The Pirates played two tough games at this year’s state tournament, losing to Onalaska 46-36 on Wednesday, March 4, and being knocked out of the tournament by Chelan 49-33 on the following day.

The Pirates had a hard time in their opening game with the Loggers’ diamond press, falling behind 24-15 at the half.

In the second half, the Pirates started breaking the press and getting into their offense. They climbed back into the game and were down 33-36 with just under five minutes left in the game.

But with a series of three turnovers, the Pirates found themselves down 33-40 ,and they were forced to foul and put Onalaska on the line.

This was a game the Pirates really had a chance to win, but every time they seemed to have victory within their reach, they became their own worst enemy.

The Pirates committed 20 turnovers for the game, which Onalaska converted into 23 points.

The Pirates were led by Zelda Porter with 12, Kelly Costello with 11, Charlotte Kehoe with 7 points and 7 rebounds, and Chrissy Swope, Kiki Means and Abby Dolmseth with 2 each.

On Thursday morning, the Pirates played the Chelan Goats.

Vashon fell behind 29-13 in the first half to the Goats, a team that was out-hustling and out-rebounding the Pirates.

In the second half, the Pirates tried to make a run at Chelan, playing full court man for most of the second half, pulling within 11 points with a minute to go in the fourth quarter.

“The girls can be proud of the way they finished the season — never giving up, never quitting and giving every last ounce of energy until they ran out of time,” said Coach Henry Porter.

The Pirates were led by senior Porter — in her last game in a Vashon uniform — with 20 points, Costello with 6, Swope with 3, Autumn Shotridge — also in her last game in a Pirate uniform — with 2 points and 2 rebounds, Means and Dolmseth with 1 apiece and Kehoe with 5 blocked shots.

Although the Pirates had hoped to extend their season to Saturday, Porter reported, “they faced the reality of the situation as they faced every day, every practice, every win and every loss — as a team with belief in each other.”

The team is already looking forward to this summer and next year, he said, and they hope to build on this experience.

With four junior starters returning next season, the future looks bright.

The Pirates bid farewell to two senior players and captains last week, Autumn Shotridge, who displayed maturity and leadership throughout the season, and Zelda Porter, who leaves the program with 1,012 points for her career and several Vashon school records — 204 three-pointers in a career, 69 three-pointers in a season, 6 three-pointers in a game and 11 assists in one game.

These girls leave their mark on a program with a Nisqually League title and three state tournament appearances in four years.

— This article was written with information submitted by Coach Henry Porter.