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Standout Williams helps Fairborn win season opener

Standout guard scores 23 points as Fairborn wins season opener.

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By John Cummings, Contributing Writer Updated 12:25 AM Saturday, December 3, 2011

FAIRBORN — Fairborn standout guard Kendrick Williams is a hard man to please.

The 5-foot-11 senior isn’t happy if he’s not perfect.

“I missed so many easy shots — it’s frustrating,” Williams said after dropping 23 points on West Carrollton in a 58-54 season-opening win. “I had some defensive lapses that can’t happen. I didn’t have a perfect game. Until I do that, I won’t be satisfied.”

It was the shots that weren’t easy that Williams had no problems with.

Trailing 50-47 with 1:55 left, Williams drained a 3-pointer from well beyond the arc with two Pirates on him to tie the game. After the press forced a turnover, Williams hit another 3-pointer to give the Skyhawks a 53-50 lead 15 seconds later.

“I thought we had too many turnovers,” Pirates coach Dan Gerhard said after his squad committed 17, including eight in the fourth quarter. “I thought our effort was very, very good and I thought we played hard and played together as a team, but when Kendrick comes off a pick, we have to step up and get on him defensively.”

The teams were tied 10 times with 12 lead changes, Fairborn built three six-point leads, but each time the Pirates had an answer.

“West Carrollton is good competition,” Fairborn coach Nathan Chivington said. “We couldn’t get that big push because they kept fighting and scrapping back. I think they will continue to play strong in the GWOC.”

The Skyhawks held West Carrollton standout Conner Myslowski to 13 points on 5-of-14 shooting, but 6-5 junior Drew Layton kept the Pirates in it with 16 points and 14 rebounds.

“He played big for them,” Chivington said of Layton. “We know we have to work harder and get better on the boards, but Billy Jackson did a nice job rebounding, Kendrick had a nice night scoring and our guards up top made it difficult for them to do what they wanted to do.”

Jackson finished the night with nine points and 11 rebounds for the Skyhawks. Denzel Harrington, making his varsity debut, added nine points and six boards for Fairborn.

“Denzel played JV last year, but he put in the work in the summer,” Williams said. “He was a great spark for us tonight. He busted his butt this summer.”

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