LWA tops Stony Brook for PSAA title

The Lawrence-Woodmere Academy boys’ basketball team is once again the Private Schools Athletic Association champions.

Freshman Hank Williams Jr. drilled six 3-pointers en route to a game-high 25 points and senior Chris Clark hit some key shots and finished with 15 as the Tigers captured its ninth PSAA crown and first in seven years with a 66-54 win over Stony Brook School at Stony Brook University on Feb. 16.

Sylvanus Tabe added nine points and Josh Smith added eight for Lawrence, which went 21-5 this season after going just 8-8 last year while being eliminated by Stony Brook in the playoffs.

“It’s definitely a great feeling,” LWA head coach Hank Williams Sr. said. “We worked extremely hard. We put a lot of time in, sustained and kept them focused and fundamentally sound. It’s been a challenge for us.”

Portledge had won the previous three PSAA titles but were eliminated by Knox in the first round. After destroying Kew Forest 110-16 in the opening round on Feb. 12, the Tigers beat Knox 57-74 in the semifinals two days later with Williams Jr. and Clark combining for 32 points.

Williams Jr. set the tone early with a pair of 3-pointers in the title game’s opening two minutes and the Tigers took a 10-6 lead on Caleb Ourigou’s dunk with just over four minutes left. Stony Brook came back to take an 11-10 lead with just under two minutes left, but Lawrence put together a 14-3 run that bridged the first and second quarters, ignited by Clark’s basket late in the opening stanza.

“That run basically was attributed to the defense,” Williams Sr. said. “We played such good defense. I told them to make sure we don’t take any plays off [and] everybody boxes out and then the second part of it was to make sure offensively we moved the ball very well.”

The Tigers carried a 35-22 advantage into halftime and outscored Stony Brook 17-6 in the third quarter to take a 52-28 lead. The Bears scored the first 11 points of the fourth quarter, but Clarks’ put-back and drive baskets and Tabe’s conversion of a Williams Jr. pass with less than four minutes left thwarted the comeback.

Lawrence took two of the three meetings between the schools after Stony Brook won the most recent contest 50-43 on Feb. 1. It turned out to be the Tigers’ last defeat.

“Because I had six healthy players for that game, I didn’t want guys getting in foul trouble and I didn’t want guys getting worn down and getting tired,” Williams Sr. recalled from that game. “We tried to stay in a zone [defense] and I think that’s what really cost us because we needed to put a little more pressure on them and not let them get comfortable.”

Lawrence’s last championship was in 2017, when it defended its title from the previous season. The other six came consecutively from 2007-13.

Williams Jr., sophomore Smith (12 ppg), and giant sophomores Ourigou and Tabe, who stand 6-foot-9 and 6-foot-8, respectively, are expected to be back next year.