Williams leads Patriots into Trib semifinals
Four straight threes by Saint Paul’s Liam Williams in the first quarter gave the Patriots a lead they would not relinquish versus the Eden Flyers Thursday in the championship quarter-finals of the 68th Annual Welland Tribune Basketball Tournament at Notre Dame.
Williams would finish with a team-high 22 points as Saint Paul recorded a 71-61 victory over the defending champion Flyers.
The 16-year-old had no idea he was going to have a hot shooting night.
“It just kind of happens. You get more and more confident as they keep falling.”
More important than Williams’ scoring Thursday was his assignment to be the primary defender on Eden’s 6-foot-9 big man Kai Schatz. Schatz netted a game-high 31 points but Williams’ first-half defence against him allowed the Patriots to build an insurmountable lead.
“There’s not much you can do. He is very good but we tried to force him out of the paint and box him out so he didn’t get rebounds. But he had a very good game. We did what we could,” the 6-foot-3 player said.
Williams was told Thursday morning by Saint Paul head coach Michael Doodeman that he would have the assignment of guarding Schatz.
“I wasn’t really ready for that,” the Pelham Panthers travel player said. “I was like ‘Oh alright. I am going to have to lock in and play the best defence I’ve played.’ I tried to frustrate him a little bit; just pressure him and get in his face.”
Doodeman felt Williams was the perfect guy to guard Schatz.
“He is very athletic, he can block the ball and he is probably our best defender.”
He knew Williams would have his hands full in the post.
“He did a very good job and you have to remember he is in Grade 11 and Kai is 12B. That is a big age gap.”
Doodeman liked everything Williams brought to the court Thursday.
“That was the best shooting game I have ever seen him have but I still think it’s his defence which makes him a very good player.”
The next big defensive challenge for Saint Paul will be guarding Governor Simcoe’s Noah Budgell in the semifinals. Budgell is averaging 30.5 points per game in the tournament.
“It will probably be Liam,” Doodeman said.
Williams was thrilled with the win.
“It was a good matchup. We worked our hardest and were able to come out on top. I’m very excited we are in the semifinals,” he said. “We just have to keep doing what we are doing, moving the ball on offence, playing good defence and doing our thing.”
Doodeman described it as a great win.
“I am very happy. It wasn’t our best game but we were very gritty and I couldn’t have asked them to play any harder.”
He had a sense going into the tournament that his squad would end up in the semifinals.
“Our guys are a little young but they are very skilled and we are getting better and better.”
It will be more of the same Friday as Saint Paul prepares for Governor Simcoe.
“It’s the same plan. Governor Simcoe is very similar to this team. They are very organized so we have to make it a team effort again.”
Eden fell behind early and were chasing the game almost from the start.
“We spotted them an 18- to 20-point lead and won the game after that but that deficit was just too big for us today,” Eden head coach Jonathan Thorpe said.
The loss ended the Flyers’ one-year reign as champions of the Tribune tournament.
“Obviously we knew it would be tough to repeat given the changeover but the guys played hard and gave everything they had,” he said. “There was nothing to be ashamed of.”
Thorpe likes, for the most part, how his team is rounding into form this season.
“We are still up and down a little more than I would like but we are definitely trending in the right direction. As happened tonight, we had some lulls in there but as well we played some really nice looking basketball. We just need to make those stretches a little more consistent.”
Doodeman knew the start was crucial to his team’s success.
“The start was big because they came alive in the second half. Marking their big guy is a big job and they came alive in the second half.”
STATS PACK
Patriots 71 Flyers 61
Policella Homes Players of the Game: Saint Paul’s Liam Williams and Eden’s Kai Schatz.
For the Saint Paul Patriots: Liam Williams 22; Eric Kaufmann 20; Mark Cruz 13; Isaac Jordan 11; Patrick Magazzini 5.
For the Eden Flyers: Kai Schatz 31; Dominic Olesin 15; Josh Sanecki 10; Francesco Forte 2; Noah Whyte 2; Josh Johnson 1.
Tournament gate: Admission for Friday’s and Saturday’s games is $5 for adults and $3 for students, cash only.
