Snohomish girls gain sole control of Wesco North
Published 11:13 pm Thursday, January 9, 2025
SNOHOMISH — After a tough start to the season for Snohomish girls basketball, including a 2-3 record in its last five games, the Panthers found themselves with their biggest win of the season on Thursday night.
Snohomish downed visiting Wesco 3A/2A North rival Stanwood (9-3 overall, 2-1 league) to move to 8-6, 3-0 — earning the Panthers an early conference lead. Snohomish senior Tyler Gildersleeve-Stiles was a steadying force down low, scoring a team-high 22 points and snaring a game-high 10 rebounds for a double-double. Stanwood junior Ellalee Wortham continued her strong season with a game-high 24 points on 10-11 shooting from the free throw line.
Gildersleeve-Stiles’ big night on the glass contributed to a 25-16 rebounding advantage for the Panthers, who seemed to win by every loose ball with physicality down the stretch.
“After Christmas is when we start to click a little bit,” Gildersleeve-Stiles said. “We really focused on trying not to let them get second-chance buckets… getting them out of their offense, playing good defense and boxing out is what we’re focusing on.”
Though the Panthers played solid defense for the entire game, they shined when it mattered most. Snohomish held Stanwood scoreless for around four minutes in the middle of the fourth, as a 51-47 Panthers advantage with just under six minutes left quickly turned into a 60-47 lead at the two-minute mark.
Snohomish junior Sienna Capelli was instrumental on both ends of the floor, scoring 13 points, dishing out six assists, grabbing six rebounds and jumping on errant Stanwood passes left and right. Capelli attributed this nearly perfect stretch of basketball to a simple adjustment made by head coach Ken Roberts: a switch to man-to-man defense.
“(Stanwood) has a very good team, but they’re a very easy man-to-man team to play against,” said Capelli. “If we would have zoned them, it would have been a completely different game… that team is really good at shooting, and so with the man-to-man, it was way easier.”
Though Roberts’ decision to switch to man defense paid dividends tonight, it wasn’t the biggest realization the Snohomish skipper had on the night. Roberts decided to tap into his depth against Stanwood after he saw how fatigued his players were during a 60-51 loss to King’s on Tuesday.
Roberts had a usual starter in junior Kendall Hammer come off the bench and moved a first-time varsity player in sophomore Lola Rotundo into the starting lineup at power forward. Paired with freshman Layla King and sophomore Danica Avalos getting more meaningful minutes, nine Panthers put points on the board on Thursday.
Now with the depth to play hard all night, Capelli knew this was a game her team needed. The Panthers have already matched their loss total from last season when they finished fifth in the state tournament, and turning this campaign around in time for conference play has been fresh on their minds.
“Our team is very frustrated because we haven’t had the best record, but we’ve also been playing good teams. Tonight proved we’re a good team,” Capelli said.
For Stanwood head coach Dustin Swanson, whose team lost a second consecutive game for the first time this season, it’s a matter of preparation going forward. The loss marked just the fourth time this season that Stanwood has allowed their opponent to score over 40 points.
“We just had a hard time defending some of their sets, and we just need to spend more time preparing,” Swanson said. “Against a great team like that, they make you pay if you don’t.”
Swanson and the Spartans will have a chance to get back to winning when they take on a strong Skyline team on the road on Monday night. Snohomish will look to defend its conference lead when the Panthers play at Monroe on Wednesday night.
