GASTON Ronny Williams, Tournament Edition made his annual appearance for Liberty Christian Tuesday Night at Wes-Dels Richard E. Johnson Gymnasium. <\/p>\n
Williams, who was sensational in the Lions run to the state title last season averaging 17.7 points in Liberty Christians seven postseason games was electric once again in their 2016-17 sectional opener Tuesday against Southern Wells, nearly earning a triple-double in the Lions 73-45 romp over the Raiders. <\/p>\n
He really controlled the game, Liberty Christian head coach Jason Chappell said of Williams, who had 19 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, while also adding a game-high-tying four steals, on Tuesday night. He was very poised, just throughout the whole game it wasnt just down the stretch it was throughout the whole game. <\/p>\n
Williams actually came into the game nursing a sore ankle, which had mostly kept him out of practices since the Lions regular-season finale against Indianapolis Manual on Feb. 21, but he appeared fresh and ready to go from the start on Tuesday against Southern Wells (12-11), helping lead a pressure-filled defensive charge that forced eight first-quarter turnovers. <\/p>\n
By the end of the first period, Williams had 10 points and the Lions were already out to a 14-7 lead. That would become a 30-19 lead by halftime, and ballooned to 48-26 by the end of the third quarter. <\/p>\n
In all, the Raiders turned the ball over 19 times on Tuesday, compared to just 11 turnovers for the Lions, who had 17 assists on the night, as well as 13 offensive rebounds. <\/p>\n
Not helping matters for Southern Wells was its 8.3-percent shooting clip from 3-point range; in fact, the Raiders missed their first 11 attempts from deep before finally connecting on their first and only 3-pointer with 43 seconds left in the fourth quarter. <\/p>\n
Chappell said he was proud of the way his team rallied without the full services of usual starter Joshua Tufts, who has been battling flu-like symptoms and came off the bench to score four points and grab four rebounds in 16 minutes and 41 seconds of action on Tuesday. <\/p>\n
\"A lot of people dont know this: Josh Tufts has been sick as a dog,\" Chappell said. \"He wasnt even going to play tonight, but we let him play in spurts.\" <\/p>\n
Without normal contributions from Tufts the teams second-leading scorer and rebounder throughout the season the Lions saw major contributions from junior Dallas Burko, who scored 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field, while he also grabbed five rebounds and collected two steals. <\/p>\n
Burko also drew two first-half charges on the defensive end, which, Chappell said, really got him going. <\/p>\n
You look at him, and just throughout the course of the year, hes really turning into a player from a role player into a player, Chappell said of Burko. And Im really, really proud of him. His enthusiasm is always great; hes always really passionate about everything. He played a great game. <\/p>\n
Sophomore Trey Davis also added 10 points for Liberty Christian. <\/p>\n
Junior Jordan Bower had 18 points and six rebounds for the Raiders, while senior Elijah Barkell had 15 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals. <\/p>\n
Liberty Christian advances to Friday nights sectional semifinal matchup against Cowan (7-14). That game will follow Wes-Del\/Daleville semifinal matchup, which tips off at 6 p.m. <\/p>\n
Theyve got some shooters, Chappell said of the Blackhawks, who drew a first-round bye. Theyre young, but theyre going to be a very tough team to play in sectionals on a Friday night. The thing Im glad about is weve got a game under our belt, so thats always a good thing. <\/p>\n
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Williams' near-triple-double leads Liberty Christian past Southern Wells - The Herald Bulletin<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" GASTON Ronny Williams, Tournament Edition made his annual appearance for Liberty Christian Tuesday Night at Wes-Dels Richard E. Johnson Gymnasium Continue reading