Kaleb Otis drained six three-pointers en route to a season-high 37 points, Keaton Bailey added another 24, and the La Conner Braves boys’ basketball team chose the most opportune time to win its first game of the year, earning a thrilling 74-70 Bi-District 2B Tournament triumph over Summit Atlas School at Cort Mead Memorial Gym in Seattle on Saturday.

“It feels really good to get that first win,” an elated Braves head coach John Howe said afterward. “We battled the entire game.”

While Otis and Bailey carried the bulk of the scoring load, Kamien Lopez (5), Hadden Zimmerman (4), Chas James (2) and Brent Bobb (2) also joined the Braves point parade.

La Conner, which had built a 42-30 cushion at halftime, had to stave off a furious Summit comeback bid that saw the hosts briefly take a 64-61 lead late in the fourth quarter.

The Braves regained command for good at 71-69 on a Zimmerman jumper in the paint with 1:50 to play.

La Conner closed out the tight contest in the final 30 seconds when Otis delivered a 15-footer off a feed from James and Bailey meshed a free throw.

With the victory, the Braves avoided tourney elimination and advanced to third round Bi-District play this week.

They were to visit either Auburn Adventist or Friday Harbor in a Feb. 17 loser-out matchup. The winner of that game advances to a Feb. 19 test at Mount Vernon Christian with the opponent and time to be determined.

La Conner extended its season with a fast start on Saturday. The Braves scored repeatedly in transition off first-half Summit turnovers.

“We worked a lot on transition going into this game,” Howe said.

When La Conner wasn’t scoring transition layups, Otis was knocking down perimeter treys.

He hit four of his six three-pointers before intermission, one of which gave the Braves their largest lead of the contest, at 37-20, with 4:10 left in the second quarter.

Summit made things interesting after the break, however. The Seattle team opened the second half with a 14-3 run, pulling within 45-44, before Otis answered with a three-ball and two foul shots.

A pair of free throws by Bailey and a short banker from Lopez off an assist by James pushed La Conner’s lead back to double digits at 54-44 with just over two minutes left in the third frame.

But again, Summit responded. This time with a 20-7 spurt spanning the third and fourth quarters.

The Braves trailed 64-61 when James scored on a deft reverse layup. La Conner’s Brent Bobb then stole the inbound pass and dished to Bailey for a quick score. Fouled on the play, Bailey sank a free throw that put the Braves on top 66-64 at the 2:48 mark.

Moments later, Bailey broke a 66-66 tie with a clutch trey.

The score was knotted once more, at 69-69, when Zimmerman put La Conner in front for good at 71-69 with his game deciding jump shot.

Having broken a season-long 19-game losing skid, one that included a heart-wrenching 55-53 defeat at Concrete in January, Braves players celebrated their victory at midcourt with high-fives all around.

That was just the start. A post-game meal on the bus ride home was in the works, too.

“We’ll stop wherever they want,” a beaming Howe said with a nod to his players.           

Bill Reynolds is a general assignment reporter for La Conner Community News.