Braves survive rocky start against Concrete
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February 12, 2014
LEFT TURN – La Conner senior Wil James drove the lane for a clutch left-handed score during the Braves’ 57-48 league win at home Thursday over Concrete. James finished with four points and a slew of rebounds as La Conner closed out regular season action with a 15-5 record. – Photo by Lauren Reynolds
Concrete was solid, but La Conner High chipped away just enough Thursday so that the visitors crumbled in the end.
The Braves, playing before a large and supportive Senior Night crowd, held on for a surprisingly tough 57-48 league victory in their regular season finale at Landy James Gym.
It was anything but a smooth triumph — nothing like La Conner’s 79-29 steamroller win at the two teams’ earlier meeting at Concrete.
Still, the Braves avoided an upset loss that would’ve represented a major speed bump entering post-season play and improved to 15-5 overall along the way.
“We played with little focus to start the game,” La Conner head coach Scott Novak conceded afterward. “Maybe we looked past them a little bit.”
The Braves led just 24-21 at the break and were outscored 9-7 in the second frame.
La Conner then went into what Novak called “panic mode” to break down the upset-minded guests in the second half.
“Basically,” said the veteran Braves mentor, “we did what we had to do to win it down the stretch.”
Everything, that is, but cash in at the charity stripe.
La Conner showed improve-ment at the foul line, but still struggled with freebies. The Braves hit just nine of 17 free throws, making enough to eke out the win but missing some that would otherwise have provided a cozy double-digit margin.
On a positive note, La Conner avoided costly mistakes while protecting narrow leads. The Braves committed only 14 miscues on the night.
Fittingly, it was La Conner’s seniors who played a big part in paving the way for the Braves’ sixth conference win in seven starts.
Hudson Zavala pounded Concrete both in the paint and on the perimeter.
He paced La Conner with 18 points and nine rebounds in yet another virtuoso performance that filled the stat sheet.
Classmate Sean Hul-bert likewise turned in a strong shift, adding six points and seven boards.
Seniors Cameron Sherman, Wil James, and Skylar Krueger also landed on the point parade.
Sherman finished with eight tallies, while Krueger and James netted four each.
Taylor Swanson, with seven points, Matt Finley, with six, and Cameron Hanson, netting another four, rounded out a balanced La Conner attack.
As it turned out, every point was needed.
Pressed to the end, La Conner closed with an 18-15 spurt.
“Give Concrete plenty of credit,” Novak said. “They played a real solid game.”
One that nearly cracked the foundation of an otherwise rock-steady Braves campaign.
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