All-Area Girls’ Basketball Player of the Year: La Cañada’s Williams took center stage
Perhaps it was inevitable that La Cañada High senior Zoe Williams would find her way to a basketball court.
The 18 year old hails from a family that oozes sports, with a father who played defensive back with the Indianapolis Colts and other members with NCAA Division I, NFL and NBA ties.
Williams’ father, Vaughn Williams, saw talent from a young age, though in another sport.
“She was the best defensive end in the family,” Vaughn Williams quipped in regards to the football position, “but that wasn’t for her.”
The 6-foot-1 Zoe Williams is bright, funny and versatile with a flair for the dramatic.
So, Williams leaned heavily into one discipline when her family moved to La Cañada Flintridge from Dallas before the beginning of her sophomore season.
The youngster gleefully embraced comedy and drama and pined for the stage.
Williams is the captain of the La Cañada Comedy Sportz Improve Team and co-hosted the fourth annual “Mr. La Cañada” male pageant on March 18 that raised a little more than $2,000 for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
“That’s my passion, that’s what I love to do,” Williams said. “I love plays, acting, our comedy sports improv, it’s all fun.”
About the only place Williams had to be playfully pushed onto was the basketball court.
“Since I couldn’t play football, I’ve been playing basketball since I was in kindergarten,” Williams said. “I was forced into it by my dad and brothers. My whole family is into sports, so I had to be into sports.”
Williams shined in the gym and theatre the last couple of seasons, with basketball putting her center stage in the Spartans’ run to a second straight undefeated Rio Hondo League championship.
Williams posted 10 double-doubles and averaged a team-leading 12.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 1.2 blocks per game. She was named the Rio Hondo League Most Valuable Player and an All-CIF Southern Section Division I-A second-team choice.
The Spartans finished 23-6, 9-0 in league and advanced to the second round of the Division I-A playoffs.
For those reasons and more, Williams was voted the 2016-2017 Girls’ Basketball Player of the Year by the sports writers of the La Cañada Valley Sun, Glendale News-Press and Burbank Leader.
Williams is La Cañada High’s first All-Area winner since Courtney Chen claimed back-to-back honors in 2013 and 2014.
“What impressed me most about Zoe was her work ethic,” La Cañada Coach Sarah Beattie said. “That’s what makes her so impressive. She sets an example for the team and they all knew that she could be counted on.”
“The team looked to me as someone who would offer solutions.”
— Zoe Williams, La Cañada High senior
Expectations varied for La Cañada before the 2016-2017 season began.
The Spartans graduated All-Area stalwartsAmber Graves and Sarah Kurdoghlian, who led the team on a magical run that included qualification to the CIF Southern Section Division III-A title game, the program’s first-ever CIF championship appearance.
“We all knew it was going to be a more difficult season this year because of what happened the year before,” Spartans senior guard Alexi Nazarian said. “We put ourselves through a more challenging preseason and there were no easy games. I just think the question was, ‘Who would step up?’”
If there was good news for La Cañada, the squad returned quite a few players, including All-Area second-teamers Williams and Kristina Kurdoghlian along with Nazarian.
As for the 2016-17 campaign, it began significantly different than the season prior.
In 2015-16, La Cañada raced to a 13-1 start and didn’t lose its third contest until game No. 24.
In the just-completed season, La Cañada began 1-3, while the squad dropped an area showdown to Glendale, 42-38, on Dec. 15 in the Arroyo Tournament. The previous season, the Spartans bested the Nitros, 63-43.
After the Glendale contest, the Spartans’ record dropped to 5-4.
“We didn’t have a great start to the season for a lot of reasons,” Williams said. “I take responsibility in that I didn’t play as well as I should have.”
It seemed like the team’s struggles were directly correlated with Williams’ production as the senior averaged 8.2 points and 5.8 rebounds during those nine games with three double-digit scoring efforts.
Williams, who relished her behind-the-scenes role as head of props for the school production of “Romeo & Juliet,” would have to take a more visible position in the spotlight if La Cañada were to succeed.
“The team looked to me as someone who would offer solutions,” Williams said. “I’m not out there to make every point. I was supposed to help the team in any way I could; if that meant more offense and better defense and more leadership, I would do it.”
The center scored a season-high 25 points and seven rebounds in La Cañada’s 63-50 win over city rival Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy on Dec. 26.
The victory was win No. 2 in what was a Spartans nine-game winning streak in which Williams averaged 13.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per contest.
After the Glendale setback, the Spartans only dropped one game – a 36-34 defeat to Santa Margarita on Jan. 16 in nonleague play – the rest of the regular season.
In Rio Hondo League play, La Cañada and Williams were in a league of their own.
The Spartans finished 9-0 with an average margin of victory of 31.67 points.
Even in those blowouts, which often led to early exits for Williams, the senior turned in her fair share of standout efforts.
The piece de resistance came in the regular-season finale at home on Feb. 9 when Williams totaled 19 points, 29 rebounds and three blocks in the Spartans’ 54-41 victory over South Pasadena, which clinched an outright league crown.
“Zoe was a big part of our team, especially this year,” Kristina Kurdoghlian said. “The year before we had two posts and she had to replace both spots and she did.
“She really grew this year. She doubled her stats and made All-CIF. I love everything about her. She made us better.”
As for the postseason, the Spartans’ move into a much higher and tougher division resulted in a much shorter postseason run as La Cañada fell in the second round of the Division I-A playoffs.
The Spartans opened with a 60-33 victory over visiting Redlands East Valley on Feb. 16 in which Williams boasted 19 points and 17 rebounds.
In the season finale and Williams’ swansong, the senior finished with 19 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks in the Spartans’ 49-44 defeat at Riverside JW North on Feb. 18.
With her basketball career over, Williams acknowledged the positives she’ll take going forward.
“Since I started doing improv, I’d get nervous sometimes,” Williams said. “It’s more of an excitement-style of nervousness and I love it, but it can be nerve-wracking.
“When I get like that and fumble the lines I’ve rehearsed, I remind myself that I’ve played in a CIF basketball championship and have handled pressure. That calms me down.”
