Glacier Peak girls top crosstown rival Snohomish 55-50 in back-and-forth contest

Published 10:54 pm Wednesday, December 3, 2014

SNOHOMISH — Brian Hill knows that the Snohomish girls basketball team is a rough matchup for anybody.

The Glacier Peak coach also knows his squad is pretty tough themselves.

Glacier Peak held off crosstown rival Snohomish, which is picked to finish first in Wesco 4A, 55-50 in a non-conference game Wednesday night at Snohomish High School.

“I wasn’t sure what to expect,” said Hill, whose Grizzlies are also expected to contend for a state berth in the Wesco 3A South. “They’re a loaded team, a great team, and we just wanted to come play hard. We were nervous in practice yesterday and I said, ‘Settle down. We’re a good team, too. They have to play us.’ I knew it was going to be a good game.”

The game was back-and-forth throughout the first three quarters. The Panthers opened the game with an 11-4 run to jump out in front but Glacier Peak countered with a 10-0 run to end the first period with a 14-11 lead.

The Grizzlies led by four points at halftime and three heading into the final quarter, where they started to pull away.

Glacier Peak sophomore Samantha Fatkin had seven of her team-high 14 points in the fourth quarter as the Grizzlies built up a 10-point lead at one point while Snohomish continued to battle.

“I felt good about the effort,” said Snohomish head coach Ken Roberts. “We just ran out of gas in the fourth quarter.”

Sadie Mensing scored 13 points and Kayla Watkins added seven points for Glacier Peak (2-0 overall), which — like in years past — prides itself on a balanced scoring attack.

“I’ve got some girls that are pretty talented and they play well together,” Hill said. “I think that’s the key. It’s not about one person. They think, ‘If I don’t score tonight and you do that’s fantastic.’

“I don’t think we’re going to have a 20-point scorer every night,” Hill continued. “We’re looking to get five or six people in that six-to-12 point range every night because that’s a lot of points if you add them all up.”

Hill said he enjoys the annual contest against Snohomish, where he coached under Roberts for three years before heading to Glacier Peak. The Grizzlies’ coach says it’s a very friendly rivalry, and provides a good early-season test for both squads.

“I like playing Snohomish. First of all, we’re always going to get a good game,” Hill said. “I would rather lose a bunch of really close games than win a bunch of blowouts, because that’s only going to make your team better and stronger. (Roberts) is a great mentor. He’s rooting for me and I’m always rooting for him, as long as we’re not playing each other.”

It was the season opener for Snohomish, and Roberts said there were some typical first-game fixes to work through.

“I knew that we were going to have some struggles just to figure out how to play together and that happened a little bit,” Roberts said. “I just felt like we didn’t really get into our offenses like we need to and it’s just a matter of playing together a little bit. … There were five times in a row where we ran the same play and one of the girls was doing the wrong thing every time. It’s just the first game and getting a handle on what we’re doing.”

The Panthers coach pointed out that Snohomish doesn’t play in a fall league, so the team requires a few games to gel and come together. Instead, Roberts encourages his players to participate in other sports.

“Our best teams, I remember, didn’t play great at the beginning of the year. It takes a little time,” Roberts said. “They’re a good team. I think we’re going to improve a ton over the year and I’m really excited for the group we have.”

Madeline Smith had a double-double for Snohomish with 14 points and 10 rebounds and fellow junior post Madison Pollock added 12 points and five rebounds for Snohomish (0-1), which continues a tough non-league schedule with upcoming games against Arlington and Lynnwood, both of which went to the state tournament last season.

“We’ve got a great non-league schedule and we did it with the intent that we’re playing these games to get better,” Roberts said. “Yeah, we want to win them, and we didn’t tonight. So you feel like, ‘Yeah, that’s a bummer.’ But at the same time playing that game is going to make us better than a 40-point win.”

At Snohomish H.S.

Glacier Peak 14 12 11 18 — 55

Snohomish 11 11 12 16 — 50

Glacier Peak—Sadie Mensing 13, Natalie Rasmussen 6, Charlie Sevenants 0, Kianna Garner 11, Samantha Fatkin 14, Paisley Johnson 4, Kayla Watkins 7. Snohomish—Katie Brandvold 7, Emily Preach 3, Darian Rielly 8, Shaylee Harwood 2, Madison Pollock 12, Madeline Smith 14, Bernadette Beeman 0, Ellie Flitsch 4. 3-point goals—Fatkin 1, Brandvold 1. Records—Glacier Peak 2-0 overall. Snohomish 0-1.