ENNIS — When asked what she remembered most about her heroic 40-point performance in last season's Southern B third-place girls basketball game against Big Timber — with the winner advancing to the state tournament — Marisa Snider offered a pretty straightforward answer.
"Just shooting it from everywhere and it going in," the Ennis junior said with a laugh.
It might sound simple, but that just-shoot-and-score approach has paid dividends for both the high-flying point guard and the Mustangs the past two seasons.
Snider's outburst against the Herders — where she accounted for all but eight of her team's points — lifted Ennis to its first state tournament appearance in six seasons in the Mustangs' first year back in the Class B ranks. Ennis advanced to the state semifinals where it fell to eventual champion Baker.
This year, the success has continued for Ennis and Snider, who entered her junior campaign already with 1,000 career points in hand. The Mustangs are 8-1, undefeated in conference play and sitting at No. 3 in the latest MTN Sports high school girls basketball power rankings.
"It's been a lot of fun with these girls," said Snider. "It's a really good group. There's no drama on our team ever and it's just really nice."
Snider's scoring ability — she's leading the conference with 22.5 points per game — has her team again dreaming about making another deep postseason run. The bulk of Snider's production has come from 3-point range, and she's hit 19 triples this season to bring her career total to 158.
"A lot of the girls call her Marisa 'Sniper'," Ennis head girls basketball coach Jordan Overstreet said with a chuckle. "Which is pretty fitting with how she shoots the ball from the 3-point line."
Snider started for the Mustangs as a freshman, earning all-conference accolades along the way. Her coach had a feeling her ceiling would only continue to rise.
"I knew she was just going to keep getting better and better," said Overstreet. "She works on her game all the time. And watching her progress throughout the years has been awesome."
Snider still has plenty of time to continue stuffing her stat sheet as Ennis looks to continue rolling through the Southern B. But there's really only a few numbers that truly matter to her — wins and losses.
"Whatever is on that scoreboard, we've gotta be the higher score," said Snider.
