Vashon Pirates pillage South Whidbey in boys hoops

Published 10:00 am Saturday, December 9, 2006

Back in February, the Vashon Pirates came very close to winning the 2A state championship — they placed third to eventual winner Lynden Christian by only six points.

On Wednesday, the Pirates sacked the Falcons 58-37 as they put on a clinic demonstrating how important team chemistry and years of experience can be at the varsity level.

Taking the court, Vashon’s eight returning players (four of them starters) showed why they have a good shot at taking it all this time around. From the get-go they were disciplined, fast, competent and, oh yeah, they could shoot.

Seniors Zac Andrus and Corey Holert combined for 17 points to lead the Pirates, using three-pointers from the cheap seats and inside layups to get the job done.

“What do you think? Vashon is pretty tough,” Falcons Coach Andy Davis said. “Our kids battled the entire game and discovered how important it is to execute in the half court.”

Parker Barnett was first out of the gate for South Whidbey — he was high scorer with eight points — on a crossover throw from Eric Stallman.

The big problem for the Falcons was that no matter how aggressive they were on defense, the Pirates found a way to beat them. Their passing was arrow-sharp and they seldom over- or under-shot the target.

Nevertheless, the Falcons held their own and were only down by six points at the first break, largely thanks to a spectacular three-pointer from Chad Anderson.

But Vashon shifted into high gear in the second quarter, scoring 14 points and using a sophisticated prevent defense that kept the Falcons to a measly four points.

South Whidbey played hard but couldn’t approach the level of experience shown by the Pirates. Blake Blakey, Kyle Hoch, CJ Baker, Kyle Asay, Adam Hosmer, Stallman, Barnett and Anderson never let up but they were overmatched and unable to capitalize on the few opportunities the Pirates offered.

Coach Davis summed it up best: “We definitely identified a few things that we need to work on.”

Today at 1:30 p.m. the boys are in Turnbull Gym facing the Friday Harbor Wolverines. Their next home game will be Jan. 5 against Cedarcrest.

Jeff VanDerford can be reached at 221-5300 or sports@southwhidbeyrecord.com.