By JAMES NORTON
For The Beachcomber

The 2014-2015 basketball season has come to an end, and the Vashon Pirate boys took fifth place at the “Hardwood Classic” 1A state tournament at the Yakima Sun Dome last weekend. This was an extremely successful season, and the team notched an overall record of 25-3.

The tournament format is an eight-team playoff to the championship. Vashon defeated King’s Way Christian of Vancouver Thursday night in the first round by a healthy margin of 21 points. Vashon was the better team and led this one from start to finish. Expectations remained high that the team could get to the goal, but everyone knew the mountain they had to climb to get there.

As expected, Vashon faced its second private Christian school in the semi-finals in King’s School out of Shoreline. King’s was the odds-on favorite to win the state championship and would eventually go on to do just that.

The Pirates came out with great fire and energy and led this contest at the halfway point. Unfortunately, the second half was as dissimilar to the first half as one could imagine. King’s put its pressure package on the Pirates, and they just could not crack the code. The Pirates showed no quit throughout the game. To the casual observer, this was a rather routine win for King’s over a much smaller and less resourced team, but to those that know the game and this team, the Pirates showed a love and respect for the game that never wavered even when down more than 20 points with little chance to come back.

The heart of a champion doesn’t truly show up in the runaway victories. It is in the heart- breaking defeats that what we are at our core shows itself. This team showed a grace and team cohesion that was something palpable. The loyalty among these guys and their coaches was supremely evident, and that is the real value of the sporting endeavor in my opinion: to go forth with  your team and take on whatever opponent shows up and be so dedicated to excellence that the outcome is secondary to the excellence and harmony of the total effort.

The semi-final loss, 62-32, put the Pirates in the consolation round on Saturday against the perennial and last year’s champion, the Zillah Leopards. Zillah was the number one-ranked team, but it had been upset in the semi-finals by Lynden Christian. They were the hometown team, and this game promised to be a fight, as they did not want to lose twice in front of their home crowd after being the favorite to win it all.

This was a grinder of a game because both teams were pretty disappointed at not playing in the championship game. There was, however, quite a lot at stake with the winner taking third and the loser getting fifth place overall.

Zillah came out with quite a bit of energy, and the Pirates matched it for the first quarter but fell behind by double digits at halftime and would never get any closer. Again, the Pirates fought hard with class and grace, but this was not their game to win. The final score was 75-55.

Along with being named League MVP and 1A player of the year, Pirate Jessie Norton was also selected to the first-team all-tournament team. I can tell you with certainty that Jessie would gladly trade all of those accolades for the state title. That is how he played and how his fellow seniors in Ian Stewart, Steen Jennings and Darren May-Power all approached this season: all in, team-first commitment. These guys were the leaders who set that tone from the beginning of pre-season to now.

Norton and  Stewart have been four-year starters for the Pirates, and the dedication, commitment, and life energy that they have given every practice, every game, has been something special to behold.

The Pirate basketball program led by Andy Sears will sustain its excellence because of young men like these who lead by example under any circumstances. There is sadness because this chapter of this team is over, but the bonds, lessons and love which made this experience so special will be a clear and providential well of supportive and sweet memories forever.

— James Norton is the father of Pirate Jessie Norton