The Vashon Pirate roundballers notched their first win of the season on Dec. 18 in a home game against the Auburn Adventist Falcons. The Pirates grabbed an early lead that they never surrendered on their way to a 32-16 final score.

Seniors Anya Quig and Tianna Koenig combined to score 20 points, with Quig tallying 11 and Koenig adding 9. Siena Jannetty scored 6 points for the Pirates, while Kate Atwell, Kalie Heffernan and Maria Benavente added 2 points each.

“It was good to get that first win even if we did not have the complete effort that we aim for,” said coach Henry Porter after the game.

On Friday night, Dec. 20, Vashon traveled to Puyallup to take on the Cascade Christian Cougars, who lost only three games last season and are expected to be one of the better squads in the Nisqually League this year.

The Pirates jumped out to an early lead against the Cougars but ended the first quarter down 17-13. For the first five minutes of the second quarter, the Cougars extended their lead by only 1 point, but the half ended with Vashon down 32-21 in part due to losing the services of Quig after a third foul.

The half ended when a Jannetty shot from beyond half court just rimmed out and was collected by Atwell, who hit a buzzer-beater to cut the Cougar margin.

Vashon pulled to within 7 points in the early moments of the third quarter, but that was as close as the Pirates would come as foul trouble and turnovers played key roles a 70-33 final score.

Vashon scoring was distributed across the team, led by Jannetty’s 9 points. The remainder of the scoring line featured Quig (8), Koenig (5), Benevente (4), Eva Anderson (3), Atwell (2), Kalie Heffernan (2) and Lilly Hennessey (1).

The Pirates played both games last week without the services of Annika Hille, who had averaged more than 8 points per game in the first four games.

“We certainly missed Annika. She brings a great defensive energy and has been a leading score,” Porter said.

“Regardless, we played very well for most of the first half,” he added, “so I know that as a team we can bring the right energy level to be competitive. We just have to make that happen across the entire game.”

The Pirates’ next game will be against Life Christian High School at home at 5:15 p.m. on Friday.

— Gary Means is the assistant coach of the Vashon girls basketball team.