From the Sidelines

Vashon's John Gage and Steilacoom's Kelvin Penn reach for the tip-off to start the game.

Tonight’s Vashon/Steilacoom boys basketball game lived up to the classic rivalry between the two schools.

Vashon, ranked #1 in the state in 1A, and Steilacoom, ranked 8th in 2A, played a game reminiscent of the days when both were in the same division and, for several years in a row, fought it out for the last slot to State, alternating years winning.

Alex Wegner puts up a shot in the second quarter.

The Pirates pulled out a 47-44 win in the final 48 seconds after trailing the whole game. Matt Amick hit a buzzer shot at the end of the third quarter and the Pirates came back on the floor for the final period fired up.

Vashon slowly closed the gap and, with 48 seconds and change showing on the game clock, John Gage sank a layup to give the home team a 45-44 lead. The defense shut the Sentinels down, forcing them to foul to try to regain possession.

Alex Wegner hit two of four free throws for the final margin.

Late score from the Sundome Shootout: Boys: Vashon 56, Colville 32.

I just found the score on the Pirate team Web site; no stats yet.

Our Pirate boys out-scored their opponents by a cumulative score of 123-73, a pretty impressive performance.

I haven’t found the girls’ score from today’s game yet.

Vashon’s basketball boys continue to own the Sundome in Yakima while the Pirate girls appear to still be fighting a Sundome jinx.

In the first day of the Sundome Shootout yesterday the Pirate boys crushed Cashmere 67-41. Two Vashon players, John Gage with 27 points and Alex Wegner with 14, equaled the entire Cashmere team. The win extends the Pirates’ Sundome win streak to five games, starting with last season’s state championship run.

Vashon’s boys play Colville at 3 p.m. today. Colville lost yesterday to Naches Valley 51-40.

The Pirate girls, almost invincible elsewhere, can’t seem to get going in the Sundome. Yesterday they were 48-28 victims of Granger.

While our girls have made several trips to State in the Sundome, they have yet to win a game.

Today’s game is 1:30 p.m. v LaSalle, 34-32 losers to Burbank yesterday.

Todd Beamer won the Rock Tournament  on Monday with four wrestlers earning individual championships. I was unable to attend and don’t know how Vashon’s grapplers placed.

While it may be a down year for the Pirate team several individual wrestlers are making their marks on the mat. See this week’s Beachcomber for Marian Easton’s report on the Tri-State Tournament.

The Pirate wrestlers are at Lake Stevens today. Next home meet is Jan. 21 v Cascade Christian.

Boys basketball hosts Steilacoom Saturday, Jan. 2 at 7 p.m. Boys and girls travel to Orting Jan. 5 and host Seattle Christian Jan. 8.

Wrestling returned to the Vashon High School gym this week.

Last Saturday the Rockbusters hosted their only home competition of the season and Islanders got a look at some future Pirates.

Rockbuster Seamus Spring works over his Eatonville opponent in an exhibition match Saturday.

Then last night the Pirates hosted Steilacoom in a dual that was typical of most Vashon/Steilacoom events, intense and not decided until the last match, when the Sentinels pulled out a 42-40 team win. Vashon won seven matches on the mat to Steilacoom’s six, but a forfeit at 103 pounds game the visitors the two-point final edge.

Several of Vashon’s varsity wrestlers also wrestled JV or exhibition matches before the varsity competition began.

Vashon's Iris Spring, 125 pounds, scores a near fall on Steilacoom's Elle Billman, 130 pounds, at the end of the second round. Spring pinned Billman early in the third round of the JV match.

The shortest match of the night was at 285 pounds. Geran Webb, wrestling up from 215, pinned Sentinel Jack Newhouse in 27 seconds. Pirate Aaron Bomber came back to pin Electra Duclos with just one-half second left on the clock in the 119-pound match.

Sjors Steneker, wrestling up from 145, is just seconds from pinning Steilacoom's Zach Flynn in the 152-pound match.

The Pirates’ next home action is the Monday after Christmas, Dec. 28, when Vashon hosts the prestigious Rock Tournament. Some of the best small-school wrestlers in the state will be on the Rock and the finals are often previews of state championship action. Action starts about 9 a.m. and continues all day as wrestlers compete to take home genuine Vashon Island rocks, the unique trophies for this annual competition.

The Pirates’ other home meets are Jan. 21 against Cascade Christian and Jan. 28 when Orting comes to the Island.

Despite the huge target on their backs this season, the Pirate boys and girls continued to win with victories over the Fife Trojans last night.

Abby Dolmseth, in white, runs into a little opposition as she tries get off a shot.

With the boys ranked number one and defending state champions and the girls top ten, both Vashon basketball teams are wearing targets big enough to qualify for corporate sponsorship by a well-known retail chain. Maybe there would be enough money to fix the nagging problems with the scoreboard controls and the shot clocks.

The Vashon girls looked a bit tired in the first half, after three games in three days last week, but still dominated the visiting Trojans, leading 23-17 at the break. Fife made it a game in the third quarter before the Pirates shut them down, holding Fife to only 7 points in the final period.

