Crawley’s One Giant Leap Shows Abl Has Right Stuff Slam-Dunk Finale Highlights Western Win In All-Star Game

In one year, the American Basketball League All-Star Game went from slamming fists to slamming rims.

In last season’s game, Clarissa Davis-Wrightsil, then with New England, gave Seattle’s Cindy Brown a shot to the chin, which knocked her out.

The highlights this time around centered on what happened at halftime Sunday night.

That’s when Colorado’s 6-foot-5 center Sylvia Crawley donned a blindfold and completed 10 steps to the basket with a one-handed smashing dunk from above the rim.

The occasion was the finals of the women’s slam-dunk competition, which overshadowed the one-sided game taken easily by the Western Conference, 102-73, over the Eastern stars.

The outcome was no surprise, considering that the winners were loaded with post players. In staying perfect in the two-year event, the West had a 49-35 advantage on the backboards.

Seattle rookie Shalonda Enis, who had 15 points, was named the most valuable player, an honor that carried a $10,000 prize.

But the 40 minutes of game action is not what the crowd of 4,189 at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex will remember.

The drama in Sunday night’s halftime events, which included the Rage’s Dawn Staley winning the 3-point-shooting contest, began the day before.

That’s when Crawley, New England rookie 6-7 Kara Wolters, and 6-6 Seattle center Linda Godby advanced from the preliminary round.

No one doubted that Crawley might win. She has been dunking at practices and in pickup games ever since her freshman year at North Carolina.

But on Saturday, she promised something special for the finals.

“I’ve been working on it for a couple of weeks,” Crawley said of her effort. “But I was kind of nervous when I tried it. A lot of slam-dunking is confidence and mental.”

As for the game, the Rage’s Adrienne Goodson scored 13 points for the East, which was led by Atlanta player-coach Teresa Edwards’ 20 points.

One of the few highlights occurred late in the first half when Columbus’ 5-8 guard Shannon Johnson blocked Colorado’s 6-3 Tari Phillips on a breakaway layup.

West 102, East 73 At Orlando, Fla.

West (102) - Enis 5-7 2-2 15, N.Williams 3-7 6-8 12, Griffith 6-9 1-4 13, Azzi 5-7 0-0 12, Robinson 4-6 4-4 14, B.Williams 3-6 0-0 6, Black 3-7 0-1 6, C.Smith 4-7 1-2 9, Phillips 2-8 3-4 7, Sam 3-4 1-2 8. Totals 38-68 18-27 102.

East (73) - Te.Edwards 7-17 3-5 20, K.Smith 1-6 2-2 5, Still 3-7 1-2 7, Staley 0-3 0-2 0, Jones 2-12 6-8 11, Johnson 0-2 0-0 0, Goodson 4-8 5-6 13, Rizzotti 3-4 0-0 7, To.Edwards 1-4 0-0 3, Lovelace 2-4 3-4 7. Totals 23-67 20-29 73.

West 22 32 18 30 - 102

East 13 14 21 25 - 73

3-Point goals-West 8-12 (Enis 3-3, Azzi 2-3, Robinson 2-4, Sam 1-1, B.Williams 0-1), East 7-25 (Te.Edwards 3-10, To.Edwards 1-1, Rizzotti 1-2, Jones 1-2, K.Smith 1-4, Still 0-1, Johnson 0-1, Goodson 0-1, Staley 0-3). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-West 49 (N.Williams 12), East 35 (Jones 9). Assists-West 24 (Black 5), East 16 (Te.Edwards, Staley). Total fouls-West 23, East 21. A-4,189.