Boston Warrior AAU Boy's Basketball: Warrior News: Looming large: Williams posts big numbers for Malden

• Looming large: Williams posts big numbers

Malden - Mark Williams is quickly becoming Malden High’s big man on campus when it comes to the basketball court.

The 6-foot-4 190-pound center has played a pivotal role getting the Golden Tornadoes back to playoff form, and with a possible state tournament berth looming in the not too distant future, he’s making the most of it.

Over a recent three-game stretch, Williams has posted monster numbers averaging 19.6 points, 16 rebounds and 5 blocks. With statistics like that, coach Don Nally is just glad that the Bowman Street resident is on his side.

“Mark Williams is playing out of his mind,” said Nally, noting that his senior center captured Player of the Week honors in both the Boston Herald and Boston Globe, last week. “He’s averaging a double-double every single game, tonight he had 16 rebounds with 18 points. He’s just playing with so much confidence.”

A 6-foot-4 center, Williams is the type of player coaches always crave, a big man that puts his size to good use under the boards with an uncanny penchant for grabbing rebounds.

“He’s got a real quick first step and he can really jump,” said Nally. “Some guys have a knack for scoring, Mark has a knack for just getting the ball. He times his rebounds real well.”

So what’s the secret to become a master of the boards?

“There is no secret really,” Williams said. “I just play my hardest and just go out there and give it my best. Whenever the ball goes up I just jump my highest to grab it, hold it real tight and just give it to the guard.”

Williams is also glad that he has some talented teammates to pass the ball off to.

The Tornadoes currently sport the top two scorers in the Greater Boston League including Steve Suida and Marcus Armstrong. Both players have each netted 159 points in their first 11 games this season (a 14.5 clip), giving the team plenty of offensive punch.

“It’s a lot different from last year,” Williams said. “We’ve been playing hard and we’ve come together as a team.”

Stumped by Somerville

Suida netted 19 points and Williams added 18, but it wasn’t enough as the Malden High boys basketball team came up short in a 72-64 loss to Somerville, Jan. 22. The loss drops Malden to 4-3, (7-5 overall) in the Greater Boston League standings.

According to Nally, the Tornadoes were up against a hot shooting Highlander team that refused to back down.

“They shot lights out in the second quarter,” said Nally, whose club trailed 48-30 at the half. “We came out of the second half playing a little bit better, but they still maintained a 17-point lead going into the fourth. Then we started hitting some threes, cutting it down to four, with about three minutes to go and that’s as close as we got.”

With the loss, Malden splits its regular season series with the Highlanders.

“We beat them last time,” Nally said. “We beat them at their place, so they obviously wanted to come out and try and get us and they really played hard.”

The Tornadoes will now turn their attention to Everett, as they hit the road for a match against the Crimson Tide, Friday, Jan. 25. Boston College-bound football star Isaac Johnson returned to the hardwood recently, adding a little more firepower to the Tides offensive arsenal.

Malden will run the Greater Boston League gauntlet with games against Somerville and Cambridge also slated.

“We’re playing the iron right now,” Nally said. “Last week we won three in a row beating Medford, Natick and Waltham. We just have to keep battling and working hard.”

And with Williams on board the team should continue to stand tall.