Kelly Costello scored 20 for the home team and Charlotte Kehoe had her best game so far this season with 12 points.

A surprisingly scrappy Fife boys team stayed with the Pirate boys for the first half before Vashon took over for a 58-43 victory.

The 2A Trojans didn’t seem to be over awed to be playing the defending 1A state champions. the lead changed hands several times in the first half with Vashon ahead 27-25 at the break. The Pirates started fast in the second half but the Trojans came back before Vashon took control for good, out scoring the visitors 17-11 for the third quarter.

Vashon held Fife to just 7 points in the final period, while the Pirates made 14.

John Gage had a couple of superb dunks on the way to 24 points. Alex Wegner, with 13 points, showed that he too can dunk. Corey Holert had 11 points.

From the Port Townsend Leader Saturday night:

Boys basketball: Vashon 70, Port Townsend 32

Vashon                  12  13  20  25

Port Townsend    11    7    7     7

Girls basketball: Vashon 57, Port Townsend 23

Vashon                  10  13  21  13

Port Townsend    10    2    1  10

After taking care of 3A West Seattle on Thursday, Vashon’s girls came back to destroy 2A North Mason on Friday.

The Bulldogs scored the first points, but the Pirates had a 13-10 lead by the end of the first quarter then wore down the visitors through the second and third periods.

Vashon shut down the Bulldogs completely in the final quarter while scoring 17 points of their own to win 52-25. Kelly Costello, Chrissy Swope and Elisa Wendt all scored in double figures and Swope pretty much owned the boards. Rebound figures weren’t available until after the coaches review the film, but Swope must have been well into double figures.

The Pirate JV had a big comeback in the second half but ended 1 point short of the Bulldog JV. With only six Pirate players available and the visitors having 12, Vashon dropped behind early and never had a lead.

The closest the Vashon JV came was a 30-30 tie when Jazmine Acosta sank a three-pointer with 1:35 left in the game. In the last minute and a half the Bulldogs got one free throw to win 31-30.

Alyson Laing, 30, and Jazmine Acosta, 4, fight for a loose ball in the JV game.

December 3 girls basketball – Vashon 57, West Seattle 52; Vashon JV 51, West Seattle JV 42.

Kiki Means, in white, is fouled by West Seattle's Katelyn Elder, right, late in the fourth quarter. Means' two free throws put the game out of the Wildcats' reach.

The Pirate varsity never trailed after the first few minutes, but the Wildcats tied it at 45 with about three minutes left. Kelly Costello,Chrissy Swope and Elisa Wendt all scored in double figures. Kiki Means made her 5 points count with some key free throws in the final minutes.

The Pirate JV took control in the first quarter and never trailed after that.

Alyson Laing, 30, is pressured by two West Seattle players in the JV game.

With six freshmen and two sophomores on the roster, the JV Pirates should ensure that Vashon’s winning tradition continues for a few more years at least.

The Tacoma News Tribune has Vashon’s girls ranked seventh on the state and the boys ranked first.

The boys justified that ranking with a 66-23 rout at Seattle Academy Wednesday. True, Seattle Academy was playing without their best player, but one player doesn’t make a 43-point difference on a five-man team.

The JV boys won 51-16.

The Pirate girls host North Mason tonight, JV at 5:30 p.m., varsity at 7 p.m.

Boys and girls travel to Port Townsend tomorrow.

Denver International Airport, Dec. 1:

I got an e-mail from Bruce Cyra about Islanders who ran the Seattle Marathon and Half Marathon last weekend. Congratulations to those runners and any others who made the race.

Where’s your name in the results Bruce? Can you still beat Aidan?

“Many Islanders traveled to Seattle in the early morning hours this past Sunday to run in either the Marathon or Half Marathon, joining thousands of others on the hilly courses.
“Among the Islanders finishing the Half Marathon were Kevin Ross (1:30:08), Aidan Cyra (1:35:55), Savannah Krug (1:47:19), Ramsey Walker (1:44:26), Liam Rockwell (1:44:30), Kevin Kim-Murphy (1:50:30) and Eric Walker (2:00:30),
Among the Islanders finishing the Marathon were Mimi Walker (4:24:29), Laura Johnson and Kyla Trujillo (both 5:54:05).

“(I know there were others, but you cannot search the finisher database by location at this time)”

Bruce Cyra.

Half-marathoners Liam Rockwell, left, and Aidan Cyra fist-bump after Cyra finished an impressive sixth 16 year-old in the race setting a personal best of 1:35:55. – Bruce Cyra photo.

Now it’s time to get ready for the Club Northwest Super Jock’N'Jill Winter Grand Prix, a series of six 2-mile or 3K races, starting this Saturday, Dec. 5. I’m starting training as soon as I get home, or at least tomorrow. I’ll be at Magnuson Park bright and early Saturday. Any other Islanders?

See www.clubnorthwest.org for details.

Seattle Academy 2, Overlake 1 for first and second place.

Bush 3, Connell 1 for third and fourth.

Congratulations to all the finalists.

The top three teams finished the same way they did in the Emerald City League. That league is all private schools. Six private schools and 10 public schools made it to state. Connell was the only public school to survive to the semi-finals.