Last week, the Vashon High School girls’ basketball team traveled to Cascade Christian on Jan. 18 and Bellevue Christian on Jan. 20. Both are teams in Vashon’s league. Cascade Christian had a league record of 1-2, while Bellevue Christian’s league record 4-0.

Last season, Vashon beat Cascade Christian twice, both away. This year, head coach Rob Kearns was hoping to beat Cascade for the third time in a row, but the game started off badly when Vashon lost the tip to Cascade Christian junior Shelain Lorenz. Throughout the game, fouls got the girls in trouble. Collectively, Cascade Christian took over 15 free throws, and Vashon had 11 turnovers and three steals. Vashon went on to lose 47-32. Sophomore Chloe Kuyper was the high scorer and highest rebounder of the night with 15 points on the board and five rebounds.

On Jan. 20, the Pirates traveled to Bellevue Christian to play their fourth league game of the season. Bellevue Christian is at the top of the league, having won all the league games they’ve played. The Pirates knew going into the game that Bellevue is a tough team and that they would be without starter Olivia Larson, who was benched due to a concussion.

Vashon started the game by winning the tip, but by the end of the first half was losing 28-9. Bellevue had some really strong shooters, and their high scorer of the night was junior Nicole Bloch with 15 points. Vashon’s high scorer and rebounder was senior captain Eva Anderson with 5 points and six rebounds.

Larson’s presence on the court was definitely missed. The girls struggled to adapt to the unexpected change, but Anderson’s effort was apparent from the stands as she attempted to stay intense and drive to the basket.

The junior varsity girls also lost both of their games last week: losing to Cascade Christian 44-42 and Bellevue Christian 46-12.

Vashon now finds itself fourth in the league with Charles Wright sitting at fifth.

Both the JV and varsity girls played Charles Wright Tuesday after press time. Coming up next, the varsity team will play at 5:15 p.m. Friday at Seattle Christian, who they lost to on Jan. 10. The girls have three games left in the season, and it is vital they win if they hope to get into the playoffs.

— Lia Crawford is a VHS freshman who plays on the JV basketball team.