Williams, West Harrison pull away late for win over Gulfport

GULFPORT -- Opponents can keep West Harrison's Ameshya Williams in check for a quarter or so, but the 6-foot-3 senior typically imposes her will at some point.

Williams did just that Tuesday night as the No. 2 West Harrison girls (8-1) pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 56-45 victory over No. 4 Gulfport.

Williams had a hard time getting her hands on the ball in the third quarter and was held scoreless in the frame until she hit a basket with 3 seconds left in the quarter to push the West Harrison lead to 37-34.

She also provided West Harrison's first basket of the fourth quarter, going coast to coast for the layup to give the Lady Hurricanes a 39-36 lead with 6:02 left.

Williams went on to score 12 fourth-quarter points and 24 total with 18 rebounds.

"She did that last ball game too," Otis Gates said. "She kind of put us on her back a couple of times."

Gates was also happy to see production from his other players, including 13 points from Amari Graves.

"I had to have some other people step up and make shots because they double-teamed her," Gates said. "You had to have them step up and make shots and make free throws. We're trying to come together as a team. I'm getting some more production out of other folks and we're defending well. As long as we defend well, we always have a chance to win."

Gulfport held Williams to three points in the second quarter and she had nine total at halftime with the Lady Hurricanes holding a 25-22 lead.

The mission for coach Donny Fuller's Gulfport team was to deny Williams the ball and the Lady Admirals did that for the most part.

"Our plan is we ran a diamond-and-one against them," Fuller said. "We put a guard on her to front her at all times and then hopefully have our post player sit behind her. We want to make the other four have to beat us.

"We didn't make some plays at the end. They hit a few baskets and got the ball to Williams' hands. We had done a good job of keeping the ball out of her hands for the most part. They got the ball to her in the fourth quarter.

"She's a difference maker -- and we knew that."

Aarmani McDaniel led Gulfport (8-5) with 12 points, all in the second half. Jatiah Lathan contributed 11 points, all in the first half.

The Lady Admirals managed to keep the West Harrison lead to 25-22 at the half thanks in part to three first-quarter 3-pointers by Lathan.

Graves and Gerriana Williams both had eight second-half points to help the Lady Hurricanes gradually build a significant lead in the fourth quarter.

The biggest lead of the game for West Harrison was the final score.

"We hit some free throws down the stretch and that was our nemesis last year in the state tournament," Gates said.

Gates said he hopes the tough early season schedule will pay off in the long run as West Harrison seeks its first state championship.

"We're playing 6A Gulfport, St. Martin and Bay High," Gates said. "We've got to play up because that's the level of the competition we're going to see."

This story was originally published December 15, 2015 at 10:14 PM with the headline "Williams, West Harrison pull away late for win over Gulfport ."