SMA’s Jayssa Snelick earns Second Team All-State honors
Following a senior season that saw her help lead the St. Marys Area Lady Dutch basketball team to one of the most successful campaigns in program history with a District 9 Class 4A championship, first round PIAA 4A state playoff win, and a 22-6 record, the accolades continue to roll in for Jayssa Snelick.
On Friday afternoon, the Pennsylvania Sports Writers AllState Girls’ Basketball Team was announced, and Snelick earned Second Team honors for Class 4A.
“It means the world to me,” Snelick said. “I’ve put a lot of work in by myself in the season and outside of the season. It’s another big accomplishment that feels great and proves that hard work can go a long way.”
Snelick led the Lady Dutch this season with 551 points, averaging 19.7 points per game. She also led the team in steals with 101 and was second on the team in rebounds with 163 and assists with 74. She ended her high school career with 1,143 points, which ranks sixth in Lady Dutch program history.
Snelick shared that she was not sure what to expect headed into her senior season.
“I knew that with having a new coach, it was going to be different and the program was going to be different,” Snelick said. “But, I just knew going into it that if I continued with a strong mindset and kept my hard work up that everything that I wanted to achieve was going to happen. And it did.”
While Snelick wanted to have the best season possible for the team as a whole, there were certain goals that she wanted to achieve, and reaching the 1,000-point milestone was among those goals. Snelick hit the milestone at home on Feb. 6 against Punxsutawney.
“Getting my 1,000 was a big goal that I hit and was proud of myself for, but I wouldn’t have been able to do it without my teammates,” Snelick said.
Snelick entered the game needing five points to reach 1,000 and scored the milestone bucket with 5:02 left in the first quarter. She ended up leading all scorers with 23 points in the game and helped the Lady Dutch to a 58-51 win over the Lady Chucks, giving St. Marys Area their first victory against Punxsutawney in many years.
Snelick noted that the game will always be a special one for her.
“Not only hitting my 1,000, but we beat a team that we hadn’t beat at St. Marys in 11 years,” Snelick said. “It took a lot of leadership skills and team effort. But also, for me personally, that was my big milestone.”
Another game that stood out for Snelick was St. Marys Area’s 40-39 win over District 7 fifth place team Highlands at home in the first round of the PIAA 4A playoffs. The win was the first state playoff victory for the Lady Dutch since the 2009-2010 season and was only the third state playoff win in program history.
“It came down to literally the last second,” Snelick said. “After we got that last rebound and the buzzer went off, it was just the feeling of us all jumping and having that team bonding moment together that will never be forgotten. It was nice that us seniors got one last game together and going to the sweet 16 for the first time in a long time.”
The success that the Lady Dutch were able to achieve this season was not something that Snelick anticipated prior to the start of their campaign.
“I was not expecting the season that we had this year at all,” Snelick said. “I thought going into it that it was going to be a rebuilding season with having younger girls and people who haven’t played before that joined our team. I think we just really worked together as a team, and we had senior leadership that led us, our whole team, to success. It was just an all-around team effort. I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish what I did without my teammates.”
Following the season, Snelick was named an AML all-star and was the top vote getter of the AML girls’ all-star team, a District 9 League all-star and MVP of the District 9 girls’ all-star team, the YDL Sports Network District 9 Girls’ Basketball Player of the Year, and the TCW/CE Girls’ Player of the Year.
The accolades have all been a testament to Snelick’s hard work, and she expressed the hope that they show young athletes what can be accomplished if they are willing to work for their goals.
“It proves to all young athletes, male and female, that anything can be possible if you want to (work for it),” Snelick said. “Having
accomplishments around Elk County as a female athlete and knowing that I did it all by myself with the help of my parents and family and coaches (shows) that anything’s possible and that if they just keep working towards it that they can do anything.”
Snelick’s basketball career officially got its start when she was in fifth grade, and she credited her older brothers, who also played basketball, with motivating her to try the sport.
“There was always competition between me and them, and we were always outside playing,” Snelick said. “It was just ‘let’s sign up,’ and I just found a love for it, and it was my safe spot throughout the rest of my years. It was the place that made me the most happy, and it just made my mind free.”
It was during her sophomore season that Snelick realized that she was not ready for her basketball career to end when she graduated from high school.
“We accomplished a lot as a team (that season), and I realized that in two years I didn’t want to be done and that I wanted to move on and play with a group of girls who were just as dedicated as I was,” Snelick said.
Snelick plans to continue her basketball career at the State University of New York at Fredonia, where she will also pursue a major in accounting.
As for what lessons she hopes to take with her from her high school career headed into her college campaign, Snelick remarked that she has learned to always have a positive mindset and to believe that anything is possible.
“With me going to school to play, taking my hard work and also my leadership skills going into my freshman season will help me continue leading,” Snelick said.
Jayssa is the daughter of Russ and Ryan Snelick.
With her successful high school career behind her and her college career ahead of her, Snelick expressed her gratitude to her parents for all of their support.
“(I’m grateful to) my parents for always supporting me and pushing me and being there for me through every season and travel ball and the rides, etc.,” Snelick said.
For future athletes, Snelick expressed the hope that seeing what she was able to accomplish during her senior season will inspire them to chase their own goals.
“I didn’t ever think I was going to hit my 1,000 or make all-state at all,” Snelick said. “People knowing and seeing the hard work that I put in and the battles that I fought through, (I hope that) they know that they can do it and to never give up and to follow their dreams.”