ORIGINALLY APPEARED ON CITYOFBASKETBALLLOVE.COM ON JAN. 12, 2025 | BY JEREMY GOODE

Taylor Williams is getting the hang of high school basketball at Germantown Academy and what her role on the team is 15 games into the season. 

The 5-foot-11 freshman has turned to her defensive abilities to help the Germantown Academy Patriots carve out a 11-4 start as they get into Inter-Ac play. While many players want the ball in their hands taking shot after shot, Williams is okay not playing that role. 

Of course, she is not afraid to get shots up; she is posting up virtually every possession, shuffling back to each side depending on which wing the ball is on. She is ready to get the ball down low and put it back up for a contested layup like she did twice successfully during the City of Basketball Love Winter Classic at Ursinus College, where Germantown Academy defeated Bishop Shanahan 52-42. 

Right now, scoring comes second to Williams. After all, she only scored six points against Bishop Shanahan, a modest display compared to her senior teammate and captain, Gabby Bowes who recorded 21 points and six three-pointers. 

But it is not Williams’ work in scoring a few buckets underneath the basket that really helps Germantown Academy’s offense. It is her playmaking with the ball underneath the basket that translates into points, even without shooting. Whenever a Germantown Academy guard is able to get the ball to Williams, she draws two, sometimes three players. Williams collects herself, tries to initially make a play to the basket, and often swings the ball to an open teammate on the wing since she was able to draw so much attention. A couple times, this resulted in Bowes hitting open three-pointers off a pass by Williams.

“I’m not a score-first player,” Williams said. “Yes, I do love to score, but I am also aware my teammates are also able to score. So, when I am able to get them involved, I love to do that.”

“She finishes extremely well,” GA coach Lauren Power said. “Her composure, her presence and strength inside… we are starting to see what she is really capable of.”

With this Germantown Academy team, Williams’ attributes fit well. Bowes, a Millersville commit, is one of the area’s top perimeter threads. Co-captain Jessica Kolecki has the ability to blow by defenders and get to the rim. Juniors Sylvie Harrington, Anna Weber, and Claire McKee are able to get their own shot off, and sophomore Jo Owens is another intriguing young forward at 6-1.

And since Germantown Academy is able to get Williams a decent amount of touches down low, it is easy to see how Bowes finished with 14 of GA’s 17 points in the second quarter. Or how the team connected on seven three-point shots. Bowers finished with a game high 21 points.

Williams was at Springside-Chestnut Hill Academy as an eighth grader, getting some varsity minutes, but wanted a fresh start for her high school years. When Germantown Academy head coach Lauren Power heard that Williams was available, she was quite interested in bringing the young forward into the fold. 

“We recruited her for her skillset; obviously she can score and rebound the ball, but I think she is becoming a shot blocker,” Power said. “She is really focusing in on her defense. That’s been a key thing for us; really playing team defense and understanding the dynamics that you have to be doing three things at once.” 

You could say Williams has been “thrown into the fire” early on. Last year, as an eighth grader at Springside Chestnut Hill, Williams played varsity. Now, she starts as a freshman for Germantown Academy. 

Besides her versatility on offense, Williams has a positive impact defending the basket. She swatted a few shots against Bishop Shanahan, and even defended baseline, stepping out to nearly the three-point line and blocking a Shanahan shot. 

“Over the season, I’ve been struggling on defense and it is something I’ve been working on,” Williams said. “Moving laterally, sliding my feet, and just getting better on the perimeter, but also (using) my length and size to my ability to block shots.”

The playmaking by Williams could very well have an impact on the rest of the team. In the first quarter, Germantown Academy only gave up two points. 

In fact, a major identity of this Germantown Academy team is their defense. They are giving up just under 41 points per contest.

Germantown Academy’s win against Bishop Shanahan makes it five in a row for the Patriots. They have been quite busy since Wednesday, beating the Hill School, SCH Academy , and Epsicopal Academy in a four-day span. They will have two additional Inter-Ac matchups next week, hosting Baldwin and Agnes Irwin. 

Williams knows there are improvements to take to her game. She has time too; that’s one of the reasons why Power is so excited to have Williams on her team. While she plays center, she is among the smaller centers at under six-feet. Williams is working on her jump shot, among other things. 

With only a brief stint of high school basketball career at Germantown Academy, Power already has strong words for Williams’ skillset and play.

“She is the best high school post player I’ve ever coached, already as a freshman,” Power said. “She started to develop an outside shot and I think that is going to be critical for her for the next three years as well as into her college career.”

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By Quarter

BS:   2   |  16  |   7   |  17  ||  42
GA:  10  |  17  |  11  |  14  ||  52

Shooting
Bishop Shanahan:   15-40 (7-20 3PT) 5-10 FT
Germantown Academy: 18-47 (7-17 3PT)  9-13 FT

Scoring
Bishop Shanahan: Abby Garrity 12, Kayla Decker 10, Carmel Ambrose 8, Lauren Foster 7, Taylor Bollenbach 3, Allie Bretz 2.

Germantown Academy: Gabby Bowes 21, Taylor Williams 6, Jessica Kolecki 5, Juliana Rush 5, Sylvie Harrington 4, Claire McKee 4, Jo Owens 4, Anna Weber 2, Jennifer Fox 1.