Quest Pulls Even With StingRays in ABL Finals

Katie Smith and Shannon Johnson scored 18 points apiece Friday night as the Columbus Quest defeated the Long Beach StingRays 68-53 to even the best-of-5 American Basketball League championship series at two games apiece.

The fifth game will be Sunday in Columbus, where the Quest have won 24 straight games. The StingRays won the first two games of the series in Long Beach and the Quest won both games on its homecourt.

Tonya Edwards added 13 points and Valerie Still 10 for Columbus.

Trisha Stafford with 15 and Yolanda Griffith with 13 were the only players in double figures for the StingRays, who for the second straight game set an ABL playoff record for worst shooting percentage. Long Beach was 13-for-52 from the floor for 25 percent. Griffith also had 15 rebounds.

Columbus took control by scoring 17 straight points late in the second quarter and early in the third.

Smith’s 3-pointer with 11 seconds to go in the first half gave Columbus a 24-23 halftime lead. The Quest followed with the first 14 points of the second half to take a 38-23 lead with 4:47 left in the third period.

Johnson scored 10 straight points for Columbus during the run with four layups and two free throws.

It was 50-38 after three quarters. Smith added an early fourth-quarter basket, but the StingRays scored 10 of the next 12 points to cut the margin to 54-48 with 6:33 to play.

That was the closest Long Beach could get as the Quest pulled away down the stretch, scoring four baskets and going 6-for-6 from the line. Columbus made 16 of 17 free throws for the game.

Both teams got off to a slow start, with Long Beach leading 8-5 after one quarter. The five points by Columbus and the 13 combined points by both teams set league playoff records for low scoring in a quarter.

The Quest were 1-for-15 for 6.7 percent and the StingRays 2-for-11 for 18.2 percent from the floor, setting playoff records for fewest field goals by one team and overall and worst field goal percentage by one team and both teams in a quarter.