By JOEL HILLE

For The Beachcomber

The Vashon Island High School girls’ basketball team secured its second victory of the season last week against Mercer Island’s Northwest Yeshiva High School.

The non-conference game on Thursday night saw the Vashon girls quite handily secure a victory. The game started slowly for the Pirates, which has been a trend so far this season, but the girls took control halfway through the first quarter when senior Annika Hille converted one of two free throws to put the first point on the board. The score was 1-0, and with that, the Pirates eventually got the game flowing their way. The girls began defending aggressively on the full court press and were able to convert several steals into fast break points. Yeshiva had a difficult time controlling the ball and getting shots, and the Pirates were able to take a 30-7 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The second half led to more of the same for the over-matched Yeshiva girls as the Pirates were able to steadily expand their lead and eventually finish with a 53-20 victory. The game allowed coach Rob Kearns to get significant playing time for all of the girls and showcase the quickness of many of the younger players.

Hille led the scoring with 18 points; another 10 came from freshman Chloe Kuyper, and nine were from fellow frosh Olivia Larson. Senior Natalie VanDevanter added five points.

Kuyper and senior Kate Atwell each pulled down nine rebounds; Hille grabbed five, and VanDevanter and Maren Fremstad grabbed four each.

The Pirates traveled north on Saturday night to play a game against Darrington and played a home game against Coupeville Tuesday night. Both games occurred after press time.

The girls’ first league game will be at 5:15 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 8, at Seattle Christian.

— Joel Hille is the father of a VHS girls’ basketball player