Boys’ basketball ends the season with a loss to King’s at Regionals

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, March 2, 2016

On Saturday evening, the Vashon High School boys’ varsity basketball team played its final game of the 2015-2016 season, losing 51-41 in the regional playoffs of the Washington State tournament to the King’s Knights from Mountlake Terrace.

The game was held at Mountlake Terrace High School, and although the King’s were the local team, there were plenty of Vashon High School students, parents, relatives and friends in attendance who brought enthusiasm and spirit.

This game was a rematch of last year’s state basketball tournament in Yakima, which saw Vashon lose to King’s in a blowout, 62-32, that pushed the Pirates out of the championship bracket. The Knights went on to win the state championship last year. Vashon obviously learned a lot from that game, and although the result this year was also a loss, the Pirates did not go down easy.

The Pirates started out well with the starting seniors jumping to a lead, and senior Sam Schoenberg setting the tone by hitting long jumpers and pushing hard with an aggressive defense. Fellow senior Sam Yates was launching his signature three-point barrage when he was fouled by a Knights player. Yates hit all three free throws and the Pirates confidence began to show.

VHS head coach Andy Sears implemented a specific strategy in this year’s game to avoid the fast break offense that gave King’s their big blowout against the Pirates last year. Typically, the Knights would score lots of points quickly by using their big players to rebound and move down court with a torrid, spread-out fast break that would often end in dunks from their star player, junior Corey Kispert. This time, however, the Pirates were able to methodically move the ball down the court, slowing the pace and preventing the frenetic play that usually results in a fast break the other way. Furthermore, the Pirates’ typical aggressive full-court press was moved back partially to prevent giving up backdoor passes that led to layups or alley-oops.

This strategy depended on the Pirates’ ball possession and handling skills, and senior Sean Delargy was up to the task, drawing double teams with every possession, but still getting the ball to the right people to make the play. After senior Alex Symbol dropped a sweet basket off the glass in the first quarter, the Pirates were up 16-9 against the top-ranked King’s Knights.

Once King’s Kispert warmed up, however, the tide started to turn against the Pirates. Kispert, being recruited by major colleges across the nation as a junior, took control with three-pointers and fast breaks, including a dunk that got the home crowd roaring. Vashon senior Edgar Polkat answered with a three that bounced around the rim and fell in, giving the Vashon faithful some hope that luck was on their side despite being down five to the Knights 28-23.

The team could feel it too, and after Schoenberg got a laser pass from Delargy for a two-point layup and sophomore Jahmiah Hoogen hit a three, the Pirates closed the gap to 29-28 at the end of the first half.

The second half saw the Pirates come out very aggressively. Delargy got a steal; Schoenberg had a massive two-handed block; Vashon senior Josh Tillman got called for a foul, and Symbol was whistled for his third foul all within the first few minutes of the third. In the scuffle, Symbol was also mysteriously called for a technical foul by the ref, which gave him four fouls and sent him to the bench. The third period ended with Vashon down 36-28.

Kispert began to take over the game for the Knights, sinking jump shots and driving the lane. Vashon’s Yates was able to draw the defense effectively, giving him several assists to Polkat and junior Casper Forest. And when the Knights didn’t focus in on Yates, he made them pay, scoring a team high 12 points on the day. After Delargy drew an offensive foul and dropped a floater in the lane, Vashon was only six points down with two minutes left in the game.

But the day was not the day, as the defending state champion Knights finished up the game, consistently scoring on each late-game possession. Meanwhile, Vashon’s strategy of slowing the game down began to work against them. As the clock was winding down, the pace was not quick enough to overcome the point deficit.

At the buzzer, Vashon posted a 10-point loss to the team they had lost to by 30 points last year, showing strategic progress against the top-ranked team, but not enough to continue the season for the Pirates who fail to progress to the state tournament in Yakima.

The game was the last regulation high school game for the six seniors who have grown up together playing basketball around the island: Sean Delargy, Edgar Polkat, Sam Schoenberg, Alex Symbol, Josh Tillman and Sam Yates.

— Joel Schoenberg is the father

of a Pirate basketball player.