EDWARDSVILLE – Metro-East Lutheran senior guard Jason Williams, Jr. had a fabulous game in the quarterfinals of the Knights’ 38th Turkey Tip-Off tournament, leading the way with 20 points in Metro-East’s 58-23 win over Gillespie at Hooks Gymnasium Wednesday night.
And it was a tough and tenacious defense that helped create much of the offense and held Knight opposition to 23 points for the second straight game of the tournament and season. It’s a point of emphasis for the team this season, and also something Williams takes a lot of pride in.
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“Well, for a couple of us on the team, defense is the most favorite thing we like to do when we play basketball,” Williams said during a postgame interview, “so we pride that, so our offense will work even more. We got a lot of fast-break layups and a lot of open layups because we just moved our feet. We work on a lot of defensive drills during practice, and coach (Anthony Smith) makes us work and work until our legs literally start burning.”
The Knights had an exceptional first half, where they went on a 10-0 run late in the opening quarter and never looked back, outscoring the Miners 30-8 after the game was tied 9-9 about five minutes in. Williams is starting to feel comfortable in his role on the team, and letting things happen.
“Yes, sir, I’m feeling pretty comfortable,” Williams said, “not forcing anything, like coach told me, but he said ‘let the game come to you, and you’ll be alright.’”
The Knights have played well in their opening two games, and Williams feels there’s a difference from last season to this thus far.
“Working together, talking more on defense,” Williams said. “Like, last year like I said before, we had big heads, thinking we’ll go into every game and beat everyone. But that’s not how it worked out. You’ve got to actually work at it, and play as a team.”
The Knights advanced to the semifinals on Friday night, where they’ll go against a familiar foe in Litchfield. Metro-East has played in the Purple Panthers’ tournament in the past, and the Knights will be focusing on a key Litchfield player.
“We’ve heard a lot about Sammy (Painter); we watched him play,” Williams said. “He’s very aggressive, gets past his defenders easily, he had a nice mid-range shot. So all we’ve got to do is make him shoot and not let him get to the basket, and we’ll be fine.”
Williams agreed that the Purple Panthers will be a very good test for his team.
“Yes, sir, it will,” Williams said. “I’m hoping we can beat them and advance to the last game.”
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