SNOHOMISH – Some basketball coaches struggle to find five reliable players to fill a starting lineup.
Ken Roberts has no such problem. In fact, the Snohomish High School girls coach could put two competitive teams on the court and still have leftovers.
You’ve heard of depth? Snohomish is an ocean. The Panthers return seven key contributors from last year’s group that went 23-4 and finished sixth at the Class 4A state tournament. And with several strong junior varsity players moving up, Snohomish is even deeper than last year. The varsity returnees include seniors Tara Angell (8.5 points per game, a school-record 109 career 3-pointers), Kristin Moore (8.5), Emily Cassidy (8.4), Kelsey Manning (6.8), Eastern Washington signee Sydney Benson (6.0), junior Daesha Henderson (9.6) and sophomore Amanda Best (13.0).
“It’s easy in a way,” Roberts said, “because you can ask kids to play as hard as you would want them to play, and it could last for 32 minutes.”
The tough part is constantly juggling a lineup so everyone gets their fair share of minutes. If one player struggles even for a few plays, Roberts is inclined to go to his extremely capable bench. Manning said she enjoys playing for a team that reloads so quickly. “It’s fun because everybody has to compete. It only makes everyone better. It’s hard. Every scrimmage, every practice is difficult.”
“It’s really nice,” Cassidy agreed, “because there’s a lot more people to rely on. We all have our talents.”
As the Panthers try to defend their District 1 championship and battle a strong Monroe team in the Wesco North, Roberts said team chemistry will be essential. That’s why he signed Snohomish up for weekly community service work.
“Our community does a lot for these kids,” Roberts explained. “It’s something I think a lot of kids take for granted. These girls are great athletes, they’re playing on a deep, really good basketball team, they’re successful students – they’ve just got a lot of things going for them. It’s real important that you go give back.
“I think that will bring us a lot closer together. It kind of puts it into perspective for a kid. ‘Hey, I didn’t play as many minutes as I wanted today. (But) the team still had success and, you know what, I’m in pretty good shape right now.’”
Snohomish hopes to be in top mental and physical shape in time for a return to the state tournament, where they are expected to challenge for a title. The Panthers learned a valuable lesson last year, when they lost to Prairie and eventual champion Roosevelt.
“Everyone was really nervous,” Benson said. “We came out really timid. This time we’ve just got to go out with everything we’ve got and not worry about other teams.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
