THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 27, 1996 TAG: 9602270422
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY REA FARMER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
Maury had a surprise in store for Salem in their Eastern Region quarterfinal Monday night - a screening offense that logjammed the Sun Devils' defenders and freed Shwante Snead to streak to the basket.
The strategy worked for three and a half quarters, but then Salem freshman Michelle Garcia posted fresh legs against a tiring Snead and the Sun Devils broke free, defeating Salem 48-35 to advance to the semifinals.
``I thought they did a great job,'' Salem coach Larry Bowman said. ``They junked up the offense a little bit and we were not getting what we needed from our post players.
``I thought the key to the whole game was putting Garcia on Snead. That gave them a lot of problems.''
Salem (18-6) plays Peninsula District champion Menchville (24-0) Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Churchland.
Trailing 25-21 entering the fourth quarter, Salem opened with a 17-2 run to take the lead.
``We played good defensively, but offensively we couldn't get it going until the fourth quarter,'' Bowman said. ``Misty (Colebank) and Michelle, offensively and defensively, played well. Kelley hit a couple of big shots.''
After Maury's Nika Crandell and Salem's Antonieta Gabriel swapped jump-shot baskets, Bowman called the key timeout for Salem and switched Garcia over to guard Snead.
Snead, playing with three fouls, had trouble breaking free and the rest of the Commodores insisted on looking for her to take the inbound passes.
``We had it,'' Maury coach Lamont Walker said. ``We had it down to the last. I think we were really fortunate to make it this far. We had them and we lost control of different situations and let their pressure get to us.''
Maury (14-8) turned the ball over twice on time violations.
``We were setting up in a stack and they were trying,'' Walker said. ``They were just dribbling too much instead of passing.''
King took advantage of the turnovers to spark the comeback, scoring four points and dropping a pass to Colebank, who scored another basket.
Sophomore Jenny Harmon scored to take a 29-27 lead and the Sun Devils never trailed again. Maury was forced to foul in the closing minutes for the final gap.
``That was a great coaching job,'' Bowman said of Walker. ``They obviously don't have as much talent as we had, but they held on.''
Snead, in a much-heralded showdown against Colebank, took matters into her own hands quickly. She grabbed five points, four rebounds and two steals in the first quarter as Maury took a 9-6 lead.
``Shwante is our leader,'' Walker said. ``Without her, we wouldn't have gotten this far.''
The Commodores tailed 20-17 at the half, but held Salem to one third-quarter point to retake control.
Snead's dominant play continued into the fourth quarter as she posted 18 points with 10 rebounds and six steals.
King paced the Sun Devils with 14 points. Colebank and Garcia each tipped in 10. ILLUSTRATION: GARY C. KNAPP
Salem's Misty Colebank drives against Tarsh Gibbs of Maury. Her Sun
Devils, state champions two years ago, advance to region semis.
by CNB