While their big brothers and sisters are preparing for spring sports the McMurray Mustangs are finishing up wrestling and girls basketball seasons.

The Mustang wrestlers have one home meet left this Thursday, March 11, Then the season-ending tournament at Klahowya on Saturday. If the snow goes away, it’s a nice Saturday drive to Silverdale and the mall is nearby for shopping fans. And even if it does snow, wrestling is an indoor sport. Check the McM Web-site for time of the tournament.

Next Thursday the Mustang girls play their last home basketball game, a good time to get a look at some future Pirates and see some exciting hoops.

The basketball season is over and the Pirates acquitted themselves well. By now everyone who pays attention knows that the Vashon boys took third place and the girls were eliminated by losses to the second and fifth-place teams.

Although only the first eight places receives trophies and are official, someone has calculated that our girls finished ninth, probably based on who beat who and who lost to who in the consolation bracket. That would make it the best finish ever for the Pirate girls.

Sophie Nespor fights a Seattle Christian player for a rebound.

Our boys went to Yakima as the defending state champions and lost only to the new champions. The Pirates probably were in the toughest bracket, opening against top-ranked Chelan. Every game the Pirates played could have been the championship game had the draw gone a different way and every team the Pirates faced took home a trophy.

Vashon came out of the toughest Tri-District in the state. The six teams from the Tri took home six of the eight trophies, first, second, third, fourth, sixth and eighth.

Both teams will be losing most of their starters to graduation, so next year will be a chance for some new players to step up. It should be an interesting season.

At least one of the basketball players turned out for spring sports yesterday, and several others are on spring rosters.

Matt Amick runs into a little opposition from Kings.

Vashon’s boys crushed Kings 65-46 this afternoon to take third place in the State 1A Basketball Tournament.

Cascade Christian, the team that stopped the Pirates from winning back-to-back championships, won its first state championship and first-ever state trophy with a 45-35 win over Meridian.

The Pirates quickly sorted things out and took a 13-10 lead in the first quarter, then added to that lead every period. The Knights didn’t help their own cause, getting into foul trouble in both halves, and putting Vashon into double bonus for much of the second and fourth quarters.

Matt Kerns looks past a Kings defender for the basket.

Vashon led 39-22 with two minutes left in the third quarter and less than a minute into the final period had extended the lead to 48-29. With 2:28 remaining in the game and a 22-point lead, 63-41, coach Andy Sears sent in all the reserves to get some State playing time.

Elias Weston puts up a shot.

Dan Lofland, 30, with an all-reserves lineup behind him, drives up the court as the clock winds down.

The fourth meeting between Vashon and Cascade Christian went the way the second and third had. The Cougars once again prevailed and will play Meridian for the State Championship at 7 p.m. Saturday while the Pirates will meet the Kings Knights for third and sixth place.

Vashon took the early lead and led after the first quarter, but Cascade came back to creep ahead by halftime. The Pirates chipped away at the lead and came within one point with about two minutes to go.

Missed field goals down the stretch proved to be the Pirates undoing.

Meridian beat Kings in the other semi-final. That game went down to the final seconds.

Quinn Holert drives up the court.

John Gage pulls down a rebound late in the final minute of the game.

The Pirate ship for the girls basketball team foundered under the attack from Seattle Christian. Seattle Christian rode a third quarter surge to a 44-29 victory and a place in the Saturday game for fifth and eighth place in the State Tournament.

The Pirates matched the Warriors for the first half, leading 10-6 after one quarter and trailing by just one point at the half. The Warriors star, Lexi Petersen, got hot in the third quarter and the Pirates’ top scorer, Kelly Costello, twisted her ankle and had to leave the game for a few minutes. The Pirates couldn’t come back.

The loss eliminated the Pirates.

Pirates reserves Marya Munsey, 15, and Jasmine Acosta, 20, along with Kelsey Abella and Kathryn Misel all got some State playing time.

Vashon 54, Bellevue Christian 48

Semi-finals tomorrow:

6 p.m. Kings v Meridian

8 p.m. Vashon v Cascade Christian

Tonight’s game was not settled until the final seconds. Through most of the second half it looked like “last basket wins.” Pirates and Knights exchanged baskets with neither getting more than 2 points ahead until Corey hit a three and a two to give the Pirates a 5-point lead with about three minutes left. Vashon pulled away with free throws but Bellevue Christian was in the game until the last two seconds.

Concentrating on free throws in the final minutes

Elias Weston

Quinn Holert

Vashon’s girls stayed alive in the State Basketball Tournament with a 41-34 win over the Toledo Indians.

Vashon took the lead early and never gave it up, extending it to as much as 14 points at one point in the third quarter.

Kelly Costello led Vashon with 15 points, Kiki Means had 9 and Charlotte added 8.

Vashon plays Seattle Christian at 11 a.m. tomorrow.

1A Boys State Basketball Tournament

Vashon 66, Chelan 52

Thursday: Vashon v Bellevue Christian 9 a.m. Winner plays winner of Cascade Christian/Onalaska 8 p.m. Friday; losers play at 4 p.m. Friday.

1A Girls State Basketball Tournament:

Granger 45, Vashon 32

Tomorrow, Thursday March 4: Vashon v Toledo 10:30 a.m. Loser out, winner plays 11 a.m. March 5 v Cedar Park Christian/Seattle Christian winner.

Authorities over the weekend issued a warning to Vashon Island schools and businesses of a mysterious illness expected to strike the Island no later than Wednesday of this week.

The malady, known sometimes as the Green Flu or Pirate Fever, often causes high rates of absenteeism for up to four days at a time. Symptoms may include difficulty paying attention to assigned tasks and frequent visits to www.wiaa.com and other Web-sites associated with local high school sports.

Victims have been known to coat their faces and other exposed skin with salves and paints in garish green and gold colors, apparently in an attempt to relieve the discomfort of the fever. Wearing green and yellow clothing also seems to help.

Similar illnesses have been reported in smaller communities and school districts around the state, where other color combinations of salves and paints are believed to bring relief.

The only known cure seems to be to spend time in the SunDome in Yakima. The atmosphere inside the structure is said to contain properties that relieve the symptoms or change them to a desire to yell non-stop for up to 32 minutes at a time, but treatment may take up to four full days for the worst cases.

While there is no practical way to prevent the illness, authorities say that symptoms inevitably subside no later than Saturday night or Sunday morning and victims of the condition almost always return to work or school Monday morning.