By JOEL HILLE
For The Beachcomber
The Vashon girls’ basketball team secured its third win of the season on Wednesday, Jan. 7, when it met the Loggers from Darrington, a small 2B High School about 75 miles northeast of Seattle.
The Pirates began strong by jumping out to a 7-0 lead two minutes into the game. With solid aggressive play early and excellent shooting, including a 3-pointer from Siena Jannetty, they climbed to a 20-6 lead after one quarter. Their efficient play continued during the second quarter with solid rebounding and defense, which led to several steals and a few breakaway layins. They ended the half with another 3-pointer, this time by Annika Hille, for a halftime score of 32-14.
The third quarter was slower for the Pirates as they went cold from the field, scoring only 4 points while giving up 10 to the Loggers, reducing their lead to just 12. However, in the fourth quarter the girls stepped up their intensity again and easily outscored the Loggers 18-7, giving them a 54-31 victory. The final score came after junior forward Melanie Stoffer connected on a 3-pointer, the first of her career, which resulted in some fun jubilation for all her teammates and the coaches.
Coach Rob Kearns was very pleased with the girls’ play, noting that “They rebounded very well and shot better than they have been, and played good defense too, limiting the scoring of the Loggers’ two best offensive players.”
The Pirates were led in scoring by Hille with 18 points, Eva Anderson with 14, Jannetty with 11, Stoffer with 5, Kate Atwell with 4 and Natalie VanDevanter with 2. Hille also grabbed 16 rebounds, with Anderson getting 11, Atwell with 10, Stoffer with 7, Jannetty with 6, and VanDevanter and Lilly Hennessey with 1 each.
On Friday, Jan. 9, the Seattle Christian Warriors traveled to Vashon for the first Nisqually League contest of the season. The Pirates were fired up to play, getting good ball movement around the court for several quality shots early in the game, but unfortunately they couldn’t connect on many and found themselves down 13-5 halfway through the second quarter. The first half ended with the Warriors leading 17-11, an indication of the offensive struggles for both teams through the first 16 minutes.
After halftime, the Pirates took to the court with aggressive play on both ends, which paid off when about 3 minutes into the third quarter they took the lead at 22-21 after a 3-point play by Hille. However the Warriors responded with a quick field goal to retake the lead, which they again built up to 6 points. Each team scored 15 points during the third quarter, which ended with the Warriors leading 32-26. During the fourth quarter, the Pirates’ comeback effort was stalled by several untimely turnovers and cold shooting, and the final score was 42-31, the Warriors winning.
Pirate scoring was led by Anderson with 13 points, Hille with 8, Jannetty with 6 and VanDevanter with 4. Jannetty pulled down 10 rebounds, Hille had 7, Anderson and Melanie Stoffer each had 5, VanDevanter had 4, and Hennessey added 2.
— Joel Hille is the father of a Pirate basketball player.
