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Snakovsky Saves Best For Last

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By GREGG BECNEL

Tribune correspondent

Published: May 20, 2008

TAMPA - Shawnta Snakovsky will forever remember her senior year at Sickles High School.

The 5-foot-7 guard helped the Gryphons reach new heights during their record-breaking season. And for her part, Snakovsky was named the Class 6A state player of the year.

Snakovsky, who signed with Seminole Community College near Orlando, led Sickles to its first region tournament win in program history and to a school-best record of 25-3.

"It was my last year here, so I wanted to help make it special," said Snakovsky, who scored 1,390 career points.

She made her presence felt on both ends of the floor, averaging 19.9 points and 6.2 steals per game. Snakovsky also was good for 4.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists.

"Shawnta is very athletic and a very good shooter," Sickles coach Mark Key said. "Her quickness helps her dominate on the defensive end as well as the offensive end. Her scoring and defense made it easier for our whole team to be successful. Her success made it hard for other teams to stop us."

Snakovsky, The Tampa Tribune's Hillsborough County Girls Basketball Player of the Year, is a win-at-all-costs player who detests losing.

Her competitive nature became contagious, which Key believes helped shape the mentality of the Gryphons.

"Shawnta's desire to win spread to the whole team," Key said. "She made sure each kid wanted it as much as her."

Throughout the season Snakovsky did what she does best - put the ball in the basket. She was a consistent scorer, tallying double figures in 27 of 28 games. She scored 20 or more points 16 times, including three games of 30 or more. She poured in a season-high 36 points (five 3-pointers) in an early-season win against Alonso.

Sickles won 12 games during Snakovsky's freshman season, followed by years of 13, 17 and 25 wins.

One of the main reasons for the steady improvement was Snakovsky, a four-year starter, learned to become more team-oriented.

"I'm more of a team player now," she said. "I understand the game better and realize what it means to get my teammates involved more."

Key agrees.

"She has matured as a person and as a player," he said. "She learned that the game was not an individual game, but a team game. She really learned how to make others around her better."

And by doing so, she made herself better as well.
GIRLS BASKETBALL FIRST TEAM

Katie Davis, Academy of the Holy Names, G, Jr.

Paris Moore, Bloomingdale, G, Sr.

Chanele Patton, Blake, F, Sr.

Samara Shepherd, King, F, Sr.

Shawnta Snakovsky, Sickles, G, Sr.

Coach of the Year: Mark Key, Sickles

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