By JOEL HILLE
For The Beachcomber

The Vashon High School girls’ basketball team traveled to Bellevue on Tuesday, Jan. 13, for its second league game of the season against the Bellevue Christian Vikings.

Both teams began the game with strong defense, which limited the scoring for each, and the Vikings led 11-9 after the first quarter. The defense continued both ways, but the Pirates were slower to adjust and soon found themselves down 22-11 several minutes into the second quarter.  However, they got a spark of offense toward the end of the half, when Lilly Hennessey came off the bench and made three consecutive field goals to pull the Pirates within 3 points for a halftime score of 22-19, Vikings.

After halftime, the Vikings offense came alive, making four 3-pointers during a 15-4 run to gain a 37-23 advantage with two minutes left in the third quarter. The Pirates then made a quick 4-0 run of their own to pull within 10 points for a score of 37-27 at the end of three. The Pirates continued fighting hard during the fourth quarter but could not get closer than 7 points, and the teams traded baskets until the end for a final score of 47-38, Vikings.

The Pirates were led in scoring by Siena Jannetty with 14 points. Annika Hille added 10, Eva Anderson and Hennessey each had 6, and Kai Li Scheer had 2. Hille also grabbed 9 rebounds, with Jannetty and Kate Atwell pulling down 7 each, Anderson and Hennessey had 3 each, and Scheer had 2.

On Saturday, the Chimacum Cowboys traveled to Vashon for a non-league contest. Chimacum has been a familiar foe for the Pirates in previous years as a league opponent; however, the school moved from the Nisqually League to the Olympic League after the 2013-2014 school year.

The game began slowly for both teams, and the first quarter ended with the score knotted at 8-8. In the second quarter, the Pirates still couldn’t find any rhythm and appeared to be getting frustrated as they were outscored 8-2, with the only points coming on two free throws by Hille for a halftime score of 16-10.

Things then changed in the Pirates’ favor in the third quarter as they strategically switched to a person-to-person defense. This move quickly paid dividends as they forced the Cowboys’ offense into several bad shots, which led to uncontested rebounds for the Pirates, allowing them to confidently move the ball up the floor for fast break points.  Just two minutes into the second half, the Pirates had tied the game at 16, and they were just getting started. The defense continued to stymie the Cowboys’ offense, and the Pirates snagged several more steals and rebounds, leading to more fast break points. They ended the quarter on a 20-0 run for a score of 30-16.

The Pirates continued to outpace their opponents in the fourth quarter, with the Cowboys scoring their only point of the second half on a free throw with six minutes left in the game. The final score was 45-17, with the Pirates outscoring the Cowboys 35-1 during the second half.

Coach Rob Kearns said he was pleased to see the girls respond during the second half against Chimacum.

“It was nice to see them respond well when we went to the man-to-man defense,” he said. “They showed that they are capable of converting turnovers into points in the transition game if they play hard and play with confidence.”

The scoring was led by Jannetty with 15 points, Hille with 12, Anderson with 8, Atwell with 5, Scheer and Hennessey with 2 each and Natalie VanDevanter with 1. Rebounding was led by Hille with 14, Atwell with 10, Hennessey and Melanie Stoffer with 6, Jannetty with 5, Anderson with 3, VanDevanter with 2 and Scheer with 1.

The girls play at home next at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 30.

— Joel Hille is the father of a Pirate basketball player.