In the fourth quarter of Kankakee’s 80-40 home win over Thornridge in Friday’s Southland Athletic Conference opener, Lincoln Williams drove the length of the floor and through the Falcon defense for a two-handed dunk.

Williams already had over a dozen dunks under his belt by that point in the game. But this time, when the high-flying senior finally came back to earth, he did so as the owner of the new Kankakee single-game scoring record.

That dunk gave Williams 44 points on the night, 30 of which came in the first half, and broke the record of 43 set by his former teammate Lorenz Walters in the 2022-23 season.

It also served as the exclamation point for the blowout win that improved Kankakee’s record to 2-0 on the young season.

“I talk to (Walters) all the time about breaking it, so once I got to 30 I knew it was reachable,” Williams said. “A lot of people know me for dunking, but to get a dunk to get the record meant a lot, and I’m sure Lorenz was watching.

“I just found my rhythm and kept going.”

Coming off 24 points in Tuesday’s season opener, Williams got off to a hot start with 12 points in the first quarter. He was even hotter to start the second, scoring the Kays’ first nine points in the period to bring their lead to 30-14.

After adding a basket midway through the second, Williams scored all seven of the team’s points in the final 1:14 of the first half to reach the 30-point mark, just three points shy of his previous career high.

Williams was up to 42 points by the end of the third quarter before making history in the fourth. He shot 19 of 24 in the game while also adding a team-high 14 rebounds and tying for the team lead with three steals.

Kankakee head coach Chris Pickett said that the work that Williams has put in from the start of his basketball career where he’s at now, as the consensus top player in the state for the class of 2026, has allowed him to be able to have nights like the one he did Friday.

“We always talk about where he came from and the development we’ve seen to where he is now,” Pickett said. “You’re going to see that senior year, that the harder he works, the more he is going to give us performances like that.

”As a program, it’s great to have someone like that that we can turn to. Whether it’s a close game or a blowout game, we know that he’s the guy that’s going to be out there performing at a high level for us.”

Friday’s win was also a promising sign for a Kankakee team with high hopes for the season.

EJ Hazelett, who battled cramps off and on during his team debut Tuesday, was able to give it more of a full go against Thornridge and give the Williams and the Kays the other half of their much-hyped senior duo.

Hazelett did a little of everything, finishing with eight points on 3 of 4 shooting, 13 rebounds and seven assists.

“Seeing Lincoln going for that many points, I was really just trying to get him the ball, but still stay aggressive,” Hazelett said. “We’re still getting in the groove of things early in the season, but as the season goes on, I just feel like we’re going to get better. The chemistry is going to get 1,000 times better.”

Having a pair of top-ranked seniors like Williams and Hazelett gives the Kays plenty of options, and Pickett said Hazelett’s presence raises the potential for what this team can do.

“He takes a lot of pressure off people like Lincoln, so Lincoln can play his game,” Pickett said. “He’s a great option for us offensively, he’s sound defensively and has rebounded well. All those different things, that makes us a formidable opponent for anyone.”

There is plenty of talent around Williams and Hazelett as well.

Myair Thompson went for 11 points Friday, Eli Cunningham had eight points and four rebounds in 14 minutes while Cedric Terrell III dished out a team-high 10 assists.

“It was a team game,” Williams said. “We all came out scoring. Myair, he got me the ball early. I love all my teammates and I’m thankful for them.”