Williams' effort not enough to rally Grant

Saving its best for last didn't work out for Grant's boys basketball team in its second-round game in Jacobs' Hinkle Holiday Classic.

Saving his best season for his last is working out for Tavarus Williams, however.

Grant's 6-foot-6 senior forward notched his career-best point total for the second time in three games on Wednesday, as Grant saw its fourth-quarter comeback fall just short in a 63-59 loss to Chicago King in Algonquin.

Williams finished with game bests of 26 points and 10 rebounds. He helped rally the Bulldogs, who trailed by 25 points late in the third quarter, by scoring 16 points, including three 3-pointers, in the fourth.

"He's getting better every game," Grant coach Wayne Bosworth said after his team fell to 7-6 and 1-1 in the tourney. "I'm really proud of that guy. He can go inside, he can go outside, and he's gaining more confidence every time."

Williams, who scored 25 points against Lake Zurich early last week and had a 24-point game coming off the bench against Round Lake last season, shot 10 of 13 from the floor and 3 of 6 from the line against King (2-0 tournament). A first-year starter, he's grown a couple of inches since last season.

"He's still growing into his body a little bit and figuring out what he can and cannot do," Bosworth said. "He's going to get a heck of a lot better the next four years. He'll go somewhere and play next year."

Williams provided a glimpse of his potential in the fourth, draining three 3s in a row during a 73-second span that got Grant within 54-46 with 4:04 left. King led 52-29 after three.

"Our coach wanted us to space it out and just said, 'Do your thing. Drive, kick, get open shots and get to the cup,' "Williams said. "That's what we did."

Hunter Waszkowski scored 8 of his 13 points in the fourth, as Grant kept chipping away before running out of time. The Bulldogs outscored the Jaguars 30-11 in the final quarter.

"Coach looked at us (during a timeout midway through the fourth) and said, 'We're in this. We can do it,'" Williams said. "I said, 'Just keep playing like we have been and keep shooting the ball.' "

Guard Ken Gibbs led King with 23 points. The Jaguars flustered Grant with traps and ball pressure late in the first half, closing with an 11-0 run to lead 28-13 at the break after the Bulldogs got within 17-13 on an offensive rebound by Williams with less than two minutes left.

"We had an opportunity in the first four minutes of the game (to build the lead)," said Bosworth, whose Bulldogs led 6-4 after one quarter. "We were playing phenomenal defense."

Grant played without starting point guard M.J. Smith (flu). Bulldogs starting guard Henry Kusiak returned after being gone from the team for about a week and scored 10 points, including a 3 in the final seconds, but "wasn't himself," Bosworth said.

"We just got to get healthy and gets guys back," Bosworth said. "As long as we can we do that, we'll be all right. But today that wasn't the team I've seen all year."

Grant resumes the tournament at 10:30 a.m. Thursday against Streamwood.