Last Wednesday night, the Vashon Island boys’ basketball team beat Bellevue Christian, 46-29. The Pirates’ victory was the second against Bellevue, but did not matter in the league standings since both Vashon and Bellevue Christian have already established their seeding for the district tournament. Vashon will have the number-one seed, and the Vikings will be the fourth in the Nisqually league.

Vashon senior Casper Forest started the scoring by cutting into the lane where Rhys Jennings, also a senior, hit him with a pass before Forest banked the ball home. Bellevue Christian answered with two free throws. Then, Vashon’s Noah Edmonds drove from the right side and hit a jump shot from 8 feet. The Vikings made a lay-in to tie the game at 4 points each.

With the quarter winding down, Vashon’s Sam Briggs threw a bounce pass between two defenders and hit a cutting Jacob Chavez for a lay-in. The first period ended tied 7-7.

The Pirates took over the game in the second period outscoring the Vikings 14-5. Forest put VHS into the lead with a running bank shot, then a turnaround jumper followed by a basket from downtown. Pirate Jahmiah Hoogen grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on a short jumper. Sophomore Colin Pottinger rebounded a missed shot and tossed it in. Moments later, Forest hit another 3-pointer from the deep corner. The halftime score had VHS in the lead 21-12.

The third quarter was similar to the second with VHS stretching the lead to 36-16 after the eight-minute period, mostly on more scoring from Forest. The Pirates’ zone defense, led by junior center Ethan Danielsen’s seven blocked shots, also thwarted Viking penetration into the lane.

Forest hit nine of 19 shots for 22 points for high-scoring honors for the game. Hoogen had 6 points.

The Feb. 8 game was also senior night: the last home game that will be played by seniors Langston Dziko, Jennings and Forest.

The West Central District 3 tournament began on Feb. 9. Fourth-seeded Bellevue Christian played Coupeville, the number three seed from the Olympic league, and won 66-54. On Feb. 11, Bellevue Christian lost to Cascade Christian, the number two seed, 62-56. Also, Seattle Christian, the number three seed from the Nisqually league, beat Chimacum, the number two seed from the Olympic league, 72-42.

The next stage of the district playoff has Cascade Christian taking on against Port Townsend at 6 p.m. tonight. Following that game, at 7:45 p.m. Vashon plays Seattle Christian. These games will be played at Bellarmine Prep High School in Tacoma.

The winners will advance to play for the first and second seed. The losers will face each other to play for the third seed. Both of these games will be played Saturday at Bellarmine Prep. The top three teams advance to the regionals in Yakima, Feb. 24 and 25.

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