Boys’ Basketball
With league play not set to begin until January, Vashon High School boys’ basketball has had three straight home victories against opponents dwarfed by the Pirates’ size and athleticism. On the road, VHS has garnered three wins and only one loss, giving them a 6-1 record. They travel next to Leavenworth for a holiday tournament and will play two games.
On Friday the Pirates travel to Bellevue Christian for a crucial league game against an opponent that expects to challenge Vashon for the league title. The Bellevue school has a tall front-court, boasting 6’ 7” Ken West and many returning seniors. The first home league game is slated for Jan. 15 against Cascade Christian, which like its competitors, also has its eye on winning the title.
The VHS team is composed of five returning seniors: Kalen Cunningham, Sol Dehnert, Jacob Chavez, Colin Pottinger and Tommy Delargy. Juniors include Jeremiah Bogaard, Isaac Patchen, Finbarr Anderson and Edgar Hernandez-Torres. Three sophomores, Zach VanDusen, Luca Aprile and Ty Radford, round out the roster of twelve players. Andy Sears returns as head coach for his 18th year. Sean Hoogen returns as assistant coach, and former player Owen Brenno will assist as well.
Vashon will counter the height of Bellevue Christian with its own “twin towers” of Anderson and Hernandez-Torres, both standing at 6’ 5”, backed by Pottinger at 6’ 4”. Delargy currently leads the team in scoring with a 14 point average.
— Daniel Briggs, parent of a VHS basketball player.
Girls’ Basketball
After more than a week off, the VHS Girls Basketball team returned to action Saturday, Dec. 22 at home, hosting the Klahowya Eagles of Silverdale, WA.
The Pirates entered the Saturday night game undefeated, winning their first 6 games with comfortable margins of victory. Klahowya entered the game averaging 37 points per game, and posed a formidable challenge for the vaunted Pirates’ defense. But Vashon managed to finish off the Eagles with a 38 to 24 win, holding Klahowya to only 3 points in the fourth quarter. Liv Larson led the scoring with 13 points, followed by Kobe Koebelin with 10, Ava Butler with 6, Chloe Kuyper with 5, and Brynn Mueller with 4.
The team remains undefeated as league play begins on Friday at Bellevue Christian with a 5:30 p.m. tipoff.
Each Week Coach Rob Kearns will spotlight two members of the team. This week: sophomore guards Tamsen Henry and Sienna Stromberg.
“Stromberg and Henry are second-year players for the Pirates and have known each other their whole lives growing up on Vashon,” he said of the pair. “They are both extremely positive and bring a ton of energy to practice. Stromberg is always asking questions at practice on what she can do to get better and is always open to learning new concepts. Henry brings a defensive intensity that the team feeds off of, and can always be found screaming and cheering her team on, no matter how she is feeling or how the game is going. Both share a love of dancing and both play soccer for the Pirates as well. These athletes are extremely important to our program and are committed to our growth and being great teammates.”
— Chris Koebelin, parent of a VHS basketball player.
