by Trevor Pyle
La Conner’s Kelsey Kennedy (left) and Mount Vernon Christian’s Jessica Munoz battle for a loose ball during Tuesday’s Northwest 2B/1A League game.
LA CONNER — Megan Raymond did everything she could Tuesday to give the La Conner girls’ basketball team its first league winning streak of the season.
Raymond scored 20 points, pulled down six rebounds and shot 6-of-6 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter to help the Braves fend off Mount Vernon Christian 39-28 for a Northwest 2B/1A League victory, their second in a row.
Raymond was 7-of-15 from the field and scored eight of her points in the first quarter, frequently burying jump shots at the end of fast breaks to help give the Braves the lead.
“Megan put us on her back tonight,” La Conner coach Scott Novak said.
Kelsey Kennedy added nine points for La Conner (2-0 in league, 7-2 overall), who survived a Hurricanes run at the end of the first half where they drew within three.
“The nice thing was when they made their run at us, we kept our composure,” Novak said.
The game was heavy on defense, with the Braves shooting 15-of-49 (31 percent) and the Hurricanes shooting 9-of-31 (29 percent). Very few shots went uncontested.
“La Conner did a good job of pressuring us. Sometimes we lost our composure and made bad passes,” Mount Vernon Christian coach Dick Gudmunson said. “At times we hurt ourselves.”
Gudmunson said the Hurricanes (0-1, 5-2) did a nice job countering the Braves’ pressure with defensive intensity of their own: “We did a good job putting ball pressure on forcing them to start their offense from farther out,” he said.
Jessica Munoz and Kendra McConnell led the Hurricanes’ scoring with seven points apiece. They both hit 3-point shots for the Hurricanes.
Stephanie Geertsma had six points.
“We knew Geertsma was capable of big things, and Munoz and McConnell played well for them,” Novak said. “When they had open shots, they hit them.”
• Trevor Pyle can be reached at 360-416-2156 or by e-mail at
