News

Dec 15, 2009
by Don Olson

Pirates 64, Chimacum 35
Coming off a close, tough loss to last years State 2A Champion Team, Squalicum, the Pirates said, “enough of that” and dominated the Chimacum Cowboys. The Pirate trademark, a suffocating defense, was in full display. Lot’s of good things happened from their aggressive pressing defense –like errant passes, steals, poor ball handling and a decomposing, frustrated and rattled opposition. That was certainly in evidence during the first quarter with many turnovers heading the Pirates way. But the offensive end of the court may have been suffering from the long ride to Chimacum. As Coach Sears stated, “we were spinning our wheels and stuck in the mud”. The three point shots would not drop, only 2 for 17 attempts for the night – Alex Wegner collecting both shots. Halfway thru the first quarter the score was Vashon 5, Chimacum 0 – where was the Pirate firepower?

Chimacum is rebuilding, new coach, and a very young team. So a tough contest was not on the drawing board. In the midst of this poor start John Gage collected two quick fouls so spent most of the first quarter watching. Maybe the long drives to Port Townsend and Chimacum got the athletes minds (same story in football this fall) lost on other priorities. Or maybe it was the 90-minute delay for clearing a submarine thru the Hood Canal Bridge. Whatever, Champions respond and the Pirates did in the second Quarter outscoring the Cowboys 22 to 8 with a half time lead of 36 to 15. By this time Coach Sears was turning over playing time to his bench. At game end, everyone played some good minutes. There were Vashon crowd-pleasing signs from the bench with quality passing to the open man in the hole and scoring from Amick and Lofland.

The halftime message from Coach Sears was heard with the starters back on the court to turn in a 12-point scoring advantage during the next 8 minutes. Quality rebounding, blocked shots and solid defense were on display. At quarter end it was Vashon 55, Chimacum 22. Although playing time was limited to mostly two quarters John Gage maintained his average at 19 points, Wegner with 15 and Holert at 10. Elias Weston and Matt Kerns each had 6. From the free throw line the Pirates were 12 for 21, clearly an opportunity for improvement when they find themselves in tough games with the outcome to be decided at the free throw line. That may be just around the corner with Cascade Christian arriving on the Island this Friday, 7 p.m. – don’t miss it. Vashon beat Fife, a hard fought game, and Fife beat Cascade Christian by two points (their only loss). Should be a great game.

Pirates Points vs. Chimacum:
John Gage 19, Alex Wegner 15, Quinn Holert 10, Elias Weston 6, Matt Kerns 6, Matt Amick 4, Dan Lofland 4.