According to William Monroe coach Mike Maynard, junior guard Markel Williams has a tendency to play in bursts.
“For five minutes he’ll look like the best player on the court and then he disappears for three or four minutes,” Maynard said.
He dropped his disappearing act Thursday night. Once he exploded against border archrival Madison County, Williams never went away. Williams put Monroe on his back in the second half with a 33-point night, helping the Dragons claw back from what was once a 19-point deficit, force overtime and grab a 72-68 victory in extra time against the Mountaineers in Madison.
“He’s learning how to be a complete basketball player and when he brings it all the time, he’s a heck of a player,” Maynard said.
Williams, for his part, sensed the moment.
“This is a big rivalry and that’s when big players have to step up and I felt like it was my time,” Williams said. “We definitely had to attack from the top.”
After Williams pulled Monroe within striking distance — he scored seven straight points in the fourth quarter to draw the Dragons to down just four — his teammates finished off the job. Austin Batten and Gary Morris hit back-to-back baskets that tied the game at 63-63 and gave Monroe hope in overtime. Batten, who handled the point steadily in the second half, scored on a fastbreak kickstarted by one of Williams’ 13 rebounds on the night. Morris took an inbounds pass and hit a short jumper at the buzzer to tie it.
“Gary didn’t have his best game but he’s a gamer and we knew we were going to run that play,” Maynard said. “They kept going back to Markel so we kicked it to Gary and he took it to the basket hard. I was proud of him going in there with no fear.”
Monroe’s momentum carried into the extra time as the Dragons built a five-point lead and eventually held off a last gasp effort by the Mountaineers in overtime to secure the victory. It was an incredible recovery from how the game started for the Dragons as Madison jumped out to the 19-point lead with a 14-0 run that stretched from late in the first quarter until midway through the second.
“They smacked us right in the face and we didn’t know how to react,” Maynard said.
During that stretch, Madison County sophomore Matt Temple looked like a force of nature as the 6-foot-5 post player ran the floor like a guard. Temple poured in 16 of the Mountaineers first 30 points and finished with 20 on the night after he fouled out with two minutes left in regulation.
“That’s really how we want to play — we want our bigs to run the middle and we want our wings to get the ball and kick that ball in,” said Madison coach Ben Breeden. Travis Warren handled the heavy lifting after the break with a 16-point second half and a 20-point night. Patrick Roebuck also got into double figures with 10 points.
But mental mistakes including an unnecessary series of shots near the end of regulation with a 4-point lead that gave Monroe another chance piled up for Madison in the second half.
“We had so many opportunities in that game, if we just played smarter…” Breeden said. “We were basically in scramble mode at the end of overtime.”
They also couldn’t contain Williams at all. They couldn’t keep him off the glass, out of the lane or off the free throw line.
“The bottom line is we’ve got to get a stop,” Breeden said. “We couldn’t stop him at all in the second half. He did whatever he wanted to.”
Williams finished 16-for-21 at the line.
Madison is now 2-1 in Bull Run play while Monroe is 3-0, so if both squads can keep improving and winning in district play, the January 25 rematch in Stanardsville could have title implications. But there’s a long road to go before that date.
