An up-and-down game turned sideways rapidly for the La Conner Braves, who were ousted from state 2B boys’ basketball action in Longview Friday, Feb. 28.
The ninth-seeded Napavine Tigers, behind a game-high 22 points from 6-4 senior forward Karsen Denault, posted a 69-51 comeback win over No. 16 La Conner and advanced to the state Round of 12 in Spokane.
La Conner, the Bi-District 2B champs, finished the campaign with a 14-10 mark.
While disappointed with the outcome, Braves Head Coach Lance Lopez took solace in his team’s late season surge that saw La Conner upset higher-seeded Auburn Adventist and Mount Vernon Christian in Bi-District trials.
“These guys have done everything that I’ve asked them to do. I’m proud of them and for everything they’ve come through,” Lopez said.
La Conner’s Brayden Pedroza goes for two of his team-high 14 points during the Braves’ 69-51 state tourney loss to Napavine in Longview Feb. 28. Photo by Bill Reynolds/La Conner Community News
For a moment, it had appeared the Braves might extend their Cinderella run against Napavine, which entered the first-round state pairing sporting a 22-3 ledger.
After falling behind 9-0 in the contest’s first two minutes, La Conner went on an 18-3 run fueled by transition buckets off the Braves’ full-court zone press.
Senior forward Corran Eisen ignited what was La Conner’s best six minutes of basketball this year with a layup off a backcourt steal. Braves’ senior point guard C.J. Edwards closed the flurry with a pair of free throws that gave La Conner an 18-12 lead going into the second period.
But the situation unraveled at that point.
Using its size advantage in the paint, Napavine outscored the Braves 25-12 leading to halftime. La Conner managed its last lead of the night at 22-21 early in the second quarter on an Edwards steal and layup.
Napavine took control for good when 6-3 senior post Jack Nelson scored in the paint off a feed from Denault.
The Tigers, leading 37-30 at the break, poured it on in the third quarter as well. Napavine reeled off a 24-7 scoring spree in the third quarter that effectively sealed the verdict.
“We played our game for a quarter and a half,” Lopez said, “and then the ball wouldn’t go in. You’ve got to win all four quarters or at least three, and when you lose a couple by double figures, it gets tough.”
The physical nature of the game favored Napavine. The two teams combined for just 12 free throw attempts.
La Conner scoring leader Brayden Pedroza, adept at drawing contact on drives to the rim, didn’t earn a single trip to the foul stripe against the Tigers. On one occasion he was knocked to the floor in the middle of the key.
Incensed at the lack of a whistle, Lopez drew a technical foul.
“They said I was being disrespectful,” a chagrined Lopez said afterward. “But all I said was they undercut him.”
Napavine’s Beckett Landram hit the free throw on the technical and followed up with a corner trey off the subsequent inbounds play to push the Tigers in front 65-42 with three minutes to play.
La Conner, which trailed 61-37 after three quarters, closed with a 14-8 spurt that narrowed the final margin somewhat.
As a team, Napavine drained 10 three-pointers, half of those by the left-handed Denault, who entered the game with a 20.4 scoring average. But it was down low where the taller Tigers did the most damage, out-rebounding La Conner 42-23. The victors, who enjoyed a 12-4 edge on the offensive glass, benefitted from repeated second shot opportunities.
Hudson Chambers and Landram joined Denault in double-digit scoring with 15 and 14 points, respectively.
Pedroza paced La Conner with 14 points, bringing his career scoring total to 1,161.
Tyler Cicotte tallied 13 points for La Conner, including four three-pointers. Edwards finished with 11. Eisen added nine and Nathan Bailey rounded out the Braves’ attack with four points.
The Braves held Napavine’s powerful inside game at bay for a while by forcing 21 turnovers. It was La Conner’s full-court pressure that produced the Braves’ short-lived advantage in the first half.
For senior players Edwards, Pedroza, Cicotte, Eisen, Jarrett Hatch, Christian Fix, and Jonathan Gonzalez, and team manager Cody Suit, the first-round state elimination game ended their time with the Braves’ hoops program.
For Lopez, it was much too soon.
“I’m going to miss these seniors,” he Lopez, 30-18 in his two seasons at the La Conner helm.
“The locker room after the game was tough for me. This senior group has shared our vision for this program. And that vision is to have people who expect us to be in the Bi-District championship game every year.”
SCORING TOTALS
LA CONNER 18 12 7 14 — 51
NAPAVINE 12 25 24 8 — 69
(LC)—Pedroza 14, Cicotte 13, Edwards 11, Eisen 9, Bailey 4.
(N)—Denault 22, Chambers 15, Landram 14, Bullock 8, Nelson 8, Watson 2.
