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Everything was going as planned on Friday night for the St. Mary’s High girls’ basketball team. They were way ahead of St. Elizabeth, up by 39 points at halftime and even more in the third quarter. Then disaster struck. 

Leading scorer Shantrell Sneed went up for an easy layup, but was bumped on her return to the floor. Sneed landed awkwardly on her right leg, and she immediately crumpled to the floor in obvious pain. Although the Panthers still managed to hang on for an 83-31 victory, their post-season hopes may be in jeopardy. 

Sneed, just a freshman, is averaging nearly 20 points per game, and her presence has helped the Panthers to a 10-1 record in BSAL play and the No. 2 seed heading into next week’s playoffs. But when she fell to the court and didn’t get up, the St. Mary’s hopes may have gone with her. 

“Losing Shantrell would be a huge blow, but I think we can survive without her if we have to,” St. Mary’s head coach Don Lawson said. “We have others who can step up. We have three others players who average more than 10 points a game.” 

Lawson didn’t know Sneed’s prognosis after the game, saying they may not know the extent of the injury until next week. 

As for the game, it was clear right away that the visiting Mustangs had no chance at a win. It took Sneed all of 43 seconds to score the game’s first six points without St. Elizabeth (3-24, 1-10 BSAL) managing to get the ball into the frontcourt. Sneed scored again on a free throw, and Nateanah Fripp hit a 3-pointer for a 10-0 lead. The lead ballooned to 17-0 four minutes into the game, and Heide Spurgeon converted a steal into a layup as the last St. Mary’s starter to score for a 19-0 lead. Another Spurgeon steal and layup later, reserve Aisha McDaniel got into the act with a jumper to complete the 23-0 start. Latanzia Brooks finally scored for the Mustangs with a minute left in the quarter, and the Panthers led 28-2 at the first break. 

Lawson put his starters on the bench to start the second quarter, and the Mustangs actually outscored the St. Mary’s reserves, 5-4. But back came the starters to steamroll their way to a 15-0 run, leaving with a 47-7 lead. 

Sneed finished the game with 20 points, with Fripp adding 14. A good sign for the Panthers was the strong play of senior center Kamaiya Warren, who scored 13 points and blocked 4 shots. If Sneed is out for any period of time, Warren will have to step up her inside presence if St. Mary’s is to get through the league playoffs and into the North Coast Section mix. 

“Kamaiya has very good presence inside,” Lawson said of the 6-foot-1 all-state shot-putter. “She was a go-to player for us last year, but Shantrell’s presence has taken away some of her touches.” 

There was more excitement to come. During a scramble for a loose ball in the fourth quarter, St. Elizabeth’s Tracy Rosalio came up swinging, going so far as to bounce the ball off of a St. Mary’s player’s head with all her might. The officials ordered a double-technical, and Rosalio was done for the night. 

“Hey, I guess we needed some more excitement,” Lawson said with a grin.