After earning a spot in the tri-district round of state playoffs, the Vashon girls basketball team exited playoffs one win short of the regional round following losses to Cascade Christian and  Cedar Park Christian.

Tuesday, Feb. 14, marked the third meeting of the season between the Pirates and the Cascade Christian Cougars. Vashon dropped the most recent game against the Cougars by 37 points. The outcome of this game would remain in question until late in the fourth quarter, thanks to an effective press break that prevented the Cougars from scoring transition baskets as well as the offensive efforts of Pirate post Charlotte Kehoe.

The game was a defensive contest as the biggest quarter-by-quarter point differential of the evening was the 4-point lead the Cougars held at the end of the first quarter, 8-4. Vashon’s press break and high-energy defense limited the Cougar possessions throughout the first half, which ended 17-10, in favor of the District 3 champion Cougars.

The second half was contested even more tightly. The Pirates scored 17 points to the Cougars’ 18 but were unable to bring the margin any closer than 6 points and ultimately lost, 35-27.

Kehoe led the Pirates with 19 points. Rachel Hoffman pitched in 4, while Mariya Munsey and Tagen Lynch added 2 apiece.

“Charlotte really showed her basketball IQ tonight,” said coach Henry Porter. “She played exceptional defense, was scoring from all over key and was central to our ability to break the Cougar press.”

Vashon’s final game of the season was Thursday, Feb. 16, at Cedar Park Christian, where the Pirates took on the District 2, No. 2 seeded Eagles in a loser-out, third-round tri-district game.

The Pirates again put their defense on display as the first quarter ended 4-2, in favor of the Eagles. Mishandled passing by the Pirates and transition play from the Eagles in the second quarter led to 7 points and opened a 9-point Eagle advantage in less than one minute of play. The Pirates rallied thereafter but struggled offensively, and the half ended with the Pirates down by 14 points, 20-6.

In the third quarter, Vashon limited the Eagles to just 4 points. The Pirates managed to cut the lead to 24-12 to end the quarter, but they were not able to draw any closer, and the season ended in a loss, 35-18.

After the loss, Porter credited Hoffman with being a “defensive stalwart” during the team’s final games.

“She effectively stymied our opponent’s best scorers, the majority of whose points came mostly on transition basket steals,” he said.

In her career finale, Kehoe led the Pirates with 10 points. Anya Quig, Hoffman, Lynch and Munsey each tallied 2 points for the Pirates.

The Pirates ended the season with a record of 11-11. A combined seven of the 11 losses were against teams that are still alive in the state playoff tournament.

The Pirates appropriately finished the fourth quarter of the Cedar Park game with their five outgoing seniors on the floor.

“I will miss this group of seniors,” Porter said. “Each of them brought great energy and a sense of urgency to practices. I thought we really gelled as a team over these last two to three weeks, and these seniors were the principal reason for our late season success.”