By Joel Hille
For The Beachcomber

The Vashon High School team traveled to Green River Community College on Monday, Dec 22, to play the Rainier Christian Mustangs for a non-league contest. The Pirates had their best offensive output of the season and easily handled the Mustangs of the 1B Seatac League by a score of 65-28.

The Pirates’ offense started to click midway through the first quarter when Eva Anderson made a 3-pointer to put the Pirates ahead, 9-5.  Playing a man-to-man defense worked well for the Pirates and led to several steals, which they converted into four more field goals by the end of the first quarter, giving them a lead of 17-5.

The second quarter had more of the same as the Pirates’ defense resulted in several more Mustang turnovers while the Pirates’ offense kept humming along. The scoring was boosted by another 3-pointer from Anderson, followed by 1 point each from Siena Jannetty and Annika Hille near the end of the half, giving the Pirates a 41-12 lead.

In the second half, the Pirates continued to build on their lead, which allowed Coach Rob Kearns to get playing time for all the girls on the roster, including JV players Jasper Merrill, Emma Greenlee and Hayley Ridgway. Coach Kearns said he was happy with the way the team has played in the last two games.

“They have all been rebounding and shooting a lot better,” he added.

Siena Jannetty led the Pirates in scoring with 21, followed by Hille with 15 and Anderson with 11. Natalie VanDevanter added 6, while Melanie Stoffer, Kate Atwell and Jasper Merrill each had 4.

With the victory, the Pirates improved their record to 2-5. They traveled to Coupeville on Whidbey Island to play another non-league game on Monday, Dec 29, and will play at Washington High School in South Tacoma on Friday.

— Joel Hille is the father of a Pirate basketball player.