Quest Shows the StingRays Who’s Boss

The Columbus Quest won the American Basketball League championship last season and Tuesday night looked as if it hadn’t missed a step--to say nothing of its franchise player--in a 98-72 dismantling of the Long Beach StingRays.

Nikki McCray, last year’s most valuable player, defected to the WNBA in the off-season and you could only wonder how potent the Quest would be with her.

As it is, Valerie Still, Katie Smith, Andrea Lloyd and Tonya Edwards look solid enough to take their team on another title run.

Before 1,255 at the Pyramid, the Quest pinned a 24-14 first quarter on Long Beach, then never permitted the StingRays to mount anything like a rally.

It was a plain old drubbing, the first for the StingRays (3-2). Columbus (4-2) put five players in double figures and its defensive pressure forced 17 Long Beach turnovers. Columbus had six.

StingRay Coach Maura McHugh sat and fumed during it all, then unloaded afterward on her team.

“I learned tonight we can be a really miserable basketball team when we want to,” she said.

“That’s the most pathetic display I ever saw. They whipped our butt in every facet of the game. And when we got behind, instead of someone stepping up and showing some leadership, I saw a lot of veteran players go in the tank.”

It was the first time anyone has held Long Beach’s star, Yolanda Griffith, in check, and the Quest did it by double- and triple-teaming her, pushing her over the baseline and off the court at times.

Griffith, who went into the game leading the ABL in scoring and rebounding, had her season lows, 10 points and nine rebounds.

It took Columbus less than eight minutes to double the score on Long Beach, 22-11, and the Quest maintained that throughout the first half.

Long Beach started off looking up at a 7-0 deficit, and never did disrupt the Quest’s run-run pace or its three-point shooting.

Griffith, one for six from the floor in the first half, had four points and six rebounds at the break. In the game’s first four minutes, she handled the ball only once.

Edwards led the Quest with 25 points.

ABL Notes

The Stingrays on Friday and the Quest on Sunday were burgled during their games at San Jose State’s Event Center, both clubs report. The Stingrays lost $315 in cash from players’ lockers and the Quest about $1,000 cash. . . . The StingRays leave today on their longest trip of the season, to Philadelphia, Atlanta, Columbus and Hartford. They make the same trip in mid-February to finish the regular season.

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Philadelphia 83, Atlanta 71--The Rage handed the Glory its first home loss despite 40 points by Atlanta’s player-coach Teresa Edwards.

Dawn Staley scored 29 points, making seven of eight three-point shots to lead the Rage before 1,339.