With the Hun School boys’ basketball team trailing St. Benedict’s 7-0 midway through the first quarter last Wednesday, Eric Williams decided to take matters into his hands.
“I knew it was going to be a big game and I knew my team was going to need me to knock down big shots,” said Hun senior guard Williams.
“So when I saw we got down seven in the first quarter then I just said hey I have got to make something happen.”
Williams did just that, draining a long three-pointer from the corner and getting fouled in the process and turning it into a four-point play after making the free throw.
“As soon as I let it go, it felt good, that is when I just knew,” said Williams, recalling the shot.
Catching fire, Williams proceeded to hit four more threes in the first half to tally 16 points and keep the Raiders in the game as they trailed 42-29 at intermission.
“It has got to go in,” said Williams, reflecting on his hot shooting. “I believe it is going to go in, my team believes it is going to go in and I think at some point even the fans believe it is going to go in.”
After the break, Hun out scored the Gray Bees 20-15 in the third quarter to narrow the gap to 57-49 heading into the final eight minutes of regulation. The Raiders closed to within 58-52 early in the fourth but could get no closer as St. Benedict’s pulled away to a 73-59 victory.
“I thought we were going to come back and take the lead and try to sustain it,” said Williams. “I guess at some point, transition defense played a big role so then we didn’t get back on defense and they just outran us. It is not that they played tougher or harder than us, they just outran us.”
Despite the setback, Williams saw progress as Hun battled to the final whistle.
“We started communicating more as a team,” said Williams. “We made sure we got back on defense, the total opposite of what we did in the first half. It is a big turnaround from the past three games we played. This is, by far, one of the toughest teams we have played but there is no doubt in my mind that we can beat them.”
Over the last four years, Williams has worked on turning himself into a more complete player.
“I came in as a freshman and all I wanted to do was shoot,” said the 6’1, 190-pound Williams.
“Then after playing with a few guys like Myles Melville, Fergus Duke, and Hashim Moore, they showed me that it is easy to defend somebody who is just looking to shoot so you have to learn how to move around. I started watching tape on Ray Allen and Reggie Miller and I saw how they were constantly moving. That is what I tried to get into my game and by me moving, it gets other people moving.”
Hun head coach Jon Stone liked the way his team got back in the game against St. Benedict’s after falling behind early.
“I was proud of them, some of the things we talked about improving on from the first half to the second half we did,” said Stone.
“The downside is that we can’t afford to make the mistakes we were making in the second half but we were only down six with about five minutes to go. We also had three or four good shots in that stretch that just didn’t go. A couple of those drop and things are a little different.”
Stone is proud of how Williams has developed over his time at Hun. “He has taken his game to the next level; he is a great kid, a great leader, and a great player,” asserted Stone.
“I just think that in every facet he has stepped up. I think he has really taken his leadership role seriously. He is really growing in terms in his ability to take charge and his ability to compete. He knows that it is his senior year and it is his time.”
Hun had other players step up in the loss to St. Benedict’s as senior Kyle Borden chipped in 14 points with junior Austin Harriott and senior Dominic Robb adding 10 apiece and junior Niall Carpenter contributing seven points off the bench.
“Niall and Robb were really good; they have the ability to really help this team,” said Stone, whose team went 1-2 at the Peddie School Invitational Tournament last weekend, taking fourth place at the annual event.
“When Borden catches fire and gets his feet set, he is really, really good. There is no question that he can get us going. I think Austin Harriott getting in foul trouble in the first half really hurt us; it helped getting him back in and giving us a little push.”
With the Raiders off to a 3-4 start, Stone believes the team is going in the right direction.
“We just have to grow from it, every game that we play,” said Stone, who will be looking for more growth as his squad faces Trenton Catholic on December 20 in the Boys Club and Girls Club of Trenton event and then plays Linden High in the Tip Off Classic on December 21.
“We have to take the good and the bad and move on. It is always a work in progress. I do think that in the first four games we have improved. The goal is you improve after every single game and I think we have. So if we can keep improving, I think we are going to be alright. I think we just need more consistency in a lot of different things at both ends of the floor. There are some mental things on the offensive end and some more physical, more aggressive things on the defensive end.”
Williams, for his part, is hoping to end his Hun career by helping the program do some big things.
“My biggest thing this year is I want to win by any means necessary,” said Williams.
“I am trying to make Hun even more known than it already is. I want to win the MAPL (Mid-Atlantic Prep League) tournament again. We won it my sophomore year and I want it again going out. I also want to win states.”