Taylor Spears (left) of Brea Olinda gets a hand on a shot by Ariya Crook-Williams of Long Beach Poly. Crook-Williams had 22 points, but Spears and the No. 2 Wildcats got the 60-53 victory in Brea, Calif.
BREA, Calif. -- The question of who would replace at least the perimeter firepower of Kelsey Harris, who took her 20 points per game and all-state shot to Iowa State, is one that Taylor Spears never intended to let linger.
So when the junior guard let loose from 3-point range just half a minute into Saturday night's clash of national powers Brea Olinda and Long Beach Poly, it was with a purpose.
"That was on momentum," Spears said after scoring 14 points to help Brea, ranked No. 2 in the Powerade Fab 50 for high-school girls' basketball, to a 60-53 victory over Poly, ranked No. 9. "I knew we had to start out fast against them, and we needed to hit some big shots early."
And that Spears made the shot, as well as a late back-breaker that sealed the victory for her team, may have been as good as slapping a message on the Goodyear blimp. There will indeed be a source of the perimeter shooting necessary to loosen up defenses and give Brea's superb collection of inside players and slashers room to wreak havoc. It's just going to come from a player much more renowned for slamming the brakes on other team's shooters.
It isn't for nothing that Spears has been slinging 500 shots a day in practice.
"I'm looking to fill the shoes of Kelsey Harris," she said. "A lot of people don't think we have a shooter. That's why I'm taking all those shots every day."
For a spell, it seemed Brea actually was more starved for Spears' traditional role of defensive stopper. Ariya Crook-Williams, the USC-bound senior for Poly, ran wild on the Wildcats defense during the first half, searing it for 15 points as the Jackrabbits threatened to bust the game open early. Crook-Williams nailed two threes near the end of the first quarter to draw Brea out of its zone, then made a ridiculous move for a four-foot bank shot that beat the period buzzer for a 19-14 Poly lead.
The No. 16 prospect in the 2011 class, Crook-Williams went between the legs twice, then stepped back and tossed in another crazy three as Poly mounted an 11-point lead midway through the second quarter.
But the Poly magic vanished almost as quickly as it materialized. Its two main inside instigators, UCLA-bound Sheila Boykins and junior forward Destiny King, became saddled with foul trouble. Poly coach Carl Buggs said he decided to withstand Brea's charge for much of the third quarter and save Crook-Williams for a fourth-quarter counter.
Meanwhile, Brea's pogo-stick of a forward, junior Jeanier Olukemi, who had been banished with foul trouble in the first half, ruled the glass, which kept Poly out of the open floor, which allowed the Wildcats to control tempo and dictate the game inside with Keitra Wallace (19 points) and Justine Hartman (13), the marvelous, UCLA-bound post ranked No. 7 in the 2011 class. With Poly's young reserve guards spraying the ball all over the court, Brea exploded into the lead with a 14-0, third quarter run.
The spell Crook-Williams had cast on the game also faded and she scored just two points during the fourth quarter. She has been hampered by an inflamed left hip since the state playoffs last spring. The pain flared up significantly on Friday and she has been prescribed heavy duty anti-inflammatories.
"If this wasn't such a big game," Crook-Williams said, "I wouldn't have played."
Poly managed to stay close, even leading once in the final period. But Spears had been living for the moment. Springing open in the left corner, she got the ball and, buoyed by her earlier success, let loose from behind the arc.
"I had an angle and it bounced off the rim," Spears recalled. "I prayed it would go in. We really needed it."
Spears' prayer was answered, Brea's prayers for a shooter were answered by Spears and, for a raucous night in what might be the most competitive basketball region in the country, everything -- and nothing -- was settled.
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