Mike Ridaught
On Tuesday night the Williston boys’ basketball team scored 39 points in the opening quarter of its Class 1A-Region 4 Final.
Visiting Trenton scored 37 points the entire game.
Enough said.
Five players scored in double figures for the top-seed Red Devils, who built a 39-11 lead at the end of the first quarter and eased past the No. 3 seed Tigers (14-12), 95-37, to advance to their second straight final four appearance.
“We knew what we needed to do tonight, come out early and play hard,” said Williston coach Jim Ervin. “Our kids were just ready tonight. A lot of people doubt us every year at Williston for some reason. We had to prove a point once again. Our goal has been to get back to Lakeland. Winning the district, winning the region was outstanding, but that’s not the end goal for us.”
Williston (27-2) jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead before Nate Ridgell (eight points) drained a 3-pointer in the right corner to put the Tigers on the board.
However, a dunk by sophomore Deandre Harvey, a layup by senior Javon Brown, and a left-wing 3-pointer by Reggie White quickly gave the Red Devils their first double-digit lead, 14-3, with 5:22 to play in the first quarter.
White, who scored all 16 of his points in the first quarter, had four 3-pointers, including a right-wing 3-ball for a 17-5 lead with 4:54 to play in the opening period.
“Reggie, after an ankle injury, he has really returned the last three or four games and has been outstanding,” Ervin said. “He just works so hard as a basketball player the last two years here at Williston and has just evolved, as a player and as a young man.”
Following his dunk with 1:03 to play, he knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key for a 37-8 advantage.
“I just came out, hit the first shot, and after that, my team told me to just keep shooting,” White said. “The momentum just built up.”
There was a little extra incentive for the senior.
“It was a statement because their girls obviously knocked our girls out of the state playoffs and was talking a little trash, so we decided to get back for our girls,” he said.
Brown, who signed a football scholarship with the University of Toledo earlier in the day, had a pair of dunks as part of a 16-0 run in a span of four minutes for a 55-11 lead with 4:02 still to play in the first half.
He scored 16 of his game-high 18 points in the opening half as the Red Devils headed to the locker room with a 63-12 lead as Trenton failed to make a field goal the entire second quarter.
“It was a great day, first with the signing and then with the big win tonight” Brown said. “It’s a blessing to be here. I give praise to the whole team because it took everybody tonight, not just one person or two people.”
Nekhei Seabrook, a junior, made four 3-pointers and had 16 points off the bench, all in the fourth quarter.
Senior Kyler Lamb finished with 13 points and eight rebounds, Harvey added 12 points, and senior Aramys Rodriguez shared the sugar with 11 assists.
As a team, Williston made nine shots from behind the arc and never took its foot off the gas.
“We know going into next week the competition is going to rise quite a bit, so we know we’ve got to figure out a way to play 32 minutes,” Ervin said. “Tonight, I thought we probably played about 21 minutes really well, the other 11 we took off some time, didn’t play hard. We had a little fatigue I think because the kids were coming out with so much energy.”
Senior Tavin Brown led Trenton off the bench with 15 points, all in the second half.
Williston is the No. 1 overall seed and will face No. 4 seed Chipley in the FHSAA Class 1A state semifinals at 9 a.m. next Friday, March 1 at the RP Funding Center in Lakeland.
Chipley (19-11), which was the No. 2 seed in 1A-Region 1, advanced with a 73-49 win against No. 4 seed Jay.
The Red Devils defeated Chipley, 58-49, in last year’s 1A state championship game.
Boys Basketball
Tuesday, Feb. 20
1A-Region 3 Final
2 Hilliard 64, 4 Fort White 51
1A-Region 4 Final
1 Williston 95, 3 Trenton 37
6A-Region 1 Semifinals
1 Wiregrass Ranch (Wesley Chapel) 71, 4 Buchholz 62
6A-Region 1 Semifinals
2 Ponte Vedra 58, 6 Gainesville 44
