Sun., April 4, 1999 UConn's future in action: Johnson shows her stuff Jim Fuller HARTFORD - Tip-off was only moments away and Kennitra Johnson was smiling. No words were exchanged; a mere glance from her rival and friend April McDivitt was enough to break the tension. Perhaps only Johnson and McDivitt could appreciate just how far they had come - from small schools in Indiana to Hartford for the eight annual Women's Basketball Coaches Association High School All- America game Saturday afternoon. Not only did Johnson, a University of Connecticut recruit, and McDivitt, one of four University of Tennessee signees, play in the game, they prospered as McDivitt and the White team beat Johnson and the Red team 100-82 before 6,322 fans at the Hartford Civic Center. Johnson, a 5-foot-8 guard out of New Albany High, had 16 points and a game- high six steals, which was also a single-game record. She was named most valuable player of the Red team. McDivitt led the White team with a game-high 10 assists (one shy of Ashley Smith's single-game record set in 1997) and had five points and two steals. "(McDivitt) is a great player," Johnson said. "I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of each other in the next four years. We've always been real competitive against each other." Johnson and McDivitt only squared off once in high school. Johnson torched McDivitt and her Connersville High team for a school-record 47 points in New Albany's victory in the semifinals of the Indiana 4A tournament. New Albany went on to win its first state championship and finished the season with a 28-0 record. McDivitt managed to exact a minor measure of revenge by edging Johnson to win Indiana's Miss Basketball Award. McDivitt led Connersville to a 23-1 record as a senior, with the only loss to New Albany. She will graduate as the school's career leader with 1,535 points, 441 assists, 387 steals and 206 3- pointers. Johnson holds New Albany's career marks with 1,776 points, 558 assists and 497 steals. She set the season record of 142 steals this year. In the Miss Basketball voting, 253 ballots were cast from media members and coaches. McDivitt received 95.5 votes, Johnson 92.5 and the other players combined for 65 votes. "I've played with and against her; she's a great competitor," McDivitt said. "Connecticut is getting a great player. "We're good friends. We've only played once (in high school) but in summer we play all the time." It was the second consecutive year this All-America game has been played at Hartford. Kara Lawson, the White team's most valuable player who is also Tennessee-bound, shared game scoring honors with 20 points and added four rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks. Lawson, a 5-foot-9 guard, left after the game for Atlanta, where she will pick up the Naismith High School Player of the Year award. Jennifer Thomas , who is headed for North Carolina, also had 20 points for the White team, while Rutgers recruit Kourtney Walton had 18 points. UCLA-bound Nicole Kaczymanski led the Red with 17 points and six assists. Stephanie Jones, who received some interest from Connecticut before opting to stay home and play at Nebraska, scored 14 points. The White team finished with just eight of its original 10 players. Duke recruit Olga Gvozdenovic injured her knee in practice Friday and was held out. Ohio State signee LaToya Turner went down with a left knee injury with 21.5 seconds left in the first half. Turner watched the second half from the bench, with crutches nearby. Her coach at Pickerington (Ohio) High was Red team coach Dave Butcher. Butcher said he thought the injury was to Turner's patella, not the more serious anterior cruciate ligament, although she will undergo an MRI exam to determine the severity of the injury. |
