Coach Harper says basketball team ready to play

The loss of more than 50 points per game to graduation will be a tough task for the La Conner High School girls' basketball team to surmount this season.

But second-year head coach Joe Harper, who guided La Conner to a fourth place finish at the Washington State Girls' 2B Hardwood Classic in Spokane last March, has crafted what he and assistants Scottie Miller and Roger Valentine hope will be yet another winning formula.

The key terms in that equation are speed and defense.

"Speed and defense," Harper stressed to the Weekly News on Monday, "is how we plan to offset our graduation losses."

La C...