Williams’ three lifts Windsor to CCC title
WEST HARTFORD – The 3-pointer was one of those shots Anthony Williams dreamed about last year around this time when he was rehabilitating his broken left leg, injured when he went to dunk the ball during a pep rally at school and slipped.
There were two seconds left on the shot clock, 15 seconds left in the game, the CCC tournament championship. Windsor was leading by a point against East Catholic, the defending CCC champion. Senior Caiden James inbounded the ball to Williams, who had an East Catholic defender in his face, and let it fly.
“I had faith,” James said. “I had faith. I was hoping it would go in as soon as it left his hands. I was hoping.”
The ball bounced off the front of the rim, then off the glass, and finally, in.
“Big time,” Windsor coach Ken Smith said. “It was a Hail Mary. He had two seconds to get it off. We drew it up, come off a zipper cut and he caught it, turned and let it go, went out, went in, came out, went back in.
“Man, that was a great shot.”
Williams, a 6-foot-6 senior guard, scored 28 points to lead secondseeded Windsor to a 63-61 win over No. 1 East Catholic at the University of Hartford on Thursday night.
Windsor last won the title in 2019.
The Warriors had already beaten East Catholic, the three-time Division I champion, on Feb. 16, 74-70. They knew it would be hard to do it again.
“I had a lot of dreams about game-winners and stuff like that,” said Williams, who broke his leg last Feb. 17 and missed the rest of the season. “This means a lot to me. To beat East Catholic for the second time, that means a lot. It’s hard to beat a good team twice and that’s what we came out and did today.”
Senior Samson Reilly led East Catholic (21-3) with 31 points despite spraining his right ankle while shooting a 3-pointer with 2:24 left in the first half. He left the game and got the ankle taped, then returned shortly after and hit two free throws to tie the score at 28. East Catholic led at halftime, 33-28 after a 3-pointer by Yayo Rodriguez, who had 14 points.
“Sam got hurt and Braydon Jones had four fouls two minutes into the third quarter,” East Catholic coach Luke Reilly said. “Somebody got under Sam on a 3 and he sprained his ankle and that was the game.
“They played hard. We played hard. It was a one-possession game. We needed the ball to bounce our way, or to get a call. They needed the ball to bounce their way or get a call. And the ball didn’t bounce our way. We didn’t get a call. The ball did bounce their way and they made a tough shot with two seconds on the shot clock. They made a play that won the game for them.”
James had the assignment of guarding Samson Reilly, who scored 18 points in the first half.
“It takes a lot to guard him,” James said. “We had to keep switching off him; he’s a really talented player. In the end, we just had to do what we do best and play defense and we came out on top, thankfully.
“I’m still trying to reel it in. This is my last year. I’m happy we got one.”
Windsor led 44-41 heading into the fourth quarter. Rodriguez scored six straight baskets for East Catholic, and the Eagles trailed 58-54 with about two minutes left. Gyan Davis had a putback for Windsor with 1:30 left then Reilly hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 60-57.
With 49 seconds left, Reilly shot what appeared to be a 3-pointer that missed and a foul was called but he was given only two free throws. He made both to cut the lead to 60-59.
Windsor had the ball but lost it out of bounds with two seconds left on the shot clock, setting up Williams’ big shot. The Warriors led 63-59 and Jones had a putback at the buzzer for the final score.
“I really work on that shot from the wing,” Williams said. “I work on my 3-point game. Coach believes in me, taking that shot. I believed in myself. I was a little nervous. Once I saw it go in, my emotions really rolled. It was really big.”