La Conner High School enjoys a rich basketball tradition, its trophy case inside Landy James Gym filled with hardware earned by the school’s teams over the years.
There’s also an ongoing investment in promoting future Braves’ hoops success.
That was evident Jan. 27 when over 80 La Conner youth basketball players, girls and boys alike, were honored between Braves home games with Orcas Island.
Introduced by Corey Catubo, who, for several years, has coordinated grades K-3 three-on-three basketball here, the local youth hoopsters were greeted with high-fives by Orcas and La Conner players, coaches and cheerleaders as they ran to much applause around the perimeter of the gym floor.
“It was a great opportunity to celebrate our kids,” Catubo said. “I’m really passionate about basketball and I want to see all our kids be successful.”
Catubo and Joe Harper, the latter of whom coached Braves girls’ teams to state tournament appearances before shifting his focus to youth basketball, said La Conner kids regularly compete in SWISH (Skagit, Whatcom, Island, Snohomish Hoops), a league that provides skills development, team bonding and the opportunity to forge lasting friendships.
Harper alluded to the fourth- and fifth-grade boys’ team that he coaches.
“The friendships built by the parents as well as the kids have really made a great experience,” he said. “I’d like that to be the case for all the teams as that just builds a stronger community.”
Harper lauded the recent founding of LC Future Youth Boys Hoops (YBH), which allows team rosters to remain intact through multiple seasons.
“This gives them a chance to grow together and learn to play together,” Harper said.
“A great example of this was the La Conner High girls’ classes of 2022 and 2023. That group played SWISH together from fourth through eighth grades and in high school they went on to be parts of teams that placed second in state once, fourth twice, and were runners-up in a Summer State tournament during COVID,” he said.
Harper described LC Future YBH as a pending nonprofit intent on providing increased playing opportunities and help with costs for participating families. He said sponsorships have been secured thus far from Pioneer Potatoes and The Firehall Kitchen and Taphouse.
“We don’t want anyone to not play due to financial concerns,” he said, adding that SWISH registration costs $1,450 per team and covers eight regular season and three league tournament games.
Harper said discussions have begun to launch an association like LC Future YBH, or perhaps a merged entity, that includes La Conner’s girls’ youth sports teams.
“We plan to help get that off the ground prior to next year’s SWISH season,” he said.
In the meantime, Harper said La Conner is hosting SWISH games at the school campus on the weekends of Feb. 7 and Feb. 21.
“We’re using this as a fundraising opportunity where the program is paid by (the) Skagit Parks & Rec (Department) to cover the scorekeepers and gym monitors,” he said.
Harper praised Catubo, who has long served as president of the La Conner Parent Teacher Student Association, for her tireless work with the three-on-three teams.
“This is really the start of basketball in La Conner,” he explained. “It’s very important for the development of players as they get exposure to dribbling, passing and shooting.”
During basketball season, Catubo commits two or more hours per day four times a week after school to give girls and boys a chance to shoot baskets and practice with their teams in the elementary gym.
“The kids look forward to it, and I love it,” Catubo said. “It can be exhausting, but I love it.”
The enthusiasm shared by Catubo and Harper is infectious.
“We have people in place to grow the program and we look forward to many successful years of basketball in La Conner,” Harper said.
Still, youth basketball in La Conner is about far more than producing winning teams.
“Our goal is to help the kids grow up to be good people – to help them really understand the importance of respect, commitment, effort, sportsmanship and sacrifice,” Harper said. “These are skills that will help in the real world when basketball and school are over.”
Bill Reynolds is a general assignment reporter for La Conner Community News.
