By ZACH BRAZILLER
The game of the weekend was in the Bronx at Gauchos Gym Saturday afternoon as Christ the King and Rice reprised their classic rivalry.
Aaron Williams was well aware of the tilt, but he was just fine being in Astoria. In fact, the former Christ the King guard was thrilled to be with his Long Island City teammates on his 18th birthday rather than the Bronx.
“I’m happy where I am,” he said. “I needed something new.”
It showed.
The impressive 6-foot point guard scored 25 points and added 10 assists, leading the Bulldogs to its biggest win of the season, a commanding 69-61 basketball victory over defending PSAL Class A champion Bedford Academy in the league’s showcase tournament.
Kevin Green Jr. added 15 points and Xavier Jones had nine for the Bulldogs while Neil Veira paced Bedford with 24 points. As the ‘A’ division’s only undefeated team in league play, the win sets up LIC for a high seed in the upcoming citywide playoffs.
“We circled this game on our calender,” LIC Coach Harley Watstein said. “It’s great for the program, good for the kids. What’s nice is four of my five starters are returning. We wouldn’t be anywhere without Aaron.”
Leaving Christ the King and his friends was difficult, Williams said, but he didn’t want to spend his senior year on the bench, even if it meant another state championship. After the Royals won the first New York State Federation Class AA title last March, he started thinking about the move. With George Mason-bound point Corey Edwards and T.J. Curry ahead of him, Williams opted to move on.
“I wanted to contribute a lot more, I wanted to be the man,” he said. “I felt I could turn the program around.”
The Bulldogs (22-1) welcomed him with open arms.
Long Island City had high expectations entering the year, but those hopes were only heightened when Williams joined the team a few weeks into the season after leaving the Middle Village powerhouse. He added an explosive and true point guard, allowed junior Xavier Jones to move over to his natural shooting guard spot and pushed Sadji Camara to the bench where he is a valuable sixth man.
“He’s a big difference in our team,” Green said. “The offense runs better, our defense is better.”
Bedford Academy had a similar player to Williams in Brent Jones, who is now at St. Francis College, and the Panthers rode him all the way to the city championship. Bedford Coach Rob Phelps, a legendary guard in his own right who played for Nazareth and Providence College, told Watstein he saw many similarities between Jones and Williams.
“I don’t know if there is a better point guard [in our league] than him,” the coach said.
His value was clear late in the third quarter and early in the fourth when LIC pulled away with a 9-1 run. He scored twice in transition and set up forward Arthur Santanna for an easy layup. Bedford never got closer than seven the rest of the way, not because it couldn’t score, but since Williams answered every basket with one of his own, clutch free throws or found a teammate free for an uncontested shot.
“It’s everything I imagined and more,” he said of Long Island City. “The kids in the school love me. It’s a good school, I’m doing well in school. I’m leading my team and learning from it.
Williams then paused and looked over at his teammates and coach who were preparing to greet him with a few birthday punches.
“I feel like I’m in a dream right now,” he said.
