Over his four-year career at Kankakee, where he became the program’s all-time scoring leader, Lincoln Williams has made his share of jaw-dropping plays for the Kays.

But one he made in Friday’s 60-53 win over Southland Athletic Conference rival Rich Township might be the most grand highlight from not only Williams, but from anyone in the state this season.

Near the end of the first quarter, Cedric Terrell III fired a 3-point attempt from the right baseline, a shot that was just a little strong and to the left.

Crashing the boards from the left wing, Williams leapt, snagged the rebound, cocked it back and threw down one of the most ferocious putback dunks ever on a high school court.

“Back in my [Chicago Vocational] days, the craziest dunk I’d ever seen was Derrick Rose against us,” Kays coach Chris Pickett said. “Tonight was the best high school dunk I’ve ever seen in my life. He’s Player of the Year to me. He’s Mr. Basketball.”

That slam from Williams, who more humbly put that dunk in his career top three, was one of several jaw-dropping, crowd-sparking plays the Kays got on both sides of the floor in a 60-53 victory over their conference rivals.

While he was pleased to wow the crowd with that slam, as well as the gravity-testing alley-oop he caught from Terrell III to open the second quarter, what was perhaps the most important stretch of effort from Williams came at the end of the third quarter.

He swept a couple quick steals for easy points the other way, the first two of three straight steals and easy layups the Kays (21-1, 11-0 Southland) got immediately after the Raptors had rallied to tie the game at 40.

“My coaches are definitely on me about defense the most as a four-year leader,” Williams said. “I’m just trying to lead my team and it starts on the defensive end. That was big to go on that 6-0 run and not look back.”

An early back-and-forth battle saw the Kays and Raptors (13-12, 6-4) trade a pair of ties and four lead changes in the first three minutes, Williams’ putback was the feather in the cap of a 10-0 run that gave the Kays a bit of separation at 18-8 after a quarter.

The Raptors, welcoming star senior Jameson Coulter back for his second game of the season after missing the team’s first 23 tilts, cut things to within a possession a couple of times in the second. Each time the Kays responded with 3-pointers to stay in control.

EJ Hazelett, who kissed the sky on three crowd-jolting blocks as well, hit a pair of back-breaking triples, as did Myair Thompson, helping the Kays to a comfortable 34-26 halftime lead. It also stretched the Raptors out of their 2-3 zone defense and changed Kankakee’s offensive outlook in the second half.

“Sitting in a zone doesn’t help when we’re shooting the ball well,” Hazelett said. “It really opened up the offense for us.”

The resilient Raptors hung tough in the third, even tying things at 40 when Taijon Eaton hit a pair of free throws with three minutes left in the frame.

But that’s when the Kays made their defensive mark, ending the third on an 8-0 run to set up a fourth quarter where they held the ball for nearly a minute on several occasions to close the game out.

Whether it was Williams’ video game-like slams, his own swatted shots or their steals and layups the other way, Hazelett said the way the Kays and their standing room only crowd fed off one another was similar to the “stadium pulse” setting on the NCAA Football video game that makes it almost impossible to find success as the visiting team.

“It gives us a big homecourt advantage and some people can’t handle that,” Hazelett said. “When the crowd gets like that it makes it more intense.”

Williams had 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting both from the floor and the free-throw line. He also had 11 rebounds, two assists, three steals and two blocks. Hazelett (15 points, six rebounds, three blocks), Thompson (12 points, one rebound, one steal) and Kenaz Jackson (10 points, three rebounds, one steal, one block) were also in double figures.

Defensively, the Kays held Coulter, who went for 25 points in his season debut in a 61-59 win at Thornwood Tuesday, to an 0-of-9 effort from the field and three points. AAU teammates in recent years, Williams said Coulter is like a brother to him, and also used what he knew of his buddy to his defensive advantage.

“He’s tough, he’s strong, he’s athletic,” Williams said. “He can do it all. I know his game like the back of my hand, just like he knows mine. I tried to stay back a bit and let him shoot, and I know I’m tall enough to block his shots.”

The Kays host the Chops Billinger Shootout on Saturday, closing out the night against Hyde Park. The Southland champions end conference play at Thornton on Tuesday.