Mansfield Summit Stuns Nimitz 52-43 to Win Texas 5A Crown 

 
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.

 

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