SACCO: Thanks to a contact lens

STAUNTON

Someone had a contact-lens malfunction that forced her out of the game.

That worked just fine for a handful of Spotswood fans who drove to Staunton on Saturday.

Sitting smack dab in the middle of the Christopher Newport bench, Marykate Williams got a quick look and point from coach Carolyn Hunter, threw her towel back onto her chair and jogged to the scorers’ table. Those royal-blue clad fans cheered; they were getting what they came to Mary Baldwin for – to see Williams play.

They drove 40 minutes from Elkton and the little enclaves that surround the town. They got to watch five minutes of court time from Williams. It was enough to give them all reason to cheer.

Williams dives for a loose ball.

They cheer.

She grabs a rebound.

Of course they cheer.

She snares a steal.

Yep, they cheer again.

Five minutes of playing time? Yeah, CNU is a long way from Penn Laird and the days of Williams being a major cog for the Trailblazers.

Sure, both CNU and Spotswood sport her favorite hue.

“I love wearing royal blue,” she said. “It’s kind of my color.”

Other than that, it seems everything has changed. And those four years of grabbing minutes, rebounds, points and a state title seem as fleeting at a winter squall on Afton.

“It is a lot different,” she said. “In high school, I played a bunch.”

In college, the stakes are a little higher and, to be honest, you have to wait your turn unless you’re a Division-I blue chipper. Williams is not. CNU is Division III.

“In college, you have to pay attention to everything,” she said. Even if you’re on the bench, because things can change in a flash and someone higher up on the depth chart can lose a contact lens at a moment’s notice.

“You never know when you may get into a game,” she said.

Saturday, during a 74-45 romp over the Fighting Squirrels, turned out to be one of those games. It mattered little that Williams, the Spotswood team MVP and a second-team All-Massanutten selection in 2008, put up two shots and missed them both. Those fans got to see her play, some for the first time since high school. Like her dad, Donnie Williams, who, up until Saturday, said he only saw his daughter play in college scrimmages. Never a regular-season contest.

“I love watching her play,” Donnie Williams said. “I’m proud of her.”

Standing in a hallway of the MBC Physical Activities Center, Williams didn’t look much different than when she was in high school. She’s still always smiling. She’s still well spoken and she still talks highly of her local friends. Only two standouts were missing from the crowd Saturday – her high school coach, Chris Dodson, and “my best friend, Amber Showalter.” Showalter is a senior at Concord in West Virginia, though her father, Larry, drove up for the game, stood along the baseline and furiously snapped pictures with a professional-looking camera, not some Wal-Mart bought point-and-shoot.

“I have a lot of good family and friends,” Williams said. “I’m lucky to have all these people come and support me.”

They’ll get to see more of her in due time. Coach Hunter said the Captains are prepping the freshman with some minutes here and there. The 11-year veteran expects good things from the girl she recruited out of Penn Laird.

“She’s coming right along,” Hunter said. “She’s going to make it happen.”

To get there, Williams will have to stay focused and keep her love of the game. From the sound of things, those won’t be problems.

“You get out what you put in,” she said. “I wouldn’t be playing if I didn’t love it.”

Then everybody will get to watch her play more. Much, much more than just five minutes of spot duty 40 miles from home.

“Sometimes I can’t get away from work,” Donnie Williams said of his inability to make regular trips to see his daughter play. “And I got to keep doing that.”

So does Marykate. And, soon, you won’t need a contact lens to see her on the court.

Malfunction or not.