Gavyn Williams and Tyler Harris show up big in Warner Robins’ fourth straight win

One of the biggest talking points surrounding Warner Robins before the season was their lack of an alpha, and the competition for that top spot.

Senior Gavyn Williams and junior Tyler Harris were the names in that conversation, and both of them made key contributions in the Demons’ fourth straight win after breaking a six-game losing streak.

Their previous 4-10 record was a new low for head coach Jamaal Garman, but after beating New Hampstead on Friday they are in a much better position to defend their region title.

Williams kept Warner Robins in the game to start, scoring eight of their 11 first-quarter points.

His two three-pointers came at opportune times and left the Demons with a two-point deficit after one.

“Gavin’s gonna always bring it man, he’s my guy,” Garman said. “It was important for him to start fast like that because we know Gavin will get in foul trouble at some point in the game. He’s going to have to sit down for about a quarter, maybe half a quarter somewhere in there. He did a good job today maintaining and not getting in foul trouble, and getting hot for us right at the beginning of the game.”

Though Williams did score the game-sealing layup at the end of the night, Harris’s efforts fueled Warner Robins in the intermediate.

He scored eight of his 13 points in the second half — six in the fourth quarter — but his contributions went beyond that. He got down low and rebounded well on both ends of the floor, and he also came up with some clutch blocks as the Demons separated themselves from New Hampstead late.

Garman has had a kind of breakthrough with Harris, too, as far as pushing him to be more aggressive.

“[We’re] putting a lot of pressure on him to be that scorer. He’s got to be. He has to be that scorer regardless of what’s going on in the game,” Garman said. “[We] put a couple rules in place for him that if he doesn’t meet them at the end of the game, the next day at practice he has to see our punisher at practice. He’s mindful of that, and now he’s taking it to heart.”

“Tyler’s one of those kids you have to give him a goal. You can’t just tell him, ‘Hey go do this,’” He continued. “He’ll go do it, but it won’t mean much to him. But if you tell him, ‘Hey go do this so you can get this,’ then it’s like, ‘All right I’m gonna go do it now.’ I just like the fact that he’s turning that corner for us and being one of our leaders.”