Radnor’s Jackson Hicke, seen in a game last month against Lower Merion, went down hard with his Radnor teammates to Archbishop Ryan in a PIAA Class 5A quarterfinal game Friday night. (Pete Bannan – MediaNews Group)
By Matthew DeGeorge
It made sense that the game would find Darren Williams at its most crucial juncture.
All day, the Archbishop Ryan wing had been outstanding on the offensive end. His length and aggressiveness on defense was a big reason why Radnor struggled to establish rhythm in the PIAA Class 5A quarterfinal Friday night.
But with Ryan leading by three and the clock ticking under 15 seconds, the end-to-end chess match that had engrossed for 31-plus minutes distilled into one bout of isolation one-on-one.
Jackson Hicke driving the ball. Williams backpedaling in defense. A fair few of those in attendance at Bensalem High School holding their breaths.
Williams did the job defensively, contesting Hicke’s drive so that he couldn’t get a shot off, the ball caroming off his body and out of bounds for a turnover. It was the final rebuttal from Ryan in an outstanding state quarterfinal, won by the District 12 runner-up, 69-65.