A very short list of players in Anne Arundel County can take over a game all on their own. Meade's Angie Creek certainly qualifies.

The All-Metro senior guard scored 14 of her game-high 22 points in a take-charge second quarter that helped send the No. 7-ranked Mustangs to the Class 4A, East Region semifinals with a 56-43 win at No. 16 Severna Park last night.

The Mustangs (20-4) will take on No. 9 Arundel at 7 p.m. tomorrow in a rematch of the county championship game and last year's region final -- both won by the Wildcats.

No player in the county is quicker to the basket or more electrifying than Creek. After Severna Park (17-7) took an 11-8 lead after one period, the rest of the first half belonged to her.

Steals up top were converted into easy layups at the other end and Creek also often came out of the pack underneath with big defensive rebounds. Then she was on her way and Severna Park didn't have a player on the floor who could keep up.

"When I get going, it's like I can't stop," said Creek. "In the second quarter, we took care of the ball and played good defense. The game was going back and forth earlier and it was time for me to step it up."

Help came for Creek in the third quarter. Three different Mustangs hit three-pointers and the defense forced 12 turnovers as the Falcons didn't get their first field goal until there was seven seconds left in the quarter.

Creek once again had the final say, scoring on a runner at the buzzer to give the Mustangs a 39-26 lead going into the fourth.

"We kind of masked our trap [in the third quarter], made it look like a zone when we were actually playing man-to-man. We played much better defense in the second half," said Meade coach Phil Popielski. "And we've been waiting for some others to step up and help out -- we got that."

Severna Park coach Bill Giblin, who returns most of his foundation next season, said Meade's team speed was the difference, particularly Creek's.

"They're faster and quicker than us," he said. "They took the wind out of our sails in the second half and it's tough when you have to compete with that. We just lost our legs out there. Angie is lightning fast. When she wanted to take the ball to the basket, she did."

Next up for the Mustangs is Arundel. Last week, the Wildcats turned a 19-point regular-season loss into a 75-67 win at Meade for the county championship.

The scenario was the same last year when Meade won the regular-season game, only to lose in the county championship and region final.

Popielski is hoping for a better result this time around.

"It will come down to rebounding, defense and who makes their foul shots," said Popielski.

Pub Date: 3/03/99