PREP BOYS BASKETBALL
Published 11:15 pm Friday, December 12, 2008
MARYSVILLE — Like the Boston Celtics’ “Big Three” of Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, the Snohomish girls basketball trio of Ally Schmitt, Karly Lampman and Katie Benson pride themselves on stingy defense and unselfishness.
Those traits propelled the Panthers to a 50-40 Western Conference North Division victory over the Marysville-Pilchuck Tomahawks Friday at Marysville-Pilchuck High School.
The Panthers (3-0 in division, 3-1 overall) stepped up to head coach Ken Roberts’ challenge of selling out on defense by holding their third straight opponent to fewer than 40 points.
“Our goal is to keep everyone under 30,” Schmitt said. “We definitely stepped up to the challenge Coach set for us of selling out on defense.”
Snohomish’s “Big Three” all have full-ride scholarships to play basketball next season in college.
The Seattle Pacific-bound Benson, playing the part of KG, scored 19 points but was more dominant on the defensive end where the 6-foot, 1-inch senior grabbed 12 rebounds, blocked four shots and had five steals.
“She was all over the place. She’s got those long arms, she does a great job of tipping passes,” Schmitt said.
Sparked by Schmitt, who will be headed to Montana State University next year, the Panthers used a trapping mid-court defense to hold the Tomahawks to zero field goals in the first quarter. It wasn’t until the third minute into the second quarter that Marysville-Pilchuck was able to get a field goal.
Marysville-Pilchuck made 19 first-half turnovers and just three first-half field goals.
“We set defensive goals and we take (defense) very seriously,” Benson said adding that the majority of time spent at practice is focused on defense, which in sports is very key in winning championships.
During that time the Panthers used a 12-0 run that spanned the last 31/2 minutes of the first quarter and the first part of the second quarter, to pull away from the Tomahawks (1-1, 3-1).
Schmitt, who missed all of last season because of an injury, finished with six steals to go along with 11 points.
“Ally Schmitt did a great job. She took care of the ball,” Roberts said. Schmitt finished with six assists and only one turnover.
Portland State-bound Karly Lampman, looking like Paul Pierce with her drives to the basket and quick pull up jumpers, scored 13 points and finished with two steals.
“It takes so much pressure off me knowing that my other players are going to score and I just have to give them the ball,” Schmitt said of her teammates.
Led by Britt Harris’ 20 points and 10 rebounds, the Tomahawks kept it close by knocking down its first 11 free throws — they finished 11-for-12 from the charity stripe in the first half. The clutch shooting coupled with Snohomish’s inabilities from the line (15-for-28 from the stripe) and constant foul trouble, allowed Marysville-Pilchuck to never allow the game to get out of hand.
“It should’ve been a lot better,” Roberts said of the Panthers’ score. “We missed two point-blank lay-ins and a ton of free throws. They’re a good team, it was just hard for us to get any kind of run going because you have kids in foul trouble all game long.”
At Marysville-Pilchuck H.S.
Snohomish11141414—53
M-P4111510—40
Snohomish –Guthrie 4, Schmitt 11, Lampman 13, Keithley, Wayman, Timmerman, Berg, Benson 19, Bride 4, Balin 2. Marysville-Pilchuck – Cull 2, Martinis, Adams 10, K. Enberg 2, Oden 2, Harris 20, E. Enberg, Heckendorf 4, Pierce. Records — Snohomish 3-0 in league, 3-1 overall. Marysville-Pilchuck 1-1, 3-1.
