Coach Johnecia Howard says eStem senior guard Olivia McWilliams is her team’s “game-changer.”

Sometimes the change comes early. Take Saturday, when eStem hosted Benton Harmony Grove at Philander Smith’s Panther Gymnasium. McWilliams’ multifaceted game was evident throughout as she and her Lady Mets teammates took control from the start and never let up in a 56-17 victory.

Sometimes it’s different.

In a game last season during the 3A-5 Conference tournament at Episcopal Collegiate, eStem trailed Perryville by two points at halftime.

“Coach called us in,” McWilliams said. “She said that you guys got to do what you got to do. She told us we all have our roles, and she told me I’m a game-changer. That stuck with me, so I went out and changed the game.”

McWilliams, 5-7, went out and scored 19 of her 28 points in the third quarter as eStem quickly took the lead and pulled away for a 62-33 victory.

Jessieville Coach Matt Carter sat in the bleachers with a fellow coach and watched as McWilliams directed eStem’s blowout victory.

“That was one of the biggest, one-player takeovers of a game either of us had ever seen,” Carter said. “It was incredible. I mean, she just totally took the game over by herself and willed her team to win.”

Howard said it was one of those moments when she just had to sit back and be thankful that McWilliams was on her team.

“It was unbelievable,” she said.”I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched that tape and just sat in awe of what she can do when she wants to.”

Carter has seen more of it this season.

McWilliams scored 31 points on Dec. 13 to lead eStem to a 62-59 victory at Jessieville. Carter said McWilliams took over from the beginning.

“She was whipping us single-handedly, and there wasn’t anything we could do about it,” he said.

When McWilliams signed a national letter of intent last November to play basketball for the University of Central Arkansas, she became the first eStem student to receive an NCAA Division I athletic scholarship.

EStem, founded in 2008, is a Little Rock charter school. Its name is an acronym for Economics, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The high school, located at the old Arkansas Gazette Building in downtown Little Rock, is in its second season as a member of the Arkansas Activities Association and has no regular home court for games or practices. Its teams rely on access to a number of gymnasiums across the Little Rock metro are, including the gym at Philander Smith College.

Carter said he believes McWilliams is talented enough to succeed in college.

“I think she can definitely play at the next level,” he said. “I mean, there are just so many things she can do. She can drive to the rim, or she can hit the three-pointer, or she can drive and then pull up and shoot it over you. So she’s very hard to guard from that standpoint.

“You don’t know what she’s going to do, so you really have to stay down in your stance, keep her in front of you, and try to challenge her shot and then hope doesn’t make it.”

“She can step in, pull back out, elevate up in the air and shoot a jump shot,” Benton Harmony Grove Coach David White said. “You don’t see a lot of girls at this level who can do that.”

McWilliams has averaged 17.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 3.5 steals through 27 games this season. Although she has played most of this season at point guard, Howard said McWilliams plays every position for the Lady Mets.

“She’s kind of the LeBron [James] of our team,” Howard said. “She does it all.”

McWilliams had 21 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 7 steals against Benton Harmony Grove.

“She’s definitely someone you want to get out and watch play,” Carter said. “She’s fun to watch. She’s by far the best player in our league, and we have some very good players.”

“She plays with a style that is not normal, especially in girls basketball,” Howard added. “She just makes it look easy. I think she’s not just the best player in our conference, I think she’s one of the best players in the state of Arkansas.”

Howard said she still receives calls about McWilliams’s performance against Perryville last season.

“I still get calls about it to this day,” Howard said. “To this day.”

Sports, Pages 27 on 02/16/2014