TACOMA – With five key contributors who are 6-foot-4 or taller, the Snohomish boys basketball team usually enjoys a major height advantage over its opponents.
But today only one Panther, 6-8 forward Tim Diederichs, will look down on a pair Kentwood standouts.
Kentwood, which plays Snohomish in the fifth/eighth-place game, features two 6-7 standouts: junior post Jeremy Green and freshman forward Josh Smith. Smith and Green are Kentwood’s Nos. 2 and 3 season leading scorers, respectively. They combined for 26 points and 15 rebounds in the Conquerors’ loser-out victory over Bethel on Friday.
Smith is a freshman who plays like a veteran. He came into the tourney averaging 14.1 points and has averaged 19.3 at state.
Super sub: Starter? Substitute? Either way, it’s the same game for Zach Wilde.
After starting in Snohomish’s first two tourney contests, Wilde came off the bench against Edmonds-Woodway. The change apparently didn’t faze the 6-5 junior forward. He came up with his best overall performance of the tourney, scoring 15 points and grabbing nine rebounds, both team highs.
Wilde, who played 28:26 of a possible 32 minutes, scored 11 points over the final two quarters. “Zach did a great job. He had more energy in the second half than he did in the first,” Snohomish coach Len Bone said.
“I just needed to be ready when I went in,” Wilde said.
Wilde, who shot 6-for-10 from the field, said coming off the bench requires a different mindset, but he got comfortable doing it during his freshman season, when Snohomish placed seventh at state.
Trophy time: Snohomish is guaranteed to get a top-eight trophy today. The Panthers will place either fifth or eighth. It will be the team’s first trophy since 2005 and its fourth since 2002. Snohomish placed seventh in 2002, 2003 and 2005. The last time it placed higher was 1987 (fifth).
Looking ahead: Lake Stevens ended its season Friday with a 73-59 loss to Mount Tahoma, but the program’s future still looks bright.
Seniors Ashley Housden and Anna Kruse will graduate, but guards Mary Ochiltree and Leah Tate, and center Brittany Tri are all juniors, as is top substitute Kerri Gallagher, a center. During the regular season, in fact, Ochiltree (15.2), Gallagher (10.9) and Tri (10.2) were the team’s top scorers.
“We’ll have a pretty good core,” said Lake Stevens coach Randall Edens, looking ahead to next season. “But it’s going to be a real different team.”
Next year’s returning players “should have a pretty good grasp of the system,” he went on. “It should be easier to keep things rolling.”
Hoist the hardware: Getting to the state tournament is a great accomplishment for any team, but having a trophy to take home is even better, says Jackson coach Jeannie Thompson.
The Timberwolves will have one this year – either fifth place or eighth place, depending on the outcome of today’s game against Mount Tahoma – and it will be the first in history for the girls basketball program.
For the athletes, she said, “I think it’s significant to actually get something to end their season that has value besides, ‘Oh, you played a good game.’ It’s just one of those things that’s extra special to the kids. They’ll have a chance to hold it up after the game and to put it in the trophy case so when they come back 10 years from now they can say, ‘Hey, we won that.’
“Not a lot of teams get to do that. I never had the opportunity to do that when I was in high school, and I played in a lot of basketball games. So what these kids have done this year has been really special. They’ve put a lot of time and commitment in to help build the program and to help put our name on the map.”
Mike Cane and Rich Myhre
Herald Writers
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