The Pirate girls traveled to Fife High School to play the Trojans in a non-league contest last Thursday.
Vashon sprang to an early lead thanks to effective transition scoring paced by Rachel Hoffman (who tallied 15 points for the game). The Trojans would battle back to even the score at 8 before the first quarter ended.
The Pirates quickly reclaimed the lead early in the second quarter — a lead the visiting Pirates would hold until late in the fourth. Anya Quig (who ended the night with 14 points) combined with Hoffman to score 29 of Vashon’s 52 points.
With a five-point advantage, the Pirates’ fourth quarter fortunes were changed when senior post Charlotte Kehoe was lost to fouls. Kehoe (who finished the game with eight points) had been instrumental defensively, dominating the paint and holding the Trojan’s leading scorer — 6-foot, two-inch post Ciara Perdoni — in check.
The Trojans used Kehoe’s departure to their advantage, twice taking the lead while the undersized Pirates battled furiously to force the game into overtime. Regulation time ended when Fife missed the front end of a one-and-one and with the score knotted at 38 apiece. The first overtime period ended in a 44-44 standoff.
Despite Tagen Lynch fouling out early in the period, the second overtime belonged to the Pirates. Kelsey Abella and Shannon Slater battled to keep the Trojan front-court at bay, while Jasmine Acosta sparked the Pirate offense, adding all five of her points for the evening during the second overtime. Quiq iced the game from the line as the Pirates emerged with a 52-48 double-overtime win. Points from Abella (4) and Marya Munsey (2) topped off the Vashon scoring.
“I don’t want to take anything away from the defensive efforts of our guards over the entire game, especially in the fourth quarter and overtime periods, but I was really impressed by the play of Kelsey and Shannon,” said coach Henry Porter after the game. “Kelsey battled relentlessly to hold Perdoni in check, not allowing her to penetration dribble, while Shannon controlled the back side, gathering rebounds and limiting Fife’s opportunities for second-chance shots,” he added.
The Pirates will travel to Yakima tomorrow for the SunDome Shootuut. Tip-off for their first game, verus La Salle, will be at 1:30 p.m.
— Gary Means is the
assistant coach of the girls
