May 20—FROSTBURG — When talent meets hard work and determination, it’s a beautiful thing.
Sydney Snyder played a pivotal role in Mountain Ridge’s run to its first Class 1A state championship game, making an area-best 58 3-pointers and finishing third in the area in scoring and free-throw shooting.
The smoothest stroke in the region didn’t develop by accident. Her countless hours in the gym getting up shots were rewarded, and the area’s coaches voted Snyder Player of the Year.
“I’m really happy,” Snyder said of the honor. “It’s not just because of me, my whole team and coaches helped me get it. They had a big part in it, getting me the ball and trusting me.”
Snyder, who earlier this year also won area girls soccer Offensive Player of the Year, edged Allegany standout Avery Miller, five votes to four. Larae Grove of Frankfort tallied two, and Izzy Blomquist of Hampshire received one.
The Mountain Ridge junior broke a string of five straight Player of the Years won by Frankfort players. Snyder finished second in POY voting to one last year, won by Halley Smith — now at West Liberty.
She is the second player from Mountain Ridge to win the award. Shae Winner shared it with Alesha Jackson (Fort Hill) in 2013.
Other western Allegany County winners include Dawn Sloan (Westmar, 1990-92), Jill McGowan (Westmar, 1995-97) and Kacey Kahl (Beall, 2005).
Snyder averaged 17.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.7 steals per game.
She scored a season-high 32 points in a win against Berlin Brothersvalley, a PIAA Final Four participant, on Feb. 6, 30 against Clear Spring a week prior and at least 20 points 10 times.
“I can’t imagine anyone in the area puts more time in the gym than Sydney,” Mountain Ridge head coach Rob Duncan said. “She’s constantly working on her shot.
“Throughout the season in different games, like down at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in the Governor’s Challenge, she had a phenomenal game. She was nailing 3s, and we were listening to people saying, ‘How are you losing to one girl?'”
But it wasn’t just one girl. Mountain Ridge implemented a pick-and-roll offense this season, which allowed Snyder to get her teammates more involved.
The junior could dump it down to a rolling Bayleigh Lamberson, find a cutting Reghan Sivic or drive herself and find Rhegan Lamberson or Ava Tringler in the corner.
If nothing was open, they’d pass it back out to Snyder, who broke her own school record with 58 3-pointers this year.
“When I had the ball, it would open up my teammates on the block,” she said. “I could pass it to them. If they weren’t open, they could kick it out. … It opened everything up for us.”
While Snyder scored at a higher clip during her sophomore season (19.6 ppg), Mountain Ridge had more team success this year, setting a school record for wins (20-7) and winning the program’s first region title.
Snyder took her game to another level once the postseason began, averaging 20 points a night over five playoff games.
Against a Southern team in the region semis that had just beaten them to end the regular season, Snyder buried several key 3s down the stretch to finish with 26 points and fuel the 51-48 win.
Two days later, she scored 24 in a 47-39 triumph over Fort Hill.
“First round of the playoffs against Southern at home, she made enormous, deep 3-pointers under pressure,” Duncan said. “That really showed her competitiveness and her character. From that point forward, things really flowed for her and for us.”
Snyder’s most clutch performance of the year came in the state semifinals when she made 14 of 16 free throws — including 11 of 13 during the fourth quarter — to guide the Miners past Forest Park, 37-20, and into their first state championship game in school history.
“I just knew that we had to win to move on,” Snyder said of her playoff success. “I had the mentality of, I just have to make sure I get up shots or get my teammates the ball so we can continue to play.”
The free-throw line has been an asset for Snyder her whole basketball career, making the Elks Hoop Shoot national tournament during middle school.
That was on full display as a junior, as she made 131 of 171 attempts (76.6%).
In the Class 1A title game in College Park, Snyder was Mountain Ridge’s leading scorer with 12 points, but the Miners came up just short, falling 38-33 to the three-time defending champions Pikesville.
More than 80% of Mountain Ridge’s production returns next year, and that includes Snyder, who already knows what she wants to work on during the offseason to get another crack at the title.
“I want to improve my speed coming off the ball with my shot,” she said. “My defense could be better. I also want to generate more looks for me and my teammates.”
Alex Rychwalski is a sports reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @arychwal.