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They hit a roadblock in Chehalis Friday, but the path to Spokane this week is again clear for the La Conner High School girls' basketball team.

The No. 6 La Conner Lady Braves fell 52-44 to third-seeded Napavine in state regional basketball action at W.F. West High School over the weekend, sending head coach Joe Harper's charges into a loser-out round of 12 matchup today at 3:45 p.m. against No. 11 Northwest Christian of Colbert at the Spokane Arena.

The winner advances to the state quarterfinals on Thursday opposite Warden.

Napavine, meanwhile, bypassed the round of 12 and moved directly to the quarterfinals tomorrow. The Lady Tigers face either Raymond or Adna in a March 2 clash at the Arena.

La Conner (19-5) will be looking to rebound against NWC-Colbert after having trouble solving Napavine's pressure defense. The Lady Tigers forced crucial turnovers – La Conner had 22 giveaways overall, nine in the fourth quarter – and effectively denied the ball to 6'-2" senior post Makayla Herrera in the paint.

Herrera hit La Conner's first basket of the game on a nice feed from Shaniquah Casey but had just one more shot attempt the rest of the way.

Senior forward Ellie Marble handled much of the La Conner scoring load, delivering 26 points on nine-of-16 shooting from the floor. Marble also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

Josie Harper joined Marble in double-digit scoring. The senior guard finished with 14 points, nine in the final stanza. She also dished off three assists.

Maeve McCormick rounded out the Lady Braves attack with a two-point jumper that pulled La Conner within 29-25 midway through the third quarter.

Hayden Kaut paced the victors with 21 points, 11 in the first half, when Napavine trailed 21-20 in a tough defensive struggle.

Morgan Hamilton and Keira O'Neill added 10 points each for Napavine, which secured its 22nd straight triumph.

Napavine coach Shane Schutz said afterward he felt by regularly rotating bench players into the game his team was able to gradually wear down La Conner.

"I thought our defense got our offense going," Schutz told the Chehalis Chronicle. "We got some steals out of our press that changed the momentum of the game. That's always led us offensively. You could see they were getting tired. By the last four minutes they were exhausted."

Still, Marble scored 12 of her 26 points after the break and Josie Harper hit La Conner's lone three-pointer in the second half.

Napavine went ahead for good, at 25-23, early in the third period after Marble tied the score on a strong drive in the lane. The margin swelled to 37-29 until Marble answered with a short bank shot and Harper drained her trey.

But trailing 37-34, La Conner could get no closer. Napavine clinched matters with a 15-10 run, including a key three-point play from Hamilton, to finish the game.

Schutz praised La Conner in his post-game comments.

"We didn't play that well in the first half," he said of his team, "and that was probably a lot to do with La Conner but we played well enough to stay close."

The Lady Braves hurt Napavine inside the trey arc, converting 15 of 30 two-point attempts. But La Conner was just one-of-11 from three-point range and left some crucial points at the free throw line, going 11-of-18 from the foul stripe.

In NWC-Colbert, La Conner is paired this afternoon against a club that has posted a 19-7 record, including a 69-37 state regional blowout win over Forks last weekend.