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The Vashon High School girls’ basketball team hosted the Cascade Christian Cougars on Friday, Feb 5. It was the final home game for the six seniors, who have been playing basketball together since they started back in grade school. Those seniors — Kate Atwell, Lilly Hennessey, Annika Hille, Siena Jannetty, Melanie Stoffer and Natalie VanDevanter — were honored, along with their parents, during the annual senior night pre-game ceremony, and the girls went on to delight their parents and the home crowd with a 50-40 victory.

Coach Rob Kearns also honored the girls on their special night by starting five seniors. The Cougars scored the first points of the game, but the Pirates answered quickly with a crowd-pleasing fast break about two minutes into the game: Atwell dug into a scrum for a loose ball, pulled it out and dished to Hille, who took a few dribbles down the court then passed to Jannetty on the wing, who nailed a three-pointer to finish the play. A few minutes later Hille hit another three-pointer to keep the Pirates within two points at 9-7, but they could only manage four more points the rest of the quarter and were down 16-11 after one.

The Pirates couldn’t get the shots to fall in the second quarter, and they soon found themselves down 20-11 after several near misses at the basket and some untimely turnovers. But they stuck to their stingy defense, limiting the Cougars to only two more points in the quarter and pulled to within 22-18 at halftime.

Coach Kearns again went with five seniors to start the second half, and they did not disappoint, as they made a quick 7-0 run within the first minute: Jannetty got a steal and drove down the court for a shot, and Hille got the rebound and dished to Hennessey for two. Then Jannetty made another steal, drove down the court and drained a three-pointer. VanDevanter made a two-pointer shortly thereafter, and the Pirates took the lead at 25-22. Later in the quarter, the freshman duo of Chloe Kuyper and Olivia Larson each made three-pointers, helping the Pirates outscore the Cougars 16-8 in the third to take a 34-30 lead into the final quarter.

The teams traded baskets for most of the fourth quarter, with Vashon holding onto its four-point lead until the team finally stretched it to six with about one and half minutes left in game. It then came down to free throws as the Cougars fouled several times to stop the clock. Down the stretch, Hille made two free throws; Anderson made two more, and then VanDevanter added one, and Jannetty made one to make the final score 50-40.

Larson led the scoring for the Pirates with 12 points; Jannetty added 11; Anderson had nine; Hille had six; Kuyper had five; VanDevanter had three, while Atwell and Hennessey added two each. Anderson and Hille each grabbed eight rebounds, while Atwell grabbed four. Jannetty and VanDevanter each grabbed three, and Hennessey, and Larson each grabbed two.

The Pirates played their final league game at Charles Wright Academy on Monday, after press time. The outcome of that game determined their seeding in the District playoffs, a game either at Port Townsend or Klahowya on Feb. 11.

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