by Derek Toney

Friday night's Arundel-Seton Keough girls' basketball match brought together two of the state's premier centers in Aysa Bussie and Simone Egwu. In the end, it was B.J. Williams would stole the show.

The Gators' senior point guard had a game-high 20 points, leading No. 2 Seton Keough to a decisive 53-41 victory over No. 3 Arundel in Gambrills. Bussie and senior guard Arika Ullman each contributed 10 points to the Gators' cause.

Seton Keough led by as many as 16 points in the second half, running its record to 9-0. The five foot, six inch Williams had 12 points, six coming in a three-minute stretch in the fourth quarter to stamp out an Arundel rally.

"We just tried to keep our heads in the game and do what we do best," said Williams. "I just tried to control the tempo of the game, and make sure they didn't get nothing easy."

"She really stepped up as a senior leader for us tonight," said Gators coach Jackie Boswell. "When we needed to slow things down, she was the one we look to. When we needed to speed things up and get some points on the board, she was the one we looked to. More importantly, I felt like she got everyone else around her excited and we've been missing that."

It was a big-game atmosphere as recruiters from Coppin State, Florida, George Washington, Miami, Penn State were on hand, among several other colleges. They got to witnessed the "Battle of the Bigs," with Bussie, a 6-3 junior, meeting Egwu, also 6-3. Bussie also had 13 rebounds and five blocks while Egwu posted seven points and 10 rebounds.

"I just had to make strong moves and go hard," said Bussie, who also had to contend with Wildcats' 6-4 forward Sherrone Vails. "We did a good job playing help side defense."

"Bussie's a strong girl," said Egwu, a junior. "There's definitely no one with my size in the county so it's a different game when I do face someone with my height, but when it comes down to it, I just do what I got to do."   

Egwu got the Wildcats (2-2) going with a pair of baskets in the paint to go with a three-pointer from Ashley Davis for a 7-0 lead. Seton Keough amped up their offense, in half court and transition, and rotated two defenders on passes in the paint, surging to a 25-13 advantage with three minutes remaining in the first half.

Williams broke free for a layup off the opening inbounds of the second half for a 31-20 lead. A three-pointer by Williams followed by an offensive rebound and score by Bussie, and a steal and layup from Ayana Lee had the Gators in command at 45-29 after three quarters.

Arundel opened the final quarter with eight straight points to cut the margin in half with five minutes left, but Williams hit a free throw then drained a three-pointer to put the lead back to double digits. After Bussie fouled out with 3:06 remaining, Williams drove the lane for a layup.

"She [Williams] sets the tone," said Bussie. "She puts us in the right direction."

Williams and the Gators are pointed to Texas after Saturday's IAAM A Conference match at Mount de Sales. The Caton Avenue school will play at the Sandra Meadow Classic in Duncanville, Thursday thru Saturday. Boswell said Williams, who missed last season for academic reasons, is the missing link to this season's squad.

"We have five seniors and Asha's the captain, they're leading our team," said Boswell. "I'm not sure we had leadership last year. We were young and we were missing B.J., that was the difference." 

Seton Keough 53, Arundel 41
Seton Keough: Ellis 2, Ullman 10, Fischer 4, Bussie 10, Lee 4, Williams 20, Wright 3. Totals 20 10-21 53.
Arundel: Moore 1, James 8, Jauschnegg 2, Davis 8, Watson 6, Vails 6, Egwu 7, McFadden 4. Totals 14 10-18 41. Halftime: Seton Keough 29, Arundel 21.

Seton Keough    15 14 16   8-53
Arundel              11   7 11 12-41