Supporting Cast Comes Up Big In U. City Hoops Win Over Normandy

UNIVERSITY CITY HIGH SCHOOL – On most nights during 2011-2012 boys basketball season, the University City Lions will rely on star guard Travon Williams to provide most of their key plays and scoring.

But on Wednesday evening  -- a night when shots weren’t really falling for Williams, it was teammate Avion Ashford who stepped up and carried the load for U. City, and led the Lions to a 75-69 win over Normandy.

“You know, Tra’s a great player, and I’m sure he’s going to go to a great college,” U. City coach Dave Gammon said. “But you can’t win with just one player. I’m not that good a coach to win with just one good player. Fortunately, we’ve got some ballers on this team.”

And that begins with Williams, a 6’3 scoring machine, who averages almost 25 points a game for the Lions. But on Wednesday, it was the 6’6 Ashford –U. City’s starting center -- who put up the big numbers, with 21 points and 18 rebounds against a Normandy defense that did all it could to disrupt U. City’s usually stellar guard play.

“Avion is a football player first,” Gammon said. “And he’s played volleyball too. So he’s going to be a three-sport for four years kind of guy. Plus, he’s academically solid. And being that big, he’s finally kind of grown into that body.”

Ashford has certainly gotten off to a fine start this season, where he’s averaging 10.8 points and 6.8 rebounds a game, and proving himself a worthy second option for the Lions.  

“Last year, he really started coming on strong about halfway into the season,” Gammon said. “And that’s when we picked up some kids second semester that were seniors, and they kind of took his spot. But he’s that much more mentally determined, and that much more physically coordinated. And we don’t win this game tonight without him.”

That’s probably true, as Ashford scored 14 of his 21 points in the first half, when Normandy swarmed Williams every time he touched the ball.

One of the key stretches in the game came in the second quarter, when U. City pushed a five-point lead to a 16-point advantage by breaking down the Vikings defense and getting easy buckets from players like Ashford, who scored seven points during that run.

“He and Jeff McGhee both carried us in that first half,” Gammon said.

McGhee had 10 of his 14 points in the first half, as U. City led 40-26 going into the halftime.

In the third quarter though, Normandy took its turn to control play, and sparked by a 15-2 run midway through the period, pulled to within 48-42 with just over a minute left in the third.

Gammon called timeout after a three-pointer by Normandy’s Jerrod Fuller to settle his group down.

And that’s when U. City got the break it needed, as Normandy was called for a technical foul for using a player whose name hadn’t been added to the official scorebook.  

That call gave the Lions two free throws, which McGhee nailed, along with a last-second layup (also by McGhee), that gave U. City a 10-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter was when Williams finally got going and scored 10 of his 18 points, including three sensational fast-break dunks that nearly brought the partisan U. City house down.

“Tra’s a spectacular athlete, we all know that,” Gammon said. “Hopefully, we can continue to play unselfish and play as a team. I feel like we’re getting there, but we’ve still got more work to do.”

U. City, which is now 5-2 on the season, will be back in action on Saturday, when the Lions will play in the GAC/Suburban South-West Challenge at the Family Arena in St. Charles.

The Lions will be taking on Wentzville Holt (2-2), a team from the Gateway Athletic Conference, which won the South Division last year, in a game slated to tip-off at 1:30 p.m.