Boys’ basketball team scoops up two important league wins

MLK tourney loss to Tahoma

The Vashon High School varsity boys’ basketball team traveled to the Kent ShoWare Center to play in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Showcase on the holiday of the same name on Jan. 16. The Pirates played Tahoma High School, a 4A team led by 6-foot 9-inch post Clayton Stultz, who scored 12 points that game. A much taller team, the Bears of Tahoma coasted to a fairly easy win on sizzling first-half shooting from deep, and posted a 54-39 victory.

VHS played Tahoma in a summer league match with a similar result. In both games, the Pirates were competitive early, resulting from full court pressing steals, but had no answer for the posting ability of Stultz.

In addition, the Pirates had another cold shooting game. The Bears defended well, and Vashon struggled to create open shots either from screens or passes. The consequence of this was 27 percent shooting from the field.

Casper Forest led Vashon scorers with 10 points. Pirate Jacob Chavez had 9.

VHS visits Cascade Christian, takes home league victory

Vashon traveled to Puyallup last Wednesday night for a Nisqually League game against archrival Cascade Christian, which has four returning seniors from its stellar 2015-16 team.

The game began in a rather deliberate fashion while the teams probed for weaknesses. Midway through the second period, Vashon’s Forest hit from deep, followed by a Noah Edmonds short bucket, a long 3-point shot by Sam Briggs and an Edmonds swish from downtown, capping an 11-point run to put the score at 22-9. The Cougars clawed back to end the half behind by seven points at 22-15.

Vashon opened a large lead in the third period as Forest made 9 points from deep, contributing to a 15-4 run and a 37-19 lead. Cascade Christian had gone cold and committed multiple turnovers, while VHS took advantage. This was not the last to be heard from the home team. They ended the quarter with a roar, 7 unanswered points, and the Vashon lead reduced to 38-26.

The final period began with Corbin Nohr, Cascade Christian’s high scorer, hitting a 3-point shot, followed by two straight Tyler Fox bank shots from short range.

Forest hit two free throws to bring the score to 40-33 with five minutes left. Cascade Christian tied the score at 41 at the 2:30 mark and took the lead soon after, but Edmonds tied it again on two free throws to end the fourth quarter and send the game into overtime. The Cougars had outscored the visitors 17-5 in the fourth period to get the game to the extra period. Now the momentum was with the home team.

Vashon got possession on the Ethan Danielsen tip to begin the overtime and Edmonds drove to six feet, stopped, then lifted above his defender and drained the bucket for a 2-point lead. The Cougar’s answered with a missed shot. Forest grabbed the rebound. Jahmiah Hoogen got a pass from Langston Dziko, drove the right side and hit a fade-away jump shot for a 4-point lead.

Cascade Christian’s Nohr hit a jumper at 2:15 to get the score to 47-45 with vashon leading. Both teams missed opportunities, but for the Cougars it was desperation time. With 35 seconds on the clock, Hoogen this time drove the left side, but was guarded closely. He lifted off the floor to fade backwards, away from his defender and banked the ball into the hoop. It was a mix of pandemonium and shock in the building. The lead was now 4 points, with too little time for the Cougars. Vashon had put the hammer down on the Cascade Christian comeback and taken a league win from the home team. The final score was 52-48.

This was a great win for the Pirates. They played in a hostile venue, took a large lead and, perhaps, thought that this might be easier than expected. But when Cascade Christian came back and faced them down, these boys did not flinch. They got pushed hard under the basket, and the calls frequently did not go their way. Despite this, they continued to meet the challenge and play to the end of the game. Their reward was a victory, and substantial confidence in themselves as a team.

Casper Forest had 22 points, Noah Edmonds had 13, and for the Cougars, high scorer was Corbin Nohr with 17.

Earlier, VHS’ junior varsity team could not get dialed into their proper shooting range. One could blame turnovers for the 42 -27 loss, but the opposition led throughout the night because the young Pirates could only manage 25 percent shooting from the field. Freshman Jeremiah Bogaard was Vashon’s JV high scorer with 13 points.

Vashon visits Bellevue Christian, escapes with win

Coming off the Nisqually league-win against Cascade Christian, Vashon played another league away game against the Bellevue Christian Vikings Friday night, racing to an early first quarter lead of 12-9, on shooting from deep by Langston Dziko.

The second quarter started with Rhys Jennings tipping in a Pirate missed shot, then draining from downtown to put VHS up by 17-9. Vashon increased the lead to 24-11 with four minutes left in the first half as Forest penetrated in the paint doing damage to the Vikings from short range.

Bellevue Christian featured sophomore Ken West, a 6-foot 6-inch forward, who blocked multiple shots in the paint, in addition to raining buckets from deep. Together with senior Chris Stribley, the two brought the Vikings back to tie the game at 24 points in the last few minutes of the second period.

The second half began slowly with each team in a more deliberate style of play. This amounted to many passes in an effort to find the best shot, but frequently resulted in a loss of possession from turnovers.

Forest hit a shot from downtown for a 3-point lead, but the Vikings answered each time Vashon scored. The third period ended with Vashon maintaining a one point lead 31-30.

Early in the fourth quarter, Forest scored on an assist from Colin Pottinger, putting up a 3-foot shot that kissed the glass before sliding through the net. Bellevue’s Stribley answered with a bank shot from the left side, and moments later off a steal sank another basket to put Bellevue Christian in the lead 34-33. Vashon’s Edmonds dribbled into the left corner of the key and popped a jump shot into the hoop to give Vashon a 35-34 lead. VHS got a stop on the next possession and Edmonds scored on a runner into the lane to extend the lead to 37-34. With time running down, Forest scored for a 39-36 lead.

Bellevue Christian began fouling to try to get the ball back, betting that VHS could not hit the front end of a one-and-one free throw. On an entry pass from out of bounds, Edmonds was fouled and went to the line. With the Vikings cheering section screaming to try to distract him, Edmonds made the first shot for a 4-point lead and assured the victory.

High scorer for VHS was Forest with 16. Edmonds had 9. For the Vikings, West scored 12.

In the junior varsity game, Vashon raced out to a 19-6 first quarter lead and coasted to 39-33 win. Jeremiah Bogaard led the Pirates with 12 points.

Vashon’s varsity team sits at the top of the Nisqually League with a 4-1 record. On Friday, the team visits Seattle Christian for a 7 p.m. game. The JV team will play at 3:45 p.m.

— Daniel Briggs is the father of a VHS varsity boys’ basketball player.