StingRays Falter Again, Face Decisive Fifth Game

The Columbus Quest found a way through and around the Long Beach StingRays’ rugged, physical defense in Game 4 of the ABL’s championship series Friday night.

Speed.

Shannon Johnson may be one of the league’s most underrated point guards, but no one underestimates her speed . . . certainly not Long Beach, not after she ignited a 12-0 run that forced a fifth and deciding game Sunday.

The Johnson-led third quarter surge broke open a close game and led to a 68-53 Columbus victory before 5,871 in Battelle Hall.

Johnson has gone by “Pee Wee,” ever since her days at South Carolina, where she became the Gamecocks’ No. 2 career scorer. She’s listed at 5 feet 8, but is probably closer to 5-6 . . . and she’s the team’s No. 2 rebounder.

She had nine Friday, second only to Yolanda Griffith’s 15.

Johnson is a 41% three-point shooter. But why risk three-pointers when you can penetrate at will? Johnson and Katie Smith both finished with a game-high 18 points.

Columbus returned from halftime with an emotional edge provided by a three-point basket by Smith that gave the Quest a 24-23 lead with seven seconds left. This, after the StingRays had led for most of the half.

Tonya Edwards started the blitz, with a baseline drive for 26-23. Then Johnson went baseline to baseline after both Yolanda Griffith and Venus Lacy missed shots for 28-23.

With the crowd standing and cheering now, Columbus was suddenly uptempo.

Smith drove around Trisha Stafford for 30-23, then Johnson zipped by three StingRays on a fastbreak layup, then added an eight-foot jumper.

She made two free throws after an official cited Long Beach’s Andrea Nagy for a deliberate foul.

Then she stole the ball at the other end and scored again. And when she added another layup with 4:09 left in the third, Columbus had a 40-25 lead and the teams were suddenly looking at a single game Sunday to decide a season.

As was the case Wednesday when the StingRays shot 27.3% from the floor, Long Beach shot poorly again. They shot 25% this time, but continued their phenomenal postseason free throw shooting, making 26 of 32 this time.

“I didn’t think it was possible we could shoot worse than we did Wednesday, but we did,” Coach Maura McHugh said.

She didn’t concede a thing to Columbus’ tough defense.

“We broke down completely,” she said. “We were running offenses I’d never seen before.”

Said Venus Lacy, of how she expects to spend her Saturday: “I think we’re going to spend a lot of hours watching a very ugly game film.”

Her team was two for 11 in the first quarter and four for 22 at the half. Clarissa Davis-Wrightsil finished the game zero for six, Lacy was two for 10, Beverly Williams two for nine and Trisha Stafford--who defensively was beaten badly several times by Smith in the second half--was three for 12.

Columbus won its 25th consecutive home game, shot 42% and was 16 for 17 from the line.

Johnson’s offensive leadership in the third quarter wiped out a first half that had given Long Beach some hope that it might be two quarters away from a title.

Columbus didn’t score a field goal until five minutes remained in the opening period and the StingRays had leads of 15-11 and 21-18. Their defensive intensity and overall energy level seemed to exceed the Quest’s.

Griffith again defended Smith and she held her to three points in the first half . . . until Smith sank the three-point shot with seven seconds left over Stafford.

Trailing, 50-38, after three quarters, Long Beach employed mostly free throws to come within 54-48 on a Williams layup, but Columbus’ Johnson then blended some artistry with her speed to close it out.

Isolated on a fastbreak dribble with Long Beach’s Niesa Johnson, Johnson used a stutter-step, then a change of pace . . . then went by Johnson in a blur to score.

That made it 58-49 with 4:18 left and Long Beach could muster only four free throws afterward.

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Columbus vs. StingRays

Best of five

Series tied, 2-2

* Game 1: Long Beach 65, Columbus 62

* Game 2: Long Beach 71, Columbus 61

* Game 3: Columbus 70, Long Beach 61

* Game 4: Columbus 68, Long Beach 53

* Sunday: at Columbus, 4 p.m.