Scott Lindeman scored 19 points in the first quarter to help the La Conner High School boys basketball team race to an early lead on the way to defeating host Coupeville 69-54 Wednesday, Dec. 30.

Coupeville (4-4), which had its three-game win streak snapped, heads to South Whidbey (4-5) at 6:45 p.m. Monday, Jan. 4, then gets back into conference play when it hosts Port Townsend (1-7) at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 5.

South Whidbey stopped Coupeville 61-36 earlier this season.

The La Conner game turned ragged in the second half as the teams became chippy, disrupting the flow of the game. Trash talk dominated and several fights nearly broke out. The officials stopped the game to calm the coaches and players, but missed calls only added to the fuel.

Lindeman was the story in the first quarter, knocking down four three-pointers as the Braves zipped to a 25-11 lead.

The game was tied at six when one of Coupeville’s top players, Wiley Hesselgrave, left with an injury. With Hesselgrave on the bench, the Braves went on a 19-5 run to take control.

Hesselgrave returned at the beginning of the second quarter, but La Conner, behind eight points from Max Miller, most on assists from Lindeman, padded its lead to 49-27 at the break.

Both teams’ shooting cooled in the third period, with Coupeville outscoring La Conner 7-6, but their tempers heated up.

Under a distasteful cloud, Coupeville mounted a comeback in the fourth quarter.

The Braves, up 55-34, hit the first two hoops of the fourth quarter to lead by 25, then the Wolves, taking advantage of the physical nature of the game, cut the gap to 11, 62-51, with 2:25 left.

Lindeman finished with 31 points and La Conner improved to 4-4.

Hesselgrave scored 14 points for the Wolves, one more than Jordan Ford.

Risen Johnson added 11 points, Hunter Smith five, Ryan Griggs three, Deandre Mitchell three, J.J. Johnson three, Dante Mitchell two and Jared Helmstadter two.

The Wolves shot 30 free throws, making 17. The Braves were 8-for-18.

“I was disappointed in our execution,” Coupeville coach Anthony Smith said, “but I wasn’t disappointed in our effort.”

The game was Coupeville’s first in 14 days, and it showed, Smith said.

“We did some good things,” he said, “but we need to take care of a few things as well.”

(Wiley Hesselgrave puts up a jumper for the Wolves. Photo by John Fisken.)