When his opportunity arose, LaDerrick Williams was ready.
The senior forward scored a career-high 18 points on Wednesday night to help Griffith top visiting Lighthouse 70-48.
Starting senior C.J. Hampton picked up two fouls within the first two minutes, and Williams made an immediate impact off the bench.
“I had to come in with the intensity and keep the fire going,” Williams said.
“I had to be patient and get to the basket. That was probably one of my best games for varsity.”
Williams is playing his first full season on varsity, and Panthers coach Gary Hayes has seen improvement.
“Last year he had to play a little JV because of all the depth we had, and he played sloppy on JV,” Hayes said. “I got on him last year. I told him, if you’re going to play varsity, you have to cut down that turnover ratio, and he’s done that. He has a nice shot too.”
Williams’ putback with 3:13 left in the third quarter gave the Panthers (5-0) their largest lead at 49-23. Lighthouse trailed 34-16 at halftime after it was 11-5 through one quarter.
There has been a transition for the Lions (1-4) under first-year coach Marvin Rea.
“We’re young and inexperienced,” Rea said. “The players are trying to find their roles. Everybody’s trying to do too much to impress a new coach.
“We have the pieces if we play together. We’re trying to find our team chemistry.”
Lighthouse shot 20 percent (6-for-30) in the first half, falling into a hole.
“We’re taking low-percentage shots because we’re taking everything off the dribble,” Rea said.
With the Lions not making baskets, they couldn’t set up their pressure. And when they did, the Panthers handled it effectively.
“We controlled their press pretty well,” Hayes said. “You’re going to make mistakes with high school kids, but we moved the ball well.”
Al Ervin and Jake Dye scored 12 points each for Griffith, and Hampton added nine. Hayes described Ervin as the Panthers’ go-to player, but likes his team’s balance.
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“Everybody can score on this team,” Hayes said. “That’s been a difference. All our guys can score.”
Javon Riley and Jaylon Williams had 17 points each for the Lions. But Williams scored 11 in the fourth quarter when Griffith had the game in hand.
“That was our game plan,” Hayes said. “We pick a player to match up against, and we did a nice job on him. And we did a nice job on their big guy (Riley) too.”
Griffith is ranked No. 3 in the Class 3A Associated Press state poll, continuing its recent success despite heavy graduation losses. The Panthers were the state runner-up two seasons ago and made a semistate last season.
“Everybody was asking if we were going to be any good,” Hayes said. “These guys have been winners.”
Dye hasn’t been surprised.
“Every day in practice, we all just work hard,” he said. “It’s our time to show what we can do.”.
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