Kasen Williams' Big Day Helps Skyline High Advance Against Woodinville High in Boys' Basketball Playoffs

Clinging to a three-point lead with under 40 seconds left and just one second left on the shot-clock, Skyline needed a miracle inbounds play to extend its lead.

What did they come up with? Toss it in the air and let Kasen Williams take care of the rest.

Williams hit a short jumper with 38.9 seconds left and Skyline held on for a 57-50 win over Woodinville to advance in the KingCo 4A playoffs on Tuesday night at Juanita High School in Kirkland.

“I was supposed to come off a screen and go and get it on the other side of the rim,” Williams said of his game-clinching shot, which came off an inbounds pass from Will Parker. “But with one second left we didn’t have time for all of that, so we just threw it up and I just hit it.”

Skyline was leading 50-47 when Williams hit his shot, which ended up being the game-winning points. Woodinville’s Austin Bonvallet hit a three-pointer on the ensuing possession, but the Falcons never got any closer than 52-50 as Skyline made its free throws down the stretch to hold on.

“If any coach tells you [he’s] got a play like that for every occasion, he’s lying to you,” Skyline head coach J. Jay Davis said. “[Williams] is the best athlete in the state and you just say ‘throw it up there.’”

The way Williams took over in the second half, it seemed natural he would make the shot that extended Skyline’s season. The took over in the second half, scoring 17 of his game-high 24 points in the final two quarters to pace the Spartans.

“The kid's beat up,” Davis said of Williams, referring to a groin injury that has hampered him since football season. “And he just keeps doing whatever it takes to win.”

The teams were tied at halftime after an up-and-down first half that saw Woodinville start the game on a 16-8 run. Woodinville and Skyline were still tied after three, with the Falcons taking a 41-38 lead early in the fourth, before Skyline finished the game on a 19-9 run.

“We just knew we had to step up as a team,” Williams said of his team second-half advantage. “It was a tie game, we treated it like it was a brand-new ball game…we just came out with more fire than they did.”

The win was the first game for Skyline since suffering a 28-point beatdown at the hands of Garfield last Friday. That loss was the fourth in fifth games for the Spartans, but Williams said his team has the ability to make it all the way to the Tacoma Dome for the state tournament.

“Today was a step for us,” Williams said. “We’ve been having up and down games all season and I think if we can carry this momentum…we’ll find ourselves playing in the Tacoma Dome.”

Skyline will play Newport, which earlier beat Redmond, on Thursday at 8:15 pm at Juanita. The winner of that game will advance to play the number-three seed out of the WesCo playoffs for the final playoff spot between the conferences.