Brandon Kohler scored 17 points to go with five rebounds and Lake Roosevelt hit their last 10 free throw attempts in the fourth quarter to hold off La Conner 62-51 to earn fourth place in the State 2B tournament.
"Our guys just really had great focus," Lake Roosevelt coach Brad Wilson said. "They really responded well to the energy and the pressure of the situation in that fourth quarter."
The Braves (22-6) cut the deficit to two on two occasions early in the fourth quarter, but LR rallied both times, eventually pushing the lead back to double digits. Ty Egbert added 15 points and nine rebounds for the Raiders, despite being saddled with early foul trouble.
Egbert picked up his second foul with 3:31 to go in the first quarter, putting him on the bench for much of the rest of the first half. But the Braves could not take advantage, trailing by five at the half.
La Conner kept things close hitting 12 of 29 3-point attempts, getting five from Spencer Novak who finished with 15 points. Despite its success from 3-point range, though, La Conner was abysmal from the free throw line, going 1 of 11 for the game and hitting 1 of 5 in the fourth quarter alone.
Even with the Braves catching fire from beyond the arc, the Raiders never trailed in the game, leading by as many as 12.
"We play a 2-3 zone so we get beat for 3-pointers, it just happens," Kohler said. "But we'll go down to the other end and we'll gladly trade four for three."
With the win, the Raiders closed the tournament 2-0 after a demoralizing loss to Napavine. The fourth place finish was their best in school history.