As time wound down Saturday afternoon with Centennial’s girls basketball team clinging to a three-point lead, it was sophomore Nation Williams who secured a loose ball in the lane to seal a victory.
It was fitting because Williams did most of the heavy lifting all day for the Bulldogs.
Williams scored all but five of the team’s points in the second half, finishing with 29 points, 16 rebounds, four assists, five steals and two blocked shots to lead Centennial, No. 1 in the Review-Journal’s Class 5A rankings, to a 59-56 road win over No. 2 Democracy Prep.
“For Nation to be as young as she is — she’s only a sophomore — to come out and dominate the way she does,” Centennial coach Karen Weitz said. “But you know, it’s in her backbone. It’s from her mom. She gets it from her mom, too, being a pro player and a Hall of Famer.”
Nation and older sister Ayla certainly displayed some of the toughness and skill they learned from mother Natalie Williams, the former Aces general manager and member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
Ayla Williams added six points and 11 rebounds for Centennial (18-2, 11-0 5A Southern League), which dominated on the glass, outrebounding the Blue Knights 55-24.
But it was younger sister Nation who led the Bulldogs on a second-half comeback. Democracy Prep (18-3, 9-1) forced 19 first-half turnovers and led the Bulldogs 36-29 at the break.
But Nation Williams made sure the lead didn’t last long, scoring 10 points in just over five minutes to start the second half. Her drive with 2:55 to go in the third quarter gave the Bulldogs their first lead since the first quarter. And after Democracy Prep retook the lead, Nation Williams drilled a 3-pointer from the right corner to make it 42-40 with 1:27 to go in the third quarter, and Centennial wouldn’t trail again.
“I feel like our composure, we stuck together, we didn’t let the crowd get to us, and we just stayed the Bulldogs,” Nation Williams said. “We kept doing us.”
The Blue Knights used their fierce ball pressure to force those 19 first-half turnovers, and they turned them into 14 points to help take the lead. Sophomore guard Aryana Edwards hit a 3-pointer from left corner with 2:17 to go in the half to give Democracy Prep a 30-27 lead, and the Blue Knights finished the half on a 9-2 run.
But it was too much of the Williams sisters in the second half, as they combined for 16 second-half rebounds and often found themselves bringing the ball down the court against pressure.
Nation Williams was 11-for-15 from the field in the second half.
“The Williams sisters are definitely our two most mature (players) and the kids that we’ve had in the program the longest,” Weitz said. “So they played with the most confidence, for sure.
“They’re bred differently. I call them old school kids. They knit and they grit and they ball and they don’t let much affect them.”
Junior Inieye Oruh added seven points and eight rebounds for Centennial.
La’Niah Hicks and Ella Smith each scored 12 to lead Democracy Prep. Edwards added 10 points for the Blue Knights, who defeated Centennial 50-46 last season.
“It feels amazing,” Nation Williams said. “They beat us at our home last year, so we had to get that get back, and I’m just so proud of how our team and how we’re progressing.”
