Reese Snellman gets hot, leads Ferris boys over University in key contest; U-Hi girls come back late to edge Saxons

District 8 3A receives just two bids to state this year, making it even more difficult for multiple Greater Spokane League teams to advance to Tacoma.

Since Mt. Spokane already owns a league win over Ferris, Tuesday’s showdown between the Saxons and visiting University – which has been on the periphery of the state top-10 rankings all season – became a critical matchup in determining where the hosts sat in the league’s pecking order in district play.

Maybe those state polls will take another look at the Saxons in coming weeks.

Reese Snellman scored from just about everywhere on the court, totaling 31 points, and Ferris downed U-Hi 73-44. The Saxons led by 21 at halftime and never let up.

Ferris coach Sean Mallon didn’t play up the significance of the matchup with his team.

“We as coaches knew that it was important,” he said. “We didn’t really talk about what it meant for seeding. We didn’t talk about anything. I mean, we kind of try to do ‘one-day-at-a-time’ sort of thing.”

Still, it was a complete effort as Ferris (10-3, 3-1) was in control from the opening tip.

“We just needed to come out and play a complete game,” Mallon said. “We’ve had some games this year where we had really good stretches and quarters and halves. Some really good individual efforts. But we just had to focus on putting one together for the entire 32 minutes.”

“I think this win is a statement,” junior guard Dylan Skaife said. “I mean, I think we deserve that. I think we’re overlooked a little bit, you know. We came out and showed what we are capable of.”

Snellman hit five 3-pointers and the Saxons defense, especially early, gave the senior 6-foot-1 guard several fastbreak layup opportunities.

“I felt really good,” Snellman said. “We worked as a team, we got the win. That’s the most important part.”

“Reese can get it going,” Mallon said. “He’s been running the point for us a decent amount of the year and it’s the conversation of, you know, picking and choosing your spots. And tonight he had it going so we let him go.”

Snellman had three steals as the Saxons pressured the Titans (11-3, 2-2) early. Ferris led 18-8 after the first quarter, with Snellman collecting 12 points, many in transition.

“It was all about defense,” Snellman said. “We just tried to take away the 3 from them and make them work.”

“That was an emphasis of ours – to try to be physical,” Mallon said. “We spent a lot of time on defense the last couple days. Their offensive style is pretty unique, where they run those shooters and corners and so we just tried to make sure our kids were prepared for it.”

It was more of the same in the second. Snellman hit a corner 3 then Skaife got hot, lighting up the U-Hi defense for nine points in the quarter and Ferris led 35-14 at halftime.

“My teammates do a great job finding me when I get hot,” Skaife said. “We do the same thing, I mean, Reese obviously got hot, and we found him. When someone gets hot, we find the hot guy.”

Snellman scored 10 more in the third quarter as the Saxons’ lead grew to 30 points entering the fourth.

U-Hi was led by 6-7 post Shane Skidmore with 10 points. Titans leading scorer Tyler Nelson was held to seven points, all in the second half.

“He’s a really good player,” Mallon said. “We watched a ton of film on him. I thought our kids who rotated it on him and all did a good job of buying it and just being bought in the game plan.”

“We watch film, we know what they do in there,” Skaife said. “They shoot 3s and they play inside with Shane Skidmore. He’s a beast but (6-7 post) Pat (Murphy) you know he did a good job on defense.”

Girls

University 53, Ferris 48: Freshman McKenzie Handran scored 16 points, senior Eliannah Ramirez added 14 and the Titans (6-7, 1-2) beat the Saxons (6-7, 1-2) in the late game.

“(Handran) came out strong,” U-Hi coach Jazmine Redmon said. “We’ve got to keep her being aggressive. She’s gonna help us out a lot.”

Handran went the distance with a steal and converted a three-point play to put U-Hi up 45-43 with 3 1/2 minutes left. Ramirez’ steal and layup a minute later made it a four-point game.

“Our defense is our key,” Redmon said. “We gotta get our defense going for our offense to get going. Sometimes offense isn’t always there. So, we got to get it done on defense, and that’s what they did when it counted.”

Ferris’ Kayla Jones was fouled as she hit a runner in the lane with 19 second left and the free throw made it a one-point game. U-Hi turned it over on the inbounds play, but Jones was called for a foul to give it back to the Titans.

The Titans made 4 of 6 at the line to provide the final margin.

Jones led Ferris with 21 points.