News

Jan 22, 2010
by Don Olson

As the score would indicate the outcome of this game was never in doubt. That story began in the first quarter with the Pirates up 16 to 2 at the end of the quarter. At the half the score was 37 to 5. To this observer it appeared that the Coach Sears “Game Plan” (he has one carefully detailed for each game) for Chimacum was further development of their tenacious, suffocating defense. From the tip off it was a full press, double team transfer to tying up the ball carrier. Chimacum turnovers were abundant with most resulting in Pirate points. I suspect it was a ‘warm-up’ for the anticipated tough game on Tuesday, January 26 against their #1 nemesis, Cascade Christian – to be played at Cascade Christian.

To appreciate the intensity and commitment of Coach Sears, one needs to sit close to the Pirate Bench. During this first half, with the game well under control, Coach Sears opened the Pirates Classroom. He was up and down the Bench pointing out to the reserves what was going well, and not so well on the floor. He is one to never pass up a ‘teaching moment’ and they were being liberally shared with the reserves. There is no doubt that his intensity quickly transfers to the boys once the game is underway.

At the start of the second half, with a few minutes of play from the starting five, Coach Sears turned the game over to the reserves. The scoring performance for the third quarter was Vashon 15, Chimacum 13 and for the fourth quarter, Vashon 14, Chimacum 14, making the point that at this stage in the season the development of a strong, reserve bench was showing good results. A significant quality that a championship team requires as it heads into the home stretch of the season. To date there are no conference losses, and only one loss to last years State Champion 2A team, Squalicum.

Early into the 3rd Quarter and for the remainder of the game the players who don’t occupy the starting role were in full force. Once again the pressing defense was well executed. With more turnovers coming the Pirates way we witnessed some great fast breaks and three point shots going down. Christian Hasson had his high point game of the year with 10 points. With every member of the team playing minutes, there were eleven members in the scoring column – we had not seen this much distributed scoring all season.

A word about the Chimacum team. This was my second viewing of the team. The Pirates have won each game by a significant margin. The Chimacum Cowboys’ have won only three games all season. But there is a team quality about them that deserves mentioning. I sat close to their bench during the second half. Although they are have no hopes of winning they never stop playing hard, they stay attentive to their coach, they don’t show their frustration with one another and they continue to find ways that might put points up. They strike me as a fine group of young men.

Which segues to a really important observation about the commitment being made by our Pirate Basketball Team. They played three games this past week. For the full season they will play 21 games, and then enter into a playoff schedule. The consumption of travel time to and from games is not insignificant. When not playing games they have rigorous practice schedules – early in the a.m. when the gym is available. They carry full class schedules, like all other students, with the requirement of a 2.0 GPA to sustain playing eligibility. This represents the equivalent cycle of eat, sleep, class, study, practice, games and start over – plus staying healthy and fighting off game injuries. This ‘classroom’ of disciplined responsibility undoubtedly makes a contribution to the High School learning experience that they will carry into their adult life.

This accolade for athletes responsibilities would be remiss to omit that this same huge commitment is represented by the Girls Basketball Team, and the Wrestling Team during the winter sports schedule. Imbedded within this commitment are caring, loving parents who emotionally live thru the season just like their ‘players’.

Pirate Points vs. Chimacum:
John Gage 14, Christian Hasson 10, Elias Weston 10, Alex Wegner 7, Matt Kerns 6, Matt Amick 4, Quinn Holert 4, Dan Lofland 3, Corey Williamson 3, Hamzah Griffin 2, Jesse Hazzard 2, Tyler Stoffer