Williams, SJB up 'D' intensity to top Woodson
St. John the Baptist's Anastasia Williams gets under the boards against H.D. Woodson at the Bronx JFK Tournament. (Jan. 30, 2011) Credit: Patrick E. McCarthy
St. John the Baptist had no answer for Jephany Brown through the first three quarters Sunday. The H.D. Woodson junior scored 23 points, including 13 in the third quarter.
Anastasia Williams helped make sure that number didn't increase. Williams was mainly responsible for guarding Brown and received some help at times. Williams' defensive effort along with her teammates was the difference as St. John the Baptist limited H.D. Woodson (D.C.) to two points in the final quarter of a 45-37 win in the PSAL/John F. Kennedy Challenge in the Bronx.
Williams had 11 points, 13 rebounds and four steals, Kamala Thomson had 14 points and six rebounds and Alexis Smith nine points, six rebounds and five assists for SJB (11-4).
"We had to get the intensity up," Williams said. "[Brown] was a great player. I had to body her up and box out."
Williams has been a consistent double-double threat all season for the Cougars.
"She was real active defensively," SJB coach Ted Oberg said. "We were happy with what she did in the post. We always knew she had the talent, but it seems like she's really coming into her own now."
The Cougars hope the same could be said of their offense, which has struggled at times. They trailed 35-32 entering the fourth quarter. Williams sparked a 13-2 fourth quarter with a putback. Janae Blount followed with a basket for Woodson before the Cougars closed the game on an 11-0 run.
Thompson hit a three-pointer off a pass from Smith with 5:41 left to give the Cougars a 39-37 lead. Thompson knocked down another jumper off a feed from Smith and Smith nailed a pull-up jumper in transition to extend the lead to 43-37 with 4:10 left.
"We're passing the ball a lot more," Thompson said. "With more passes, we get open shots and when we keep that up, we're unstoppable."
The win could have been easier if the Cougars had hit their free throws. They went 2-for-7 in the final four minutes and 9-for-26 for the game. SJB has won six of the last seven CHSAA titles mainly on shutting teams down. That defense is beginning to surface and if the Cougars can knock down shots consistently, they could add to that run.
"Our season has been up and down," Thompson said, "but we're getting where we need to be and we're going to keep building on that."
Smith agreed.
"This should be a turning point in our season," she said.
