Mekhi Gaston looks like a man, standing a muscular 6-foot-5. He often played like a man Thursday night against Wilkes-Barre, especially throughout the second half as he tried igniting a comeback at the Magic Dome.

But Gaston is just a freshman. A year ago, he was playing junior high basketball and now is competing at the Class 6A level. That’s quite a leap and literally and figuratively, he is still growing.

Still, Gaston has made big strides and scored 13 points while adding eight rebounds against Wilkes-Barre. An inconsistent team performance, however, undid that effort and Wilkes-Barre seemingly capitalized on all the Millionaires’ self-inflicted wounds while winning, 65-57. Williamsport (7-9) missed out on a shot to take over the top spot in the District 2-4 Class 6A standings, but Gaston’s emergence continues showing what could be if he and the team put it all together.

“He’s making major contributions without question,” Williamsport coach Allen Taylor said. “You look at him and you expect more of him but you have to remember that he’s a freshman. He’s still learning. You just see the raw talent and that’s what makes you expect a lot from him. As long as he continues to work and is willing to be coached, he’s going to get there.”

Tevin Williams scored a team-high 23 points and Kason Ulmer added 14. Still, Williams burst onto the scene a year ago and Ulmer flashed his potential late last season. Gaston was more of an unknown but as he gains more experience is making his presence more known.

Gaston dominated junior high the past two seasons but did so primarily while playing as a guard. Now he is one of the team’s tallest players and is learning the post game. There are times when he gets in trouble dribbling too much, but when Gaston is assertive and decisive the results are impressive.

Displaying both his explosiveness and strength, Gaston scored eight second-half points while adding five rebounds. His work on the boards created some key second-chance opportunities and his aggressive drive and finish pulled Williamsport within, 51-50 with 2 minutes, 24 seconds remaining.

“I’ve just been working out with Coach T and he teaches me things to help my game get better. Once my game gets better, it makes me feel more comfortable playing out there,” Gaston said. “It’s starting to slow down a lot and it’s making things easier rather than just running around the court not knowing what to do.”

Taylor stresses making a .5 decision, meaning decide one is going or pass the ball and keep the offense moving. Gaston got away from that, as did all the Millionaires during the first half, but he highlighted his growing knowledge by embracing the concept during the second half and it made a big difference.

Gaston not only scored, but created foul shot opportunities, going to the line nine times. The final of his free throws ignited a quick 5-0 spurt as Williamsport cut a seven-point deficit to 59-57 in just 22 seconds. Gaston also dealt two assists and made two steals.

“My teammates tell me I’m a leader. I want to show that to them and that I can help the team,” Gaston said. “The adrenaline starts going, and it helps me to play better. My teammates always tell me we start out inside. Once you start making layups and mid-range and things like that, it opens up the rim more.”

That was the team game plan entering Thursday’s contest. But Williamsport shot seven first quarter 3-pointers instead and quickly was behind, 13-4 as the defense compounded things by seemingly just watching quick Wilkes-Barre defenders blow by them.

Williamsport game planned defensively around Wilkes-Barre’s screens and not letting electric point guard David Jannuzzi have freedom to dribble. Instead, Jannuzzi ran circles around a sleepy defense and scored 30 points. Put it all together and what frustrated the coaches more than the game’s result was how it all transpired.

That goes double after Williamsport played its best game this season just five days earlier against former nemesis and District 11 title contender Pottsville.

“It’s frustrating from a coaching standpoint when you know what you prepared for, but you don’t go out and execute it. We execute one game plan but then we don’t execute the next one,” Taylor said. “The consistency is what we have to get. We just lack consistency in our execution. This team looked completely different than the team from Saturday. We have to figure it out.”

In a way, Thursday’s game was a microcosm of Williamsport’s season thus far. The Millionaires looked outstanding at times, briefly turning that nine-point deficit into a 28-27 second quarter lead. But as soon as Williamsport took a step forward, it often took two backward, including allowing six straight Wilkes-Barre points to close the half, a stretch in which Williamsport missed two layups and lost three turnovers.

From there, the game resembled a yo-yo. Wilkes-Barre would stretch the lead to six or seven points; Williamsport would chip away and then repeat. That trend continued to close out the game. Following Gaston’s drive which made it, 51-50, Robert Fuentes got a friendly roll on a wide-open 3-pointer and ignited a short spurt which made it a seven-point game with 69 seconds left.

Williamsport did not flinch and stormed back as Williams hit a short pull-up jumper before beating two defenders and driving to make it, 59-57. Again, it felt like Williamsport would kick the door down, but again Wilkes-Barre–more specifically, Jannuzzi–slammed it shut, clinching victory with six straight foul shots and finishing 12 of 12 at the line.

“I’m disappointed in our lack of offensive execution. We do so many layup drills and that’s the easiest shot you’re going to get in the game of basketball against a team that does not have a shot blocker,” Taylor said. “We just have to focus on us. That’s what we need to do. We need to focus on us and take care of the things we can take of and that we can control.”

Film review of this one will not be easy but also could help the light bulb go off. Despite repeated missed layups, going 11 of 22 at the line and playing lackluster defense, Williamsport still had a shot at beating the district’s current top seed. Learn from mistakes made and the Millionaires could potentially turn a negative into a positive.

There were pieces and it’s about putting them all together. Ulmer was a big piece of the puzzle early in the third quarter as Williamsport came out executing the plan which was installed at practice. Ulmer scored eight quick points as the Millionaires seized on a size advantage, but after an Ulmer steal and layup made it a two-point game, Wilkes-Barre (11-6) scored the next five points.

“We definitely can play a lot better than we did tonight,” Gaston said. “There’s a lot we can learn from this.”

WILKES-BARRE (65)

David Jannuzzi 9 12-12 30, Mike Keating 5 0-0 13, Robert Fuentes 4 0-0 9, Camrin Shovlin 0 1-2 1, Luciano Jannuzzi 2 2-2 6, Orlando Williams 1 0-0 3, Achilles Fuentes 1 0-2 2, Zion Magee 0 1-2 1. Totals 22 16-19 65.

WILLIAMSPORT (57)

Tevin Williams 10 2-4 23, Kason Ulmer 6 2-3 14, Naazir Lowe 2 1-2 6, Ethan Chilson 0 0-0 0, Mekhi Gaston 4 5-9 13, Quincy Williams 0 1-2 1, Saleem Overton 0 0-0 0, Maurice Baines 0 0-0 0, Josh Sweeting 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 11-22 57.

Wilkes-Barre 20 13 15 17–65

Williamsport 14 14 14 15–57

3-pointers: Wilkes-Barre 5 (Keating 3, Fuentes, Williams); Williamsport 2 (Williams, Lowe).

Records: Wilkes-Barre 11-6. Williamsport 7-9.