Abl Title Series Has Olympians On Rival Teams
Nikki McCray and Dawn Staley, teammates on the women’s basketball team that won the gold medal for the United States at the Atlanta Olympics, are on opposite sides in another title battle.
They will be opponents in the first American Basketball League championship series that begins today.
McCray’s Columbus Quest had the best record (33-9) in the league’s inaugural season. Staley’s Richmond Rage (23-19) gave the Quest the most problems, responsible for one-third of their losses.
The first two games in the best-of-5 series will be played in Columbus before the series moves to Richmond on March 8.
Columbus finished 10 games ahead of the Rage in the Eastern Conference. But besides losing three times to Richmond in eight regular-season contests, two of the Quest’s five victories were by only two points.
While Richmond shot better than Columbus (49.3 percent to 44.8 percent) in the eight games, the Quest committed 35 fewer turnovers and collected 46 more offensive rebounds - allowing 106 more attempted shots.
“This is the team we wanted to play, and I’d imagine they feel the same way,” said Rage assistant coach DeAnn Craft. “We’re excited about it. Our effort against them, from beginning to end, has gotten better and stronger and more confident every time.
“It’s going to be a challenge, yes. But isn’t that what you want a championship series to be - a challenge?”
The Quest and the Rage swept their opponents 2-0 in the semifinals. Columbus eliminated the San Jose Lasers while Richmond knocked out the Colorado Xplosion, winners of the Western Conference.
Columbus used the same five players in its starting lineup for almost the entire season: McCray, Katie Smith, Shannon Johnson, Tonya Edwards and Andrea Lloyd. But in the semifinals, coach Brian Agler replaced Lloyd with Valerie Still, and he indicated that another switch may be in store for the finals.
“The way I look at it, we have seven starters on this team,” Agler said, adding guard Sonja Tate into the mix.
“It’s an old saying, but it’s true: It doesn’t matter who starts, it’s who plays the most minutes. The players realize that. One of the things that helped us this season is that the players have been so unselfish.”
Agler was chosen as the league’s coach of the year. Richmond is coached by Lisa Boyer.
The Rage has three all-ABL players, more than any team: Staley and Natalie Williams on the first team and Taj McWilliams on the second team. McCray, a first-teamer, was the Quest’s lone selection.
The Rage and the Quest ranked sixth and eighth, respectively, in home attendance in the eight-team league. Richmond averaged 3,139 fans while Columbus averaged 2,682.