The boys’ basketball team has begun the season strong and currently has a 5-0 record.

Part of the success this year comes from the number of seasoned players who returned, coach Andy Sears said.

“We have six seniors back. Their experience has paid off. They work hard and are confident in what we do. They are all talented, and they share the ball extremely well. It has been a fun way to start the year.”

The Pirates have played only non-league teams so far, defeating Granite Falls, Sultan Senior High School, Klahowya and Tahoma, which was the toughest opponent so far, Sears added.

That game, played last Saturday, was close and ended in the Pirates’s favor, 48-43.

Sears noted that Tahoma had some big players who guarded well, but the Pirates overcame that challenge.

“Our guys pulled it out,” he said.

The team has been on the road a lot, he said, with four out of the first five games away. While that has been tiring, Sears said the players have not let the schedule affect them.

Sears added that Sam Yates is the leading scorer this year, but the players work as a team.

“We have a whole bunch of guys that can really score and share the ball,” he said.

John Yates, the father of Sam Yates, is one of the announcers for the games for Voice of Vashon. He noted that the seniors have played together for the last eight years and that experience shows on the court.

“They have a real comfort in sharing the ball with one another,” he said. “There is no hesitation to distribute the ball to one another.”

John Yates also noted that Sears plays a large number of players, not just a select few.

“He plays 10 deep on his bench,” Yates said. “That gets rest for the starters and helps you go longer into the season. He has confidence in all of them, and they have trust in one another.”

Seniors this year are Sam Yates, Sean Delargy, Edgar Polkat, Josh Tillman, Sam Schoenburg and Alex Symbol-Godfrey

In addition to being undefeated so far this season, the team has an excellent record, John Yates noted, with the previous two seasons totalling 43 wins and eight losses.

The team has a game Tuesday after press time at Seattle Academy and a home game against Northwest Yeshiva High School at 7 p.m. Thursday. Its first league game will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 12, against Bellevue Christian.