On Women's Basketball

Law watches as Bone's career ends

Posted by: Tony Bleill

Saturday, February 28, 2009 1:48 AM

Playing in front of 6,300 fans -- including Illinois coach Jolette Law -- prospective Illini Kelsey Bone and her Dulles High team lost to Nimitz 76-59 Friday in the Class 5A Texas playoffs.

The showdown between the nation's top two high school seniors -- the 6-foot-4 Bone and the 6-8 Brittney Griner -- lived up to its billing. Griner had 27 points, seven rebounds and eight blocks before fouling out with 3:46 left in the third quarter. Bone had 26 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks in her final high school game. (Watch highlights here.)

The pair aren't through with each other just yet. They'll square off in a pair of exhibition games in April, including the McDonald's All-American Game in Miami.

Many women's basketball insiders view Bone, who is undecided, and Griner, a Baylor recruit, as the future of women's basketball, especially as it pertains to post play. Bone is a strong-bodied, Courtney Paris-type post who has good skills. Griner, who reportedly didn't take up the sport until age 14, is less refined, using her long frame as her biggest asset. 

Two recruiting services rank Griner No. 1, while the other, Blue Star Basketball, has Bone No. 1. Blue Star owner Mike Flynn gives Bone the nod because of the player she is right now, calling Bone the best player in America.

Griner? "Brittney Griner has the potential to be the most awe-inspiring professional female player ever," Flynn said. "Ever."

"Kelsey Bone is the No. 2 player behind Griner because there's nobody like Griner," said Bret McCormick, whose All-Star Girls Report has Griner at the top. "Forget who Candace Parker is. This kid's changing the game."

What seems to grab people's attention -- and leads to Griner getting the nod over Bone when it comes to honors -- is Griner's ability to dunk, doing so freely and easily that it is unique in the history of the women's game. 

"The dunk is the power statement of the men's game," Flynn said. "Brittney Griner dunks the ball with man-like ease. That's why it's easy for people to go ga-ga now."

Flynn, however, said comparisons between the two players, especially in the future, are flawed because they're such different players. He compared Bone to Oklahoma powerhouse Courtney Paris and Shaquille O'Neal. He compared Griner's future potential to Kevin Garnett.

Still, Flynn conceded that Griner's ceiling is uncommon.

"We're looking at a player that is beyond the scope of what the girls' game has ever produced," Flynn said.

--UI recruit Adrienne GodBold had 24 points and 12 rebounds to lead Chicago Marshall, the defending Class 3A state champion, to a 53-40 victory against top-seeded Trinity on Thursday in a sectional final.

GodBold and the Commandos will face Lombard Montini in the Chicago Loyola Super-sectional on Monday for a spot in the state finals next weekend at Redbird Arena.

 

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