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Playing post is no tall order for scrappy player
By TERRY JONES TOWN 'N COUNTRY -- Often after his teammates are home doing schoolwork or out hanging with friends, Reginald Williams can be seen at a park or under street lights stepping up and down on an 8-inch box. His dad, Reginald Sr., stands nearby offering encouragement. "The stepping box helps me to increase my foot speed and my dad has other drills he helps me to use foot speed and other moves to be able to block out bigger guys and fake them out to clear shots near the basket," Williams said. "All the extra work I do with my dad, in addition to team practice is paying off." Although he has been a point-guard and ball handler most of his career, for the last two years at Leto he has been a post player. Most inside players are 6 foot 5 and taller, but at 6-2, Williams is one of the top 10 scorers and rebounders in Hillsborough County. His quickness and leaping ability have given him an edge over many taller opponents. At the Christmas break, Williams had per-game averages of 15.6 points, seven rebounds, one steal and one block. He was shooting 66 percent from the field. Many players his size feel safer playing the perimeter, away from the rough physical play around the big guys, but the Town 'N Country senior asked to play the post. "Reggie and I started together here at Leto four years ago," Falcon coach Derek Stewart said. "He played guard on junior varsity, but in a meeting of the team after his sophomore season, he asked if he could play inside. Because of his quickness and consistency around the boards, he not only scores, but distributes to the open guys." Because the 17-year-old passes more than he shoots, his teammates often score more points. The Falcons usually have three or more players score double figures in most games. At the break, Leto was 6-3. "Reggie will improve his rebounding more as the season progresses," Stewart said. "We need to get more rebounds and don't have the height to control both sides. We do have a 6-7 player on the team, Stephen Howard, but he is a senior and this is his first year of ever playing basketball. Hopefully, he will be able to help Reggie more under the boards by districts." Howard seems to be a fast learner. In an early game he set a Leto game record of nine blocks. Teammates Jonathan Abreu, Chris Woolridge and Vincent Serrano, all perimeter players, do much of the scoring and most of the ball handling for the Falcons. "Although this team is not real big, it works well together. The kids continue to improve, too, and could be a challenger when the state run starts," Stewart said. College scholarships are not plentiful for basketball, but Williams is preparing on and off the court in case the opportunity calls. "I made acceptable grades early in my high school career, but now I am getting very serious," he said. "I am trying to maintain A's and B's on everything. In the meantime, I play with a great bunch of friends and we have fun playing basketball. I think we will have a great season before it is over."
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