on the La Conner Sch...
Sarah Cook has consistently recorded big numbers for the La Conner High School girls’ basketball team, filling the stat sheet with points, rebounds, assists and steals. It was a no-brainer when it came time to vote for top post-season honors. Cook was chosen the NW2B Girls’ Most Valuable Player in recent balloting conducted by league schools. She helped lead her team to fourth-place at the state Hardwood Classic in Spokane earlier this month, scoring 25 points in the team’s second round victory over Lake Roosevelt, The next day she had 18 po...
Top youth wrestler Delaney Cobbs did not let potential success slip through her grasp despite La Conner High School not having a mat program of its own. Cobbs was able to compete at the high school level thanks to a co-op arrangement forged between La Conner and 2A wrestling power Burlington-Edison. A senior and student rep on the district’s school board, Cobbs made the most of her opportunity. She posted a 24-4 mark this past season while placing second in the girls’ 190-pound weight class at...
The La Conner School Board accepted a donation of 900 COVID-19 rapid tests from the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community valued at $7,000 at its Feb. 28 meeting. “This is a huge deal,” Board President Susie Deyo said. “We really want to thank the Swinomish Tribal Community for this donation.” During surges in positive cases earlier in the school year, athletes had to be tested several times weekly. The board voted 4-0 to accept the donation, with member J.J. Wilbur abstaining as he serves on the Swinomish Tribal Senate. Elementary School Princip...
Denied a state title, La Conner ended the season on a positive note Saturday morning March 5 at the Spokane Arena with a 67-52 win over Raymond to get fourth place at the 2022 2B Girls’ Hardwood Classic. “I’m proud of how we finished out the season,” said La Conner senior Sarah Cook, who scored 18 points, during a post-game interview aired on the NFHS Network. “It was our last game,” Cook said, “so we wanted to leave everything on the floor.” The Lady Braves defeated Lake Roosevelt 69-61...
There was a time, not so long ago, when the La Conner High School baseball team strung together some magical seasons. Now veteran Braves coaches Jeremiah LeSourd and Andy Otis hope to rekindle that magic within a program that has been sidelined since 2019 due to lack of roster depth and the COVID-19 pandemic. Spring 2022 is a new beginning for the Braves. “Our senior class has played in nine games while in high school,” LeSourd explained, “Normally, the number of games played would be at least 60 entering your senior year. “Giving these k...
On again, off again. That’s the way it has been for the past two years in terms of indoor mask mandates designed to help stop spread of the coronavirus. In Washington state, the off button will be pushed March 12 instead of March 21, a decision announced by Gov. Jay Inslee and the governors of California and Oregon Monday, Feb. 28. Local entities are given latitude as to when and where masks can still be required. Town governments can require masks for their employees and inside their buildings. The Town of La Conner policy, however, will e...
The La Conner girls’ basketball team has punched its ticket to the State 2B quarterfinals in Spokane tomorrow morning. But not before taking an early punch from Chief Leschi in a regional round matchup that La Conner won 91-54 at Everett Community College Saturday. The No.1-ranked Lady Braves found themselves trailing Chief Leschi 21-19 at the end of the first quarter. The team from Puyallup did not miss a shot until late in the frame. “I told the girls in the huddle after the first quarter that we had been punched in the face but were abl...
The La Conner High School girls’ basketball team took care of business in Coupeville last Thursday. As expected, the team (20-1) breezed to the Northwest 2B District title with a dominant 70-19 victory over the hosts, who had placed a distant second to the Lady Braves in the league championship race. La Conner advances to regionals this weekend, a round that will help determine bracket placement for the state Hardwood Classic March 2-5 in Spokane. The team, which has defeated foes from the 1...
To be the best, you need to face the best. That’s something La Conner High School senior wrestler Delaney Cobbs understands after having gone to the mat four times this winter with one of the elite grapplers in state history. Cobbs and Marysville-Pilchuck standout Alivia White, the reigning state champion, were paired again on Saturday in the championship round of the girls’ 190-pound division at Mat Classic XXXIII in Tacoma. White, a junior, completed an undefeated 35-0 season by defeating Cobbs, who had cruised through her side of the sta...
It was a long and winding road that the La Conner Braves took to extend a basketball playoff drive that began in Coupeville last week with post-season wins over Friday Harbor and Auburn Adventist. That road ended at Long Beach, more than 200 miles from home, Sunday. Facing a must-win situation to reach regionals, the Braves were eliminated 76-48 by Ilwaco in a rare Sunday noon tipoff. The Braves began the sojourn with a 48-38 district qualifying win Feb.12 over Friday Harbor. That set up a return trip to Coupeville Feb. 15 to face Auburn...
