The Vashon girls basketball team hosted the Cascade Christian High School Cougars on Tuesday.

The Cougars jumped out to an early 9-0 lead from which the Pirates struggled to recover on their way to a 61-21 loss.

Vashon’s half court offense struggled and it showed in the box score as six Pirates scored, but no one had more than five points.

“Cascade Christian is an experienced and seasoned crew,” said Pirate’s coach, Henry Porter. “They ran their offensive sets well and played outstanding defense, disrupting our half court sets and getting far too many points on our mistakes,” he added.

The Pirates traveled to Orting High School on Friday night and appeared to have learned a great deal from the previous game.

Crisp ball movement and consistent back court play resulted in an early Pirate lead that was never challenged. In a role reversal, the Pirates lead 10-1 at the end of the first quarter and took a 25-9 lead to the half time locker room.

The second half was similar to the first as the Pirates won 49-19. The win improves Vashon’s record to 6-4 (2-2 in Nisqually league play).

Vashon scoring was led by freshman Anya Quig (20 points) and junior post Charlotte Kehoe who finished the night with 14 points, 9 rebounds and 6 blocked shots. Quig was 3-3 form beyond the arc and 4 of 6 from the field. Junior wing Cat Amick added 7 points for the Pirates and had a career best 6 steals. The rest of the Pirate scoring was contributed by Rachel Hoffman (4 points) and Taegan Lynch and Katherine Misel who added 2 points each.

As the season approaches the midpoint, it is evident that the Pirates who have no seniors are gaining confidence.

“We get better every week,” said Porter, “The girls are practicing with great intensity and I think we will continue to see improvement that will hopefully get us in, and deep into, the playoffs.”

Vashon is currently in 3rd place in Nisqually League play with games this week against Charles Wright and Chimacum.