EVERETT – Dirk Snel used to be a contributor.
For three seasons he was a valuable scorer for the Cascade High School boys basketball team, a player who could step in and drain a 3-point basket or make clutch foul shots.
But Snel’s days as a mere complementary player are over. Everything changed after last season when nine seniors graduated from a Cascade team that advanced to the Class 4A state tournament and won 20 games.
Since then Snel, a senior guard and the Bruins’ only returning starter, has shouldered a heavy load. But so far the one-time role player has been quite a leading man. Through 11 games the 6-foot-2 Snel is averaging 23.3 points – No. 1 in the Western Conference and 14.9 more than he scored as a junior.
Timing and necessity are key factors in Snel’s emergence.
“The last few years, it wasn’t necessary for him to put up a lot of points,” Cascade coach Kevin Rohrich said, “and this year it is. He’s always had the ability to do it.”
Snel has been a varsity player since the middle of his freshman year. Rohrich brought him up straight from the freshman team. In Snel’s varsity debut, he sunk a few 3-pointers and scored 10 points at Snohomish.
“He’s always been a kid that can score – a great shooter with great personality and great character,” said Rohrich, in his fifth season at Cascade.
Strong character has been vital.
Snel knew this season would be very different. Cascade returned just two other players with varsity experience, and they combined to score three points.
Things got off to a rough start. Cascade lost its first six games. It was a strange, sickening feeling for Snel, who endured just five losses in the entire previous season.
“It was so hard,” Snel said of Cascade’s 0-6 start. “It was to the point where you don’t know why you’re playing anymore.”
But Snel and his gradually improving teammates have started to jell. Nearly two weeks ago Cascade ended its losing streak with a 62-52 non-conference victory over Eastside Catholic. Snel netted a season-high 34 points and his six 3-pointers tied a school record. He also made 12 of 14 foul shots (85.7 percent).
Since then, Cascade has won twice more. Even in defeat, the Bruins have been more competitive.
“After that first win against Eastside Catholic, it really set the tone for the rest of the season … and it told us that if we play together as a team we can actually win.”
Snel leads Cascade in points, but scoring isn’t his only duty. As the team’s point guard, he’s responsible for guiding the offense and finding open teammates. He leads the Bruins in assists (2.5 per game) and rebounds (6.3 per game).
“It’s nice he can bring the ball up the court and you can trust him with the ball. It’s nice to have a shooting point guard,” said senior forward David Benson (8.8 points per game), a Cascade co-captain alongside Snel.
“It’s tough for him at times,” Rohrich said of Snel, “because he’s the center of attention of all our opponents. That can be tough for a kid to handle.”
But Snel said increasingly reliable teammates – guys like Benson and freshman guard Chris McGrath (7.8 ppg) -ease his burden. The Bruins’ confidence has surged, Snel said. They’ve started to create their own identity.
“We’ve been getting better all year,” coach Rohrich said. “The biggest challenge really is kids figuring out the speed of the game and how the game is played at the varsity level.”
Simply playing at the varsity level is much different than winning there. But winning is a small slice of the overall experience. Friendships count for a lot, and Cascade is actually a closer team than it was last season, Snel said.
“Last (season) it was fun to win,” he said, “but this (season) it’s fun to be (more connected) to the team and then start winning. It’s like a double win.”
The Bruins hang out a lot off the court. They’re regulars at Red Robin and Applebee’s, Snel said. They even had a sleepover a few weeks ago, bonding during hours of video games and ping-pong.
“We have so much more fun than the team last year,” he said, “and that’s something that’s gonna help us (later) in the season.”
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