As a freshman last season, West Aurora point guard Syncere Williams gained some experience on varsity, but she realized her role needed to expand this winter.
The Blackhawks graduated nine seniors and have only eight varsity players on the roster, but their hope for success hinges on players like Williams taking the next step in their development.
“She’s just grown and matured so much, both on and off the court,” West Aurora coach Teresa Waldinger said. “She’s really taken that leadership role. We’re really impressed by her patience, her calm.”
That progress showed Monday night during a tie game in the fourth quarter against Oswego as Williams calmly led the comeback for a 45-35 win in the West Aurora Thanksgiving Tournament.
Williams, who did not score in the first quarter, picked up seven points in the fourth and deftly led the offense with 16 points, six rebounds and three steals for West Aurora (1-1). Shiane Johnson added 10 points and Brooklynn Johnson chipped in with nine.
Kendall Grant led Oswego (2-1) with 16 points, nine of which came in the first quarter.
The Blackhawks outscored the Panthers 11-2 in the fourth to pull away, with Williams at the helm.
“I just tell myself to stay calm,” Williams said. “I just try my best to tell everybody to stay calm, to just run what you know. Don’t really put yourself in a position that you don’t know.
“Just play your game, not let them speed you up.”
Williams also acknowledged she’s ready to lead the show for West Aurora.
“Yeah, I like it,” Williams said. “When you can calm yourself, you can really calm everybody else. When people see that you’re calm, they like to feed off of that.”
Waldinger saw the transformation starting over the summer, so she trusted Williams to lead a team with a short bench this season.
“She did really well in our opening game last week and really set the tone for who she is and what she can accomplish this season,” Waldinger said. “This summer, I saw it. Fall ball, I saw it.
“She was just very focused, really stepping up and coming into her own and taking those roles that we needed her to without telling her to, which, kudos to her.”
Grant was dominant early for Oswego, but West Aurora made the adjustment on her despite a size disadvantage.
“Second half, they just keyed on her,” Oswego coach Dave Lay said. “They had to take her out of the game, and they did a pretty good job of that. We think we’re more versatile than just her, so we were fine with it. We said, ‘All right, Kendall has to be more of a passer this half.’
“We just weren’t knocking down shots. It was one of those nights.”
Williams saw time on varsity as a freshman, and in those moments, she realized what she could potentially accomplish. That helped her get down to business.
“I started putting in work,” Williams said. “I went to the gym. I started watching a lot more basketball and just listening to my dad and my grandpa.”
West Aurora is going to have to rely on their starters a lot this season, but Waldinger thinks the Blackhawks are up for it.
“They’re really able to stand the test of time in there the whole game,” Waldinger said. “In practice, they do the same thing. Just dominate play after play and build off of that. There’s not really an option. You have to play the whole game — figure it out. And they have.”
Williams believes the Blackhawks are built for it.
“Not having a bench is hard, but it’s also like you see our conditioning,” Williams said. “I would say we take pride in our short bench, especially when we win.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
