THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 7, 1996 TAG: 9602070539
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY REA FARMER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long : 104 lines
How I spent my summer vacation, as told by Shannon Drury:
Lifting weights almost daily. Watching game tapes repeatedly. Logging countless hours in gym. Going to AAU nationals. Adjusting on-court attitude.
Drury, a 5-foot-11 senior point guard for Cox High School, concentrated on beefing up her skills and mental and physical self last summer. The hours of lifting have paid off handsomely. She can now bench-press her body weight - 125 pounds.
When Drury takes the court, opponents notice. With her well-defined biceps, slightly bulging calves and thighs of steel, Drury is an example of the new generation of female athletes.
Mentally, Drury is focused on constantly improving and staying in top physical condition for her upcoming playing days at the University of Miami. Over the summer, she evaluated not just her playing style, but also her on-court reactions. She was surprised by what she found.
``Last year I was a little up and down, I guess you could say,'' Drury said. ``I've grown up. I don't pout as much if I make mistakes. That's what hurt me in the past. I'd get down on myself and you couldn't count on me for the next two or three minutes. Now I just shake it off.''
Drury's honest assessment of her situation and willingness to change improved her game drastically.
``I thought, `OK, I want to play; I just have to shake it off.' And then I started playing a lot better,'' she said. ``I'm playing better for the team and myself.''
Cox coach Claire Le Blanc can speak to just how much Drury has improved.
``There are a couple of key differences with Shannon this season,'' she said. ``She is shooting much better, as opposed to just putting the ball up. Her shot selection is much better. Her game as a whole is much more under control. She's making better decisions.''
One of those decisions was to sign early with Miami. Her stellar play in camps and at Cox, plus her AAU exposure, led to an early offer. She plans to major in sports psychology and eventually coach basketball.
``I wanted to get it out of the way and have a fun senior year,'' said Drury, who also considered Villanova before making her decision.
Le Blanc thinks Drury made a wise choice.
``Shannon's role in college will be twofold,'' she said. ``Offensively, she will feed other players and shoot the 3-point shot. Defensively, she'll be used as an intercepter. Miami plays an aggressive, player-to-player defense. She's working on that, being physically fit to play both ends of the court.''
With the college decision out of the way, Drury has settled into the best season of her career.
She averages a South Hampton Roads area-leading 22.2 points per game, up from 15.4 a year ago. She is shooting 43 percent from the floor, 40 percent from 3-point range and 84 percent from the foul line. Earlier this season, she hit the 1,000-point mark.
Drury's scoring figures create the perception of a one-woman show. But throw in the seven-plus assists a game she averages and the perception shifts.
``Shannon holds the team together,'' teammate Katie Kubic said. ``Out there, she'll take things under control and get us out of a jam. She always keeps the ball moving.''
``We rely a lot on Shannon,'' Katherine Dunford added. ``I look up to her, she's a really good player and she feeds the ball well.''
Too well. Drury's no-look passes often catch her teammates unaware and scorch into a defender's hands.
``I pass the ball a lot and my teammates aren't ready for it,'' Drury said. ``It's either a turnover or I'll pass it and they'll take a shot and miss it, so my passing doesn't show up in the statistics. But I do pass.''
Her teammates are beginning to look for an unexpected pass and to feed off Drury. She is already preparing Cox to succeed without her next season.
``There are a lot of people who think that Cox is simply Shannon Drury,'' Le Blanc said. ``That's not true. She's certainly our best player and biggest offensive weapon, but she has made the other kids better.''
While she has grown into her starring role, Drury has not grown accustomed to playing for a struggling team. The Falcons are 5-10, 4-7 in the Beach District. In her high school career, Drury has never been on a winning basketball team. ``I know what it's like to win,'' said Drury, who has played in a national AAU tournament, ``but I hate getting used to losing. It's really tough. There's not much you can do. We all try our hardest, but you're like, `Uh-oh, another game. Oh no, it's Kempsville!' ''
Kempsville and other district powerhouses have challenged Drury's new calmness on the court. As the centerpiece of the Falcons' offense, she is the player most often double-teamed.
Kempsville coach Greg Dunn and Salem coach Larry Bowman said they put their most tenacious defenders on Drury.
``We play help-defense on her,'' Dunn said. ``The whole team is aware where Shannon is. We're geared on stopping her. She still scores, but we try to make her work a little harder for it.''
Unfortunately for Kempsville and other opponents, hard work is Drury's favorite pastime. Aside from practice, she still lifts weights as often as possible. Then there are all those game tapes to review.
``She is probably the most committed athlete to basketball that I've ever coached,'' Le Blanc said. ``We struggled through last season, and that was really hard for her. But she looked ahead and we have seen definite improvement. She watches the tapes, and that has helped her stay positive.''
And have a positively spectacular season. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
VICKI CRONIS/The Virginian-Pilot
Shannon Drury, right, guards Bayside's Dawn Bell. Her play this year
includes tenacious defense, pinpoint passes and 22.2 points a game.
by CNB