Snohomish seniors go down swinging

Published 1:03 am Friday, March 6, 2026

TACOMA — The Panthers were thrown a curveball in the first half of Friday’s Class 4A state semifinal.

The Snohomish girls basketball team saw one of its two seniors pick up their third foul in Kendall Hammer, as the guard checked out of the game.

“Honestly … I was just thinking how completely bogus that was,” Hammer said of the call. “But you know what? I got off the court, and the only thing I was thinking about was cheering on my team because if I can’t do anything on the court, then I sure as heck am going to do something off the court.”

When she returned to the floor, it was her bench cheering her on as she came up with four steals and caused timely Eastside Catholic turnovers all night to try and push the No. 2 Panthers (20-7) to the state quarterfinal. Along with a second straight 20-point game from the other standout senior, guard Sienna Capelli, Snohomish went back and forth with the No. 6 Crusaders (19-8).

But a trip to the final wasn’t meant to be, as Snohomish lost 47-43 to snap the 18-game win streak it had accumulated on the road to the Tacoma Dome.

Hammer finished with 10 points and four steals, while Capelli had 20 points, five rebounds and two steals on the night.

The duo, sophomores when Snohomish last placed fifth at the state tournament in 2024, has been playing together since kindergarten. Having worked to uphold the standard of seven Snohomish state semifinal berths in the millennium, this program has found a special place in each player’s heart.

“Genuinely, they’re like family,” Capelli said of her team. “I love these girls, they’re like my favorite group of girls.”

It showed, as the chirping of “Go Kendall!” from the bench area was enough to pull a smile from the determined senior’s face during the biggest game of the year. When things ended sourly, the team wasted no time leaning on each other as the tears fell.

Hammer wasn’t so quick to call it her best defensive showing of the season, but her impact reached much further than the four steals on the stat sheet.

She forced multiple jump balls against Eastside’s 6-foot-4 sophomore big Amy Nduka (23 points, 12 rebounds) and forced a travel to prevent the Crusaders from building on a three-point lead in the third. After each moment, she was the loudest player on the court as she tried to rally her team and amplify the already demoralizing moments for the Crusaders.

But with her bench cheering her on even when she was simply waiting in the backcourt for a free-throw sequence to finish, she suggested the hype went both ways.

“Honestly, all my energy is just coming from our bench. They mean so much to me, and they just help our team out,” Hammer said. “We wouldn’t be the team we are without every single player on the team.”

Hammer won possession for Snohomish twice in the fourth quarter, causing a Crusader to hit the ball out of bounds on an offensive rebound try and forcing a jump ball after poking the ball out and diving on it. Landing in a pile of bodies, Hammer grimaced on her way up as the cost of winning was taking its toll.

Capelli played with the same reckless abandon that got Snohomish to this point as well, tripping over a Crusader late to draw a blocking foul. She hobbled as she got back to her feet before hitting a contested turnaround that she’s made her trademark this season to cut the deficit to one.

“They were exhausted, and I didn’t think you saw that in our kids tonight,” head coach Ken Roberts said. “Sienna was dying, you couldn’t tell the way she was playing. Kendall was throwing up, you couldn’t tell the way she was playing … I’m real proud of them.”

Even with a late push and tough basket from junior Lola Rotondo (seven points, 12 rebounds) to cut the lead to two, the Panthers couldn’t break through at the very end. The Crusaders’ strong rebounding, paired with a forgettable Snohomish shooting night, was enough to swing it toward the Crusaders.

With the sun having set on their title hopes as high school players, the seniors put their leadership responsibilities first. Both ran to the bench and signaled the remaining Panthers to join the postgame huddle right away to process the loss together.

“Both kids are such good leaders. It’s not just the people they are, it’s the way they compete, it’s everything they’ve done,” Roberts said. “If they’re on the sideline, they’re cheering even louder.”

Despite the result, the success in Tacoma was a year coming for Capelli.

Alongside all-area big Tyler Gildersleeve-Stiles, Capelli led the Panthers to a No. 1 seed at the district tournament last season. But she dealt with a prolonged illness and a concussion that kept her away from the team at crucial points as the Panthers fell short of qualifying for State. This year, she willed Snohomish at times to its two wins with a 20-point, 13-rebound gem against Evergreen in the second round before scoring 30 of her team’s 41 points against Stanwood in the semifinal. Friday was another gem, as her shotmaking kept Snohomish above water.

The Panthers’ run earned them a chance to play for third place against No. 4 Roosevelt on Saturday.

One last ride.

“It means a ton for us. Just one more chance on the basketball court together is big for us,” Capelli said. “It’s a bittersweet moment.”