Sunday,
March 08, 2009
Jim
Vertuno
The
Associated Press
AUSTIN, TEXAS
- Starr Crawford scored 14 points and Mansfield Summit stunned heavily favored
Aldine Nimitz and dunking sensation Brittney Griner with a 52-43
win Saturday night in the girls' Class 5A state championship.
The 6-foot-8 Griner, whose dunks have
made her a YouTube sensation, scored 22 points, grabbed 12
rebounds and blocked nine shots, but Nimitz (37-2) was plagued
by 24 turnovers against Summit's trapping defense that seldom
let her touch the ball. Amy Moody added 11 points for Summit
(34-4).
Griner, a senior All-American who has
signed with Baylor, scored 44 points in the semifinals and
became the first player to dunk in the history of the state
tournament, but she didn't get another one in the final.
She walked with a swagger onto the
court for warmups before the final and immediately started
putting on a dunk show for the crowd.
Just like the night before, Griner
showed off a variety of two-handed jams and others where she
extended as far as she could, always hanging on the rim for that
extra second to get a rise out of the crowd, where hundreds were
trying to take pictures of her.
And as usual, the crowd booed when the
game officials came onto the court and whistled for the fun to
stop.
If Summit was intimidated, it didn't
show.
Once the game started, Summit tried to
use 6-2 Loren McDaniel and the 6-foot Crawford to push her off
the block. It didn't work, at least not right away.
Griner's first touch on offense was an
easy layup off a soft lob pass from Jessica Diamond. She went
back up the court and swatted a shot by Moody. Next came a nifty
up-and-under move in the post against a defender 8 inches
shorter than her, then it was a backdoor pass to Chrishauna
Parker for an easy assist on a layup and a 9-2 Nimitz lead.
And that was about it for Griner in the
first half.
Summit roared back with eight straight
points when Nimitz started getting sloppy - 14 turnovers in the
first half - and took the lead on Taylor Hooker's steal and
layup. Summit quickly found that its halfcourt trap could
frustrate Nimitz guards and keep the ball out of Griner's hands.
When Griner touched the ball, she
scored, going 4-of-4 in the half but was otherwise watching her
teammates kick the ball around as Summit took a 15-14 lead into
the third quarter.
Summit kept to the game plan in the
third, forcing four turnovers before Griner touched the ball or
Nimitz even took a shot. When Crawford banked in a 3-pointer at
the buzzer, Summit led 31-24 going into the fourth.
Summit pushed the lead to 11 when
McDaniel scored twice against Griner, somehow getting the shot
over her outstretched arms. Nimitz was then whistled for a
technical foul for having six players on the court, and Moody
made four free throws to all but put the game away.