Brian Williams Fights His Battles Above the Rim : Tall Tale to Unfold When St. Monica Meets Mater Dei in a 5-A Semifinal Tonight

Brian Williams, St. Monica High School center, had a smart piece of advice for fans planning to attend tonight’s Southern Section 5-A semifinal game between the Mariners and Mater Dei:

“Get your popcorn early,” he said. “This is gonna be a good one.”

Williams knows a good show when he’s about to play in one. Tonight, he’ll be co-starring in high school basketball’s version of Battle of the Giants in the Sports Arena at 7 p.m.

It’s Williams, 6-foot 10-inch shot-blocking fiend, vs. Mater Dei’s LeRon Ellis, 6-foot 11-inch scoring machine.

They are considered two of the nation’s best high school senior centers, and both will take their accolades and formidable wingspans to major colleges next season--Williams to the University of Maryland and Ellis to Kentucky.

It is, perhaps, the best matchup of quality big men in the Southern Section since Bill Laimbeer of Palos Verdes High School met David Greenwood of Verbum Dei in the 1975 4-A semifinals.

Laimbeer (now with Detroit) led Palos Verdes over Greenwood (now with San Antonio) and Verbum Dei. The Sea Kings went on to win the 4-A title.

Williams and Ellis have met once before in a Nike Camp game at Princeton last summer, but they have never played in a game of this magnitude.

The winner earns a berth in the 5-A final. The loser prepares for the ribbing he’ll receive when Williams and Ellis room together for the Dapper Dan High School All-Star game at Pittsburgh in April.

“Brian hasn’t gone against someone this good, and I imagine LeRon hasn’t either,” said Leo Klemm, St. Monica coach. “It should be a great matchup.”

Ellis is considered the better player, but not by much. He’s a little more polished, whereas Williams is still a bit rough around the edges.

Ellis could walk into a major Division I college program and start as a freshman. Williams will probably be a much better player in two or three years.

“He’s been a consistently great defensive player this year and an ever-improving offensive player,” Klemm said. “He’s still learning how to move his feet, post up and come to the ball. He’s made a lot of progress in one year, but there’s a lot ahead for him too.”

Klemm has had only one year to coach Williams, a well-traveled player who transferred to St. Monica from Bishop Gorman High in Las Vegas last summer.

Williams has gone to four schools in four years. He began high school at an all-freshman school in Fresno and then missed his sophomore season at Fresno’s Edison High because of a cracked kneecap.

After moving to Las Vegas with his father, Williams was named most valuable player at Bishop Gorman as a junior. He then moved to Santa Monica to live with his mother, Patricia Phillips, and enrolled at St. Monica, where he helped the Mariners to a 20-6 record.

Williams averaged 18 points and 12 rebounds a game this season and has been a defensive force in the playoffs, blocking 18 shots in two games.

Williams doesn’t remember much about the time he faced Ellis last summer, but recalls playing fairly well against the Monarch star.

“I’m really not sure how to stop him, because the time I played against him, I didn’t take notes,” Williams said. “I really haven’t faced anyone like him this year, except maybe (Ocean View’s) Ricky Butler. But I didn’t play against any big men before Nike camp, and I did pretty well there. I just have to be in the right state of mind.”