Williams, Clark embracing leadership roles for Ridley

RIDLEY TWP. >> Malachi Williams and Enoch Clark can vividly recall when Ridley was atop the Central League.

Behind Julian Wing (DeSales) and Brett Foster, who since has played a season each at East Stroudsburg and Neumann, the Green Raiders won back-to-back Central League titles in 2015 and 2016 and advanced to the District 1 Class 4A semifinals two years ago.

After those two 1,000-point scorers graduated, Ridley came under a new regime led by head coach Kevin Kelly and his two leaders were going to be Williams and Clark. Despite missing the district playoffs a year ago, the experience has been of great benefit for Ridley’s new leaders, though their forerunners have helped fuel the current group.

“In the offseason, they always come back and work out with us,” Williams said of Wing and Foster. “I constantly pick Julian’s brain. I have his number and I call him. I talked to Brett over the summer and he helped me become a better point guard.”

Williams posted 13 points, six rebounds and three steals while Clark led the way with 17 points and six boards Thursday as Ridley steamrolled Interboro, 71-38 in the opening round of the Ridley Holiday Tournament.

Clark, the 6-5, 210-pound versatile forward, imposed his will early on the Bucs. He scored nine points in the opening quarter, including a tough finish through traffic which put the Green Raiders’ lead at 13-5.

As Ridley’s starting center, Clark does most of his damage off the dribble and finishing past bigger defenders.

“I was always big for my age but I could dribble,” Clark said. “I know that I have the type of body where I can be used on the inside or the outside. It’s good for me to be able to dribble and incorporate my other skills.”

Ridley (3-3) locked down defensively on the Bucs, forcing 24 turnovers in the process. Williams flourishes by getting into passing lanes and turning steals into points, as he did with a layup early in the third quarter to give the Green Raiders a 41-18 lead. With Williams and Clark penetrating and Interboro (1-6) needing to drop into the paint, Ridley’s shooters found plenty of open looks.

Jack Grace (11 points) and Josh Howard each nailed three three-pointers, with Howard’s last shot from beyond the arc boosting Ridley to a 49-23 advantage with 4:23 left in the third.

Kelly has seen what Williams and Clark can bring to his team and he’s excited to see what lies in store from them.

“I put it more on Malachi and his responsibility to deliver and set our offense up,” Kelly said. “We’ve taken some of his scoring away with that, but he does a great job leading the team and making good decisions. Enoch continues to work hard and he should be one of the more tangible players in the league. It’s just a matter of him doing it consistently.”

The Bucs only tallied seven points in the opening quarter and the only lift they received offensively came from Terrence Hall, who scored 13 points, including a pair of treys, and Jared Dellipriscoli, who had eight points.

Leading scorer Damon Dukes shot 0-for-4 from the field and finished with four points. Second-year head coach Conrad Kirkaldy wants his team to learn from difficult losses like this one.

“The message is we’re young so we have to continue to grow and learn the game of basketball,” Kirkaldy said. “We have to get our basketball IQ better and just be competitors.”

Williams and Clark will look to make their mark again in the tournament championship game Friday as they take on Cardinal O’Hara, a 53-39 winner over South Philadelphia High.