On a special night, it was still business as usual for the La Conner High School girls’ basketball team at Landy James Gym last Thursday. The state 2B hoop team finished off an undefeated conference campaign with an impressive 87-13 romp past Coupeville following Senior Night festivities. Fans honored Lady Braves seniors Aubrie Sloniker, Juna Swanson, Rachel Cram and Sarah Cook before the hosts ran their NW2B/1B record to 11-0. “The girls came out and took care of business early,” La Conner head coach Scott Novak told the Weekly News after...
It was a win-win night at Landy James Gym Thursday for both the Coupeville and La Conner boys’ basketball teams. The visitors won on the scoreboard, closing out what is probably the program’s first-ever undefeated regular season dating to 1917 with a 79-45 victory over the Braves. La Conner had cause to celebrate, too, despite losing a second NW2B/1B decision. Braves fans had the opportunity to salute the team’s seniors marking their final home appearance. Josh Denton, Cameron Burks, Spencer Olson, Luke Marble, Haydin Dinuis, Myles Sydzi...
Funny the difference a couple days makes. With their season in the balance, the La Conner Braves rebounded Saturday to defeat Friday Harbor 48-38 at Coupeville to advance to a Northwest 2B District Tournament date with Auburn Adventist last night. With the win, the team extended its season while avenging a tough 66-41 loss to Friday Harbor earlier in the week. Senior Miles Sydzik had 12 points to lead the resurgent Braves, who knocked down eight three-pointers while improving to 6-12 overall, including two wins in three games against Friday...
La Conner High School wrestlers Delaney Cobbs and Kaliana Bill have grabbed spots in the Washington State Mat Classic at Tacoma this week. Cobbs was runner-up in the 190-pound weight class of the Northwest Regional Girls’ Wrestling Tournament in Sedro-Woolley on Saturday while Bill qualified for the Tacoma brackets by placing fifth in the 155-pound division. Cobbs lost only to undefeated No. 1 seed Alivia White of Marysville-Pilchuck in the Regional 190s title round match. The senior, 20-3 on the campaign, has suffered her only three defeats th...
La Conner School District Superintendent Will Nelson was like a student facing a big exam Monday. The administrator, hired last spring and at the helm since July 1, underwent his initial job evaluation during a one-hour executive session at the end of a special, mid-month board meeting. The board announced no action and adjourned immediately when it reconvened on Zoom. But early indications are that all went well. Nelson and board members lavished praise on one another prior to the executive session, making a lengthy review of efforts to set...
The Waterfront Café has long been hosting a wide range of benefit events for La Conner area residents, from the annual free Thanksgiving Day community feast to a dinner and auction fundraiser for an elderly local couple last Friday. It was only fitting, then, that café owners Guy and Marla Vallee would honor another group of champions – the reigning La Conner High School state 2B volleyball title winners – with a Jan. 29 dinner celebration. Members of the public were...
La Conner High School alum Dean Swanson has been around long enough to know about the school’s basketball history. He also keeps tabs on current holidays. The two intersected last Tuesday when the Lady Braves basketball team posted a 63-42 statement win at 2A Burlington-Edison before a large and masked crowd that packed the gym just days after a two-week COVID-19-related spectator pause was lifted. “Today starts the Chinese New Year of the Tiger,” Swanson said immediately afterward. “But not tonight.” La Conner, the No. 2 ranked 2B team in W...
A standout La Conner high school wrestler went a long distance to spend a short time on the mat last weekend. But that was a good thing in terms of Delaney Cobbs preparing for big matches ahead. Cobbs, a senior wrestling on a co-op basis with the Burlington-Edison High School girls’ program, captured top honors in her weight class at a two-day invitational meet in Othello. She pinned four opponents in a combined time under four minutes to win the 190-pound weight division championship. It was a...
Good things are well worth the wait. Just ask La Conner High School boys’ head basketball coach C.J. Woods. Woods, eyeing his team’s Jan. 25 NW2B matchup at Friday Harbor since the start of the season, saw his patience rewarded with a tense 54-51 road win over his high school alma mater. With the hard-fought triumph, the Braves improved to 5-8 overall and 3-3 in conference standings. For Woods, whose Friday Harbor teammate, Collin Williamson, is a member of the Wolverines’ coaching staff, the outcome could hardly have been sweeter. “It was a h...