- Williston girls basketball team defeated Wildwood 61-52 to win the Rural-Region 4 title and reach the state semifinals for the first time.
- Senior Ashlyn Young scored 20 points with four 3-pointers, including 19 points in the first half, leading Williston's early scoring surge.
- Williston overcame a tough second half with strong free-throw shooting by freshman Janiyah Span to hold off Wildwood's late comeback.
- Williston's coach Willie Powers II, hired in 2024, led the team to the semifinals in just two years after past successes with P.K. Yonge.
A year ago, the road to the FHSAA state semifinals for the Williston girls basketball team was blocked by Wildwood.
On Friday night, the Red Devils officially removed that Wildwood (15-6) roadblock and Williston now heads to the final four for the first time in program history.
Senior Ashlyn Young scored 19 of her 20 points in the first half, including four 3-pointers, and host Williston (20-2) built as much as a 20-point lead before holding off the defending state champion Wildcats 61-52 to win the Rural-Region 4 title.
“It’s a great feeling,” Williston coach Willie Powers II said. “My team came out and played hard and I thought we were in control of the whole game, and that was important to me.”
On the way to an undefeated season and state title in 2025, Wildwood defeated Williston in the district championship game and regional final. So it’s especially sweet that Williston flipped the script by beating Wildwood, 72-62, in Rural-District 7 final two weeks ago, and followed up with a region final where the Red Devils only trailed Wildwood once, and that was at 2-1.
Williston grabbed a 19-12 lead at the end of the first quarter before exploding in the second quarter.
The Red Devils used some hot shooting to take a big lead in the first half as Young knocked down three 3-pointers in a row and junior Delecia Dallas also hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the second quarter. Williston made eight treys in the first half, helping the Red Devils to a 42-24 halftime lead.
The second half was a little more of a struggle for the Red Devils (20-2). In fact, they managed only one field goal, a 3-pointer by sophomore Kaelynn Brown, in the third quarter. but they still led 52-35 going into the final period.
Wildwood made a run in the fourth quarter, as sophomore Zoey Brown scored nine of her game-high 25 points, but the closest they got was seven points. Williston freshman Janiyah Span made 7-of-10 free throws down the stretch to keep the Red Devils in front.
“They (Wildwood) are scrappy,” Powers said. “Zoey Brown is dynamic and hard to defend. Hats off to my girls for doing what it took to get to the final four.”
Williston awaits their opponent and game time for the state semifinals, which will be next Tuesday at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.
For Powers, who led P.K. Yonge to eight final fours and two state titles in over 20 years with the Blue Wave, it’s exciting to have Williston at this level in only two years.
“I felt like I was an old horse thrown out to pasture,” Powers said, who was hired by Williston in 2024. “I was brought here and felt rejuvenated, and now I’m running the quarter mile. Sometimes you want to be wanted and not tolerated, and I felt wanted here and it means a lot.”
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Friday, Feb. 20
Area teams in bold.
Semifinals
Class 3A-Region 1
2 Newberry 78, 3 South Walton (Santa Rosa Beach) 54
Finals
Rural-Region 3
1 Hilliard 56, 2 Fort White 37
