CHIMACUM — A serious illness in the family made it a little rough for the Chimacum girls basketball team as it concluded the regular season Tuesday night.
Loaded Vashon Island beat the emotionally exhausted Cowboys 54-36 to send Chimacum to the fifth seed and a loser-out pigtail playoff game at archrival Port Townsend on Thursday night.
“It was a pretty rough day for our kids,” Chimacum coach Brad Burlingame said.
Sophomore scoring wizard Mallori Cossell’s mother, Jody, had a heart attack 5 a.m. Tuesday.
“Mallori was at the hospital all day,” Burlingame said. “Some of the players were at the hospital, too. They are dear friends.”
Cossell’s mother was stabilized and in intensive care Tuesday night.
Cossell went straight to the game from the hospital.
“They pretty much sent her to the game to get her mind off things,” Burlingame said.
“I was proud of the girls’ effort at the game,” Burlingame said. “Basketball just is not that important right now.”
The Cowboys, though, will give their best shot against the Redskins on Thursday, Burlingame said.
The two teams have played twice this year with the strong Redskins winning both times by 20 points or more.
“That was the old Cowboys, now we are the new Cowboys,” Burlingame said. “We’re not the same team.”
Since that time Cossell has found a velvet shot from long distance as she scored a career-high 45 points against Orting on Monday night.
She made a lone 3-point shot against Vashon Island in limited action.
Cydney Nelson led the Cowboys with 18 points while Krista Hathaway had eight rebounds and two steals.
“Cydney had a wonderful game,” Burlingame said.
Super star headed to Division I college ball Anya Quig, just a freshman, had 26 points in the game.
“Anya Quig will be famous some day,” Burlingame predicted.
Big 6-foot-8 center Charlotte Kehoe was held to 14 points.
The Cowboys finish the regular season 5-7 in the Nisqually League and 7-13 overall.
Don’t count Chimacum out against Port Townsend, Burlingame said.
“We have a good shot,” he said.
Vashon Island 54, Chimacum 36
Vashon 11 13 15 15 — 54
Chimacum 5 9 11 11 — 36
Individual Scoring
Vashon (54)
Hoffman 2, Abella 2, Munsey 2, Quig 26, Amercia 6, Lynch 2, Kehoe 14.
Chimacum (36)
Nelson 18, Castillo 7, Cossell 3, Thacker 6, Snyder 2.
Boys Basketball Castle Rock42, Forks 35
FORKS — The Spartans lost a loser-out Southwest Washington League playoff heartbreaker Tuesday night.
Castle Rock had a 19-12 advantage in the second half to win after the teams deadlocked 23-all at halftime.
“We played as well as we could defensively but we also played as bad as we could offensively,” Forks coach Scott Justus said.
Coming in, Castle Rock had three players averaging 15 points or more.
“I thought if we held two of them to single digits we would win,” Justus said.
The Spartans did that but the one player who scored in double figures lighted up the scoreboard with 26 points.
It was the final game for Forks seniors Frank Noles and Bryce Johnson.
“It will be hard to replace Noles,” Justus said. “He is our second-leading scorer and leading rebounder.
“And even more important he is a leader and captain for the team. He has worked really hard for me the past two years.”
Noles had eight rebounds in the game while Jonah and Tyler Penn had four assists each.
The Spartans finish the year 7-7 in league and 10-11 overall.
Castle Rock 42, Forks 35
Castle Rock 15 8 8 11 — 42
Forks 14 9 4 8 — 35
Individual Scoring
Castle Rock (42)
Hoffman 2, Abella 2, Munsey 2, Quig 26, Amercia 6, Lynch 2, Kehoe 14.
Forks (35)
J. Penn 4, T. Penn 11, Castellano 2, Decker 6, Johnson 4, Noles 8.
Vashon Island 56, Chimacum 30
CHIMACUM — The Cowboys ran out of gas after playing in their second game in two nights.
The powerhouse Pirates knocked the Cowboys out of the playoffs with the win and in the process earned the second seed to tri-district play.
“After we won the close game Monday night, we just didn’t have any steam left,” Chimacum coach Jim Eldridge said.
It was the final game for seniors Ryan Riggle, Mason Moug, Devin Manix and Dylan Brown-Bishop.
The Cowboys finish the year 3-9 in the Nisqually League and 15-5 overall.
“We had some close games this year, got some improvement but not as much as I had hoped for,” Eldridge said.
“We’ll see what happens next year.”
Vashon Island 56, Chimacum 30
Vashon 17 6 16 17 — 56
Chimacum 8 9 6 7 — 30
Individual Scoring
Vashon (56)
Wagner 24, Griffith 9, Dick 5, Schofer 4, Whitaker 3, Bakker 6, Arseo 2, Hazzard 2, Rhome 1.
Chimacum (30)
Ajax 5, Edwards 3, Madayag 2, Moug 5, Duket 2, Brown-Bishop 6, Manix 1, Pagasian 6.