Williams Jr. leads Orphans to win over Althoff
When Javon Williams Jr. graduates from Centralia High School in the spring of 2018, there may not be a happier bunch than the Althoff Crusaders.
The quarterback of an Orphans’ 21-14 win over the Crusaders on the football field in the fall, the powerful Williams again proved the difference Friday night — this time on the hardwood — leading the unbeaten Orphans to a 75-62 South Seven Conference win.
Williams, a 6-foot-2, 235-pounder who is on his way to Southern Illinois University Carbondale on a football scholarship, had a career-high 32 points to go with 13 rebounds in the victory.
“That kid needs to start lifting for football and getting ready for Carbondale,” said Althoff coach Greg Leib. “He’s a tough matchup, and when we did guard him well, he made the right choices.
“He got off some passes to his teammates who were in position to score.”
It was behind Williams’ 11 third-quarter points that Centralia turned a two-point halftime deficit into a 51-48 advantage to start the third quarter.
In that final quarter, when he scored seven more points, Williams also showed off his distribution skills as three times he drove the lane only to dish off to open teammates, who knocked in layups from the baseline.
Another time, Williams kicked the ball out for Jordan Maines, who knocked down an open 3.
The third of the baseline baskets — the first two came Maines and the final one by Johnathon Keeler — put Centralia ahead 63-56 with 2:50 to play.
A free throw from Justin Strong drew the Crusaders back within 63-57.
But Centralia scored the game’s next six points to virtually put it out of reach at 69-57 with 1:11 on the clock.
“You just do not want to get down to a team like Centralia,” said Leib. “They are all good ballhandlers, smart and well-coached.
“We did turn them over a little, but I felt we did not always capitalize on it. I thought it was a game where we continued to grow, and I liked our effort.”
Althoff came out of the locker room playing some of its best basketball of the season.
The Crusaders’ Greg Wells drained a trio of 3-pointers in the early going, and Althoff led 22-20 after a quarter, following a shot from just inside halfcourt by Burke Watts.
The Crusaders led by as many as five in the second quarter and went into the break with a 36-34 advantage.
“They played great out of the gate ... and it’s a good thing we were making shots as well,” said Centralia coach Lee Bennett, whose team improved to 7-0 and 2-0 in South Seven play. “They’ve got some long athletic kids who can make shots.
“I thought they played well, and we did not play bad.”
With the loss, Althoff dropped to 2-5 and 0-2 in the conference. The Crusaders are in action again Friday when they host Marion.
“This doesn’t feel good, it doesn’t taste good,” said Leib. “But as (longtime) Cardinals coach George Kissell always told me, ‘a hot dog always tastes better after a win.’
“No hot dogs tonight.”
Maines finished with 20 points for Centralia, which was 9 of 10 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.
Khalifah Muhammad topped Althoff with 15 points. Wells, Burke Watts and Ryan McDonald all finished with 10 points for the Crusaders.
This story was originally published December 8, 2017 at 11:20 PM with the headline "Williams Jr. leads Orphans to win over Althoff."