Hillside's Asia Williams wins state Gatorade Award

Durham Hillside senior Asia Williams is the 2008-09 Gatorade North Carolina Girls Basketball Player of the Year.  Williams is the first Gatorade North Carolina Girls Basketball Player of the Year to be chosen from Hillside High School.
 
The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the court, distinguishes Williams as North Carolina’s best high school girls basketball player. 
 
Williams, a Wake Forest recruit, averages 21.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 3.2 steals per game for the Hornets (26-5). Hillside will play West Charlotte in the 4-A state championship on March 14. 

Williams scored 15 points in a 54-33 victory against Southeast Raleigh in the 4-A Eastern Regionla in Greenville. She was the regional Most Valuable Player honors. 

She will conclude her career with more than 1,800 points, 800 rebounds, 450 assists and 350 steals and carries a 4.55 weighted GPA in the classroom.
 
“She sets the tone,” said Hillside Head Coach Ovester Grays. “Asia has been a leader and a builder of our program like no other player I’ve had before. She’s one of the most versatile basketball players in the state and probably one of the top in the country. She’s a point-forward for us, so she can handle the ball like a point guard, she can flat-out score facing the basket and she can play with her back to the basket, too. With her basketball IQ and skill-set, she gives us an advantage every game we go into that other teams just can’t match.”