Though boys’ basketball season ended early due to the coronavirus pandemic, many teams had seasons to remember; particularly, the Snider Panthers. Snider was 19-6 overall. They finished second in the SAC with a 7-2 record.
“We’re extremely proud of what we accomplished this season,” head coach Jeremy Rauch said. “We would have loved to end the season on our terms, and we really felt like we had a chance to win the regional, but [we] ‘control what we can control.’”
The Panthers also picked up their first sectional championship since 2009. They clinched that title by beating rival Northrop in the Carroll Sectional championship game.
“It was always good times on the team, and that was a really fun year for all of us,” starting forward Dillon Duff said. “I’m happy with winning that sectional, that meant the world to me. So I’m not too bummed, but we obviously still would’ve wanted to have kept going.”
The Panthers won plenty of big games en route to their title. They beat Homestead in the SAC Holiday tournament and did it again when they visited the Spartans in January. They also beat Carroll, also on the road. Their non-conference slate included wins against Merrillville, Churubusco, and New Haven. Both games against Homestead, as well as the Carroll game and the Churubusco game, were decided by one possession.
“I think it just shows where we’re at as a team because last year I think being in those close games; [the opponent] would’ve pulled away, and we could’ve lost those games,” Duff said. “But this year winning all the close games, I think that shows how much tougher we’ve gotten over this last year and how much we’ve come together.”
Snider had plenty of senior leadership this year. They had eight seniors on the team. Duff averaged double figures in scoring, as did starting wing Isaac Farnsworth (Duff: 17.6 points per game, Farnsworth: 10.8 points per game). Starting guard Jayshawn Underwood was a great facilitator; leading the Panthers with 3.1 assists per game.
“Man, I love these guys, I’ve had the same group for three years,” Farnsworth said. “We’ve grown together, we’ve done stuff together. We’re not just friends on the court, we’re friends off the court.”
Three of those seniors will attend college together. Duff and Farnsworth will continue their basketball careers at Rose Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute. Fellow Panther Jon Barnes Jr. is going there to play football.
“I’m looking forward not only for the basketball and going with Jon and Dillon, but the academics and the future after what college holds,” Farnsworth said. “But going there with two former teammates is going to make it that much better because I’m not going to be the only one there starting new.”
Duff had a very memorable season. At season’s end, he was named to the Large School Senior All-State group. During the season, he was able to reach the 1,000 point mark for his career. He reached that milestone in the Panthers’ win over New Haven.
“That was…one of my goals coming in as a freshman, you know ‘I want to get 1,000 points’,” Duff said. “That was also a big landmark, so it was really nice to hit [the milestone] my senior year in the best year that we’ve had in a long time really.”
Even though Snider is set to graduate several seniors, one of their top players was a junior. Michael Eley was the Panthers’ leading scorer, averaging 21.2 points per game. He has been a double-digit scorer all three years of high school so far. It’s not just scoring that Eley brings to the table. This year, he also was the team’s second-leading rebounder (6.0 per game) and their third leader in assists (1.9 per game). At season’s end, Eley was named a Junior All-Star and later was selected to the Large School All-State group.
“Bringing our leading scorer back as well as some rotational pieces, we know we can be very competitive for a conference and sectional title again next season,” Rauch said. “Michael will be a four-year starter who knows our system and expectations. It will be good, no question, to have him as a core to our team.”
In addition to Eley, next year’s team stands to return a talented group of players. Many of those kids were productive off the bench; such as junior Jade Moore, sophomore Karson Jenkins and others. Rauch is also excited about the players who will be coming up from the JV team; which won 15 games this year.
“We’re at a place where I really believe guys are ready to step right in and contribute at the varsity level,” Rauch said. “It is too early to speculate, as the offseason is about who is going to commit to improvement and end up separating themselves by November.”
