Photo by Karla Reynolds
Photo by Karla Reynolds
Photo by Karla Reynolds
Photo by Karla Reynolds
Photo by Amylynn Richards
... from Braves Raves
By Amylynn Richards
FOOTBALL
The football team hit the road on Friday, Sept. 30 to play Tacoma Baptist. Tacoma won the game 34-13. “We got off to a great start,” Coach Johnny Lee said. “We got off the bus ready to play, and the kids played relatively well throughout the first half.” The score at halftime was 14-6 with Tacoma in the lead. Nonetheless, “I feel we had outplayed them to that point.” Lee said Tacoma Baptist had two big plays: a 70 yard pass for a touchdown and later a 53 yard run for another touchdown. “That really killed us in the first half,” Lee said, but “the second half was a different story.” The team was down defensively, Coach reports, which allowed Tacoma to take advantage of some opportunities.
Lee said the team played “with great effort, and battled through some adversity.” The team will be working on its offense and defense, Lee said, “to give ourselves a chance to win.”
Team highlights: Sean Hulbert scored on an 8 yard run in the first half; Dahlton Zavala scored on a 5 yard run late in the game; Taylor Swanson added the extra point after Zavala’s touchdown.
Sophomore Skylar Krueger was injured during the Tacoma Baptist game, and was taken to the local hospital and checked for spinal and head injuries. Thankfully “he checked out fine,” Lee said on Monday. Krueger suffer from a concussion, neck strain, and an injured wrist. “We’re glad that Skylar is just fine and relatively healthy considering all that happened Friday night.”
VOLLEYBALL
The girls played the Lynden Lions on Wednesday, Sept. 28, beating the 2A league team with three wins out of five (22-25, 25-22, 22-25, 25-16, 15-12). “It was a two hour long battle and the scores went back and forth. We had very evenly matched teams and we just handled the pressure down the stretch and kept our composure to get the win,” Coach Suzanne Marble said. “It was a great team effort and I am very pleased with the way we played all around tonight.” Game highlights: Kelley McClung, 41 assists; Emily Anderson, 15 kills, 4 aces and 3 blocks; Priscilla Ponce-Venegas, 17 kills, 3 aces and 26 digs; Katie McKnight, 12 kills; Carly Anderson, 21 digs.
The girls hosted Friday Harbor on Thursday, Sept. 29. “Playing back-to-back nights is always tough,” Coach Marble said. “It took us a while to put things together in the first set, but we picked up momentum as the match progressed.” The Braves came from behind to win in three matches (25-11, 25-14, 25-16). Team highlights: Kelley McClung had 22 assists, 3 aces; Emily Anderson was 22 for 22 hitting with 15 kills, 5 aces and 3 blocks; Priscilla Ponce-Venegas had 6 kills and 12 digs; Carly Anderson, 12 digs.
BOYS’ SOCCER
The boys played Cedar Park at Mountlake Terrace on Tuesday, Sept. 27 and won 3-1. Brave goals came from Kory Duran, who scored in the 3rd minute, Jamall James, who scored in the tenth minute, and Todd Hoagland who scored in the 63rd minute. “This was our third league game so the results were even more important,” Coach Steve DeLeon said. “Cedar Park played well, but our two early goals kept us in control most of the match.”
The boys’ soccer team travels to Orcas Island on Friday, Oct. 7 and then will host Lopez Saturday, Oct. 8 at 3:30 p.m. They then will tackle league-leading Shoreline Christian at home, Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 6:30 p.m.
GIRLS’ SOCCER
The girls played a non-league game away against Concrete Monday, Sept. 26. The Braves won the game 4-1. “It was a good game in that our players who don’t usually get a lot of playing time all played the entire game,” said Coach Amy Freeto. Sophomore Kirstyn Bell and freshman Isis Gamble each scored for the Braves during regular play, and sophomore Lauren Reynolds played her first full game as keeper.
The game went into overtime with a 0-0 score, and ended in a shootout. “In order to prepare for post season play we put in our usual lineup and goalie in for the shootout,” Freeto said. The four shootout goals were scored by Ashlyn Reinstra, Nikki Finley, Taylor Edwards and Kirstyn Bell, and gave the Braves the 1-0 win.
The girls hosted Friday Harbor Thursday, Sept. 29. “Friday Harbor is always a good game, and they are our league nemesis,” Coach Freeto said. “We scored early in the game, with a goal by Kelsey Crawford, but it was not our best possession game this season. Both teams were playing a lot of kick ball and were unable to control the game for any length of time.”
The Wolverines scored in the final 2 minutes of the game, sending the Braves into overtime. “Friday Harbor came out strong and overpowered us with an offensive push that we couldn't contain.” Friday Harbor scored with a shot inside the 18 yard box, giving them the win and first place in the league, Freeto said. The girls travel to Concrete on Oct. 6, and then host Sedro Woolley on Monday Oct. 10 at 6:30 p.m.
WIAA CLASSIFICATION
Every two years, the Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association assesses high school enrollment across the state to make sure each school competes at an even level with other schools of similar size. “La Conner is smack dab in the middle of 2B classification,” Athletic Director Peg Seeling said at the September board meeting. Details will be released “soon” from the WIAA, but Seeling expects that the public schools La Conner currently competes against will remain unchanged. However, some of the private schools may or may not be reclassified due to changing enrollment.
