La Conner Weekly News - Your independent hometown award-winning newspaper

The La Conner High School girls’ basketball team is willing to play anyone, anytime, anywhere.

For the 2B Lady Braves, that meant a rare Wednesday night tipoff opposite 4A Skyline in Sammamish last week.

Despite the unusual game night, a first-time opponent from a large urban school district and suburban King County location, the result was much the same as other scores La Conner has posted enroute to a 15-1 overall mark and 8-0 conference record.

The team easily defeated Skyline 71-42 one night after routing NW2B rival Friday Harbor 105-23, also on the road.

The lopsided win at Friday Harbor marked the third time La Conner has topped the century mark this year.

But it was the victory at Skyline that caught the attention of most fans.

“The girls played great against Skyline, a very solid 4A team,” head coach Scott Novak told the Weekly News afterward. “It was one of our most complete games from start to finish, but we have had a few games like that this year.”

Sarah Cook paced the victors with 23 points. Ellie Marble (19) and Josie Harper (14) also reached double-figure scoring.

Rachel Cram (7), Juna Swanson (4) and Ellalee Wortham (4) rounded out the point parade.

The team bolted to an early 21-8 lead, setting the tone for the rest of the game. By halftime they had more than doubled the score, taking a 35-16 advantage into the locker room.

The visitors swelled their margin to 56-26 entering the final frame.

“We came out and dominated the game from start to finish,” said Novak. “Our defense, rebounding and energy were excellent and we attacked on offense.”

La Conner followed a similar script at Friday Harbor, storming ahead 40-8 in the first period and building a 65-12 halftime lead.

Cook led all scorers with 27 points. Wortham contributed 21 points while Marble (19), Harper (18) and Cram (13) also scored in double digits.

Swanson (6), Aubrie Sloniker (6) and Maeve McCormick (5) likewise reached the scoring column.

In typical fashion, La Conner converted Friday Harbor turnovers into fast break scores while also consistently making the extra pass in its half-court offense to find open shooters.

“We had good ball movement that led to great shots,” Novak said, “and out pressure defense created many turnovers which turned into transition points.”

Friday Harbor lost for the fifth time in seven starts. The Lady Wolverines fell to 1-5 in NW2B/1B action.