Bishop Gorman’s Darrion Williams (5) drives between Liberty’s Angelo Kambala (2) and Joshua Jefferson (5) during a game at Liberty High School Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022.
Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022 | 10:17 p.m.
Bishop Gorman’s Darrion Williams is one of the best high school basketball players in Las Vegas and plays for the unquestioned top program.
Yet, Williams is a relative unknown.
That’s what happens when you move to Las Vegas in the middle of the pandemic and miss an entire season of games because of COVID cancellations.
But the senior forward appears to be making up for lost time, including scoring 24 points and grabbing nine rebounds Thursday in the Gaels 80-71 victory against host Liberty.
It didn’t take long for Williams to silence the hostile, standing-room only crowd. In the initial minute of the game, he drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the arch to give Gorman the lead for good.
In a rematch of a double overtime classic last month, where Gorman rallied from a double-digit fourth quarter deficit to beat Liberty, the Gaels got off to a quick start and didn’t look back. Gorman trailed just once — 2-0 before Williams’ jumper.
“I have been telling people for a year about Darrion Williams,” Gorman coach Grant Rice said. “At some point some people need to listen. He is really good, really good. He controlled that first half.”
Williams, who stands 6-foot-6, was tasked with battling on the interior against Liberty’s Joshua Jefferson and Aaron Price. Both Liberty players are 6-foot-7, and big bodied.
It met for some physical play with all three athletes playing at the rim and drawing tough fouls. Williams, who managed two blocks, even bloodied his lip.
“I love big-crowd games. I just love this energy,” he said. “We knew we had to come out strong, especially on their home court with the whole gym pretty much packed.”
Gorman had a double digit lead midway through the first quarter, and sustained the effort thanks to the guard play of John Mobley Jr. (21 points) and Jase Richardson (18 points). Big man Chris Nwuli, just a freshman, had 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
Liberty rallied in the second half to trim its deficit to as few as seven points. In the final push at the end of the game, junior Angelo Kambala connected on a trio of 3-pointers and Jefferson also knocked down a pair of long jumpers.
But Gorman, the nine-time defending state champions, had too big of a lead and easily held on.
This won’t be the last the teams see of each other. They are expected to meet again next month in the postseason.
“The was a big game, but what is really important is the playoffs,” Rice said.
