29 Dec 2021 Williams pushing Eagles for another playoff run
By Levi Gilbert
The 2021-22 season has been a roller coaster ride for Josie Williams and the Conway Christian Lady Eagles, but with the second half underway, Williams’s competitive spirit has her looking ahead and looking up.
As Williams describes it, this 2021 “year of adversities” has included a car accident and concussion that disrupted her pre-season training, a MCL sprain that kept her off the floor for three weeks in the first half of the season and a nagging ankle injury that required surgery and forced her to miss a big chunk of her sophomore season. But, none of these things have dissuaded Williams from what’s still possible for Conway Christian (5-7, 1-3) this year in her junior campaign.
“We had a great start to this season beating a state finalist 6A team, Fayetteville, then had a dry spell going into conference play, but we are starting to get our groove back,” Williams said. “We have the most talented school ball team I’ve played with, but we are still working to figure out how we all fit together.”
Williams was selected to this year’s 501 Basketball Team — 40 players representing the best the 501 has to offer both on and off the court. The team is sponsored by First Security Bank, Velda Luders of Coldwell Banker RPM Group, Moix Equipment and Toy Company and Conway Regional Health System. The junior was nominated for the second straight year by her head coach, Trey Lynch.
“Josie is a fearless competitor with a great motor,” Lynch said. “She is a shot creator and shot maker that can score from multiple spots. She rebounds very well for a guard and loves to create turnovers from her defense.
“She will be a major piece of the offense. Her ability to generate shots for herself and her teammates gives us lots of options on offense. Defensively, our hope is that she can grow into a confident stopper who can lock down multiple positions. As a junior with two years of high school experience already, we hope she can provide some quality leadership for a fairly young team.”
Williams is a multi-sport athlete at Conway Christian. She’s a member of the back-to-back Lady Eagles golf championship team. She also plays softball.
And Williams is just as competitive in the classroom, boasting a 4.0 GPA and currently ranking third in her class. Her extracurricular activities include Future Business Leaders of America, Beta Club, drama club, tech club and Spanish club.
“She is an extremely driven student with big-time life goals,” Lynch said. “Her GPA looks as good as her basketball stats. She may be the most determined kid I have ever coached. She is an extremely hard worker. She has big dreams for her team and pushes her teammates to compete at a higher level on a regular basis.”
Conway Christian picks up the season in the new year across-town against 2A-5 conference rival St. Joseph at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 4.
- Arkansas’s Idol - April 2, 2023
- Lady Cats face NLR in 6A championship - March 8, 2023
- The Lady Cats go to Washington - February 9, 2023
