To hear his coaches talk, Thornton senior Mark Williams is getting better as he’s getting stronger.
“That boy has turned the corner,” Wildcats coach Tai Streets said of Williams, a 6-foot-7 forward. “He has taken his game to another level. His game is really progressing.”
The timing couldn’t be better, either.
With Illinois recruit Ty Rodgers having trouble scoring early, Williams joined teammates Ariohn Herring and Vincent Rainey in picking up the scoring slack Wednesday night.
Put together, that provided the big boost as Thornton rolled to a 64-41 victory over Kankakee in the Class 3A Marian Catholic Sectional semifinals in Chicago Heights.
Williams finished with 11 points for the Wildcats (23-5), who will face Lemont (26-7) at 7 p.m. Friday in the championship game. Six of those points came in the third quarter.
A 14-3 advantage in that quarter was a key for Thornton, which took a 50-25 lead into the fourth against Kankakee (23-8).
Williams credited Terrance Campbell, Thornton’s freshman coach and varsity assistant, for helping him to improve his strength.
“Thanks to TC, I’ve gotten stronger,” Williams said. “All of the coaches have had me in the weight room, and TC stays on me. They make sure I work out after games, before games and after practices.”
“Mark has always had a big body frame,” Campbell said. “My main focus was getting his upper body there. We want him to get out there, hit the glass and attack.”
Williams is starting to pick up college interest too. He said Olive-Harvey, Moraine Valley and Southwestern Michigan have shown interest. Milwaukee Area Technical College was on hand to watch him Wednesday.
Rainey, meanwhile, scored 12 points, including 10 in the first half, as the Wildcats earned a 33-22 lead. Herring added 11 points.
Rodgers contributed nine points, highlighted by a pair of dunks in the fourth quarter. He added 12 rebounds, three steals, three assists and two blocked shots.
Herring is enjoying his senior season after two years at Thornridge and one at Harlan.
“I felt that for my last year, this was the best option for me,” Herring said. “It’s turned out well. It’s a perfect fit for me and they knew I was ready to go.
“It just took a little bit of time to adjust, but overall, I was cool with it. I was willing to buy in.”
Streets is happy to have him.
“He’s been a great addition,” Streets said. “He’s getting better as the year goes on. He does a little of everything. He guards the opponent’s best player sometimes. He facilitates the ball. He does a lot for us.”
Thornton has won 13 straight games since suffering its worst loss of the season, a 66-49 Southland Athletic Conference rout on Jan. 18 against host Kankakee.
In that game, Rodgers was held to eight points. Kankakee’s Nate Hill erupted for 32 points.
The Wildcats haven’t lost since then, gaining revenge Feb. 1 in Harvey with a 57-47 victory. Rodgers starred with 33 points, 20 rebounds, five assists, four steals and three blocked shots.
Thornton’s winning streak also features a 73-71 victory in overtime over heralded Kenwood.
“That loss to Kankakee, oh my God, they kicked our behind,” Streets said. “That was the game where we said, ‘What are we going to do? Are we going to go that way or are we going to step up and get better?’ Our guys responded big-time.”
“We put in a lot of hard work after that game,” Herring said. “We trusted our work ethic, and once we get on that court, we give a 110% effort and trust each other.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
