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Lowndes point guard D’Arcy Williams going to Darton
By Christian Malone
VALDOSTA — For the past two years, D’Arcy Williams has been a leader and a major contributor for Lowndes High’s girls basketball team.
|[pic] |
|Lowndes point guard D'Arcy Williams signs her letter of intent to play for Darton |
|College. Seated: Darton coach Laura Blackwell, D'Arcy Williams, mother Delores Williams|
|and teammate Abrielle Clemons. Standing: Lowndes head coach Shan Garner, Kati Keeffe, |
|Letoyia Hill, Kim Williams and LHS assistant coach Scott Wildes. |
The Darton Lady Cavaliers hope she’ll be the same kind of player for them the next two years.
Williams, Lowndes High’s point guard, signed a letter of intent to play basketball for Darton College next season. She looks forward to playing at the next level.
“I’m very excited. I can’t wait to go to college,” she said.
She will join a strong junior college program. Last season, Darton went 21-7 overall and 10-0 in the Georgia Junior College Athletic Association. She feels the school, located in Albany, will be a great place for her.
“I like the environment, I like the gym, I like the players. I love the coach. I think it’s going to be a good experience,” she said.
The Lady Cavaliers are losing several players, so she will have an opportunity to compete for playing time right away.
In her senior season at Lowndes, Williams was a second-team All-Region selection. She led the Vikettes in assists, was second in steals and third in scoring. She averaged eight points, five assists, four steals and two rebounds per game.
Williams’ high school coach feels Darton will be pleased with its new point guard.
“She does a good job at point guard,” Lowndes head coach Shan Garner said. “D’Arcy brings leadership, tenacity, good defense. She can score when she has to. She plays good D. She’s very scrappy. She set the tone every day in practice. She’s the first one there in every group and every drill.”
“I like (playing point). I’ve got to make sure I get the ball to the right person, and help the team. I enjoy it,” Williams said.
Williams is also an honor student. She plans to become a dentist after she’s done playing basketball. She looks forward to one day taking care of people’s teeth. But right now, she’s just as excited about the chance to play a sport she’s been playing most of her life for at least two more years.
“I love basketball a lot. I’ve always played it,” she said.
Williams was a key part of a senior class that won 87 games in four years at Lowndes. The Vikettes have been the regular season Region 1-AAAAA champions each of the past four years. They won the region tournament Williams’ sophomore and junior seasons. They went 21-7 in 2008-09, which was, ironically, also Darton’s record.
“I’m proud of 87 wins, especially in our region, because we have some tough teams. That’s a real big accomplishment,” Williams said.
“It means a lot (to be a Vikette),” she added. “It’s hard to come here and play, because you’ve got so many people, and good people. I really enjoyed playing here.”
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Playing for Lowndes’ girls basketball team requires buying into a team-first concept. The Vikettes heavily emphasize defense, and players spend a lot more time working on their defensive play than they do shooting. Williams had no problem embracing that style of basketball, though, and actually says she likes it that way.
“I’d rather play defense than offense. I really would,” she said.
She also doesn’t mind fighting for rebounds, even though she’s only 5-foot-1.
“She’s a very tenacious rebounder,” Garner said. “You’d be surprised to see how many rebounds, at 5-foot-1, that D’Arcy got this year. It’s her sheer will.”
Williams signed on the same day that Abrielle Clemons, her best friend and backcourt mate, signed with Rollins.
“You can’t put a measure on how (valuable) these girls have been,” Garner said. “Without these two on the floor, we don’t accomplish all that we’ve accomplished.”
Williams wore No. 22 for Lowndes, but has thought about asking for No. 23, because she’s a fan of LeBron James. Like the NBA superstar’s team, Darton’s mascot is the Cavaliers.
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