TJ Williams has a shot repertoire that is unique in a modern game that so often is centered around the 3-point arc.

The Bolingbrook senior guard can and will take shots from distance.

But Williams is just as confident in his mid-range game, just inside the arc.

He is athletic enough that he can raise up and shoot at any time, from any distance.

“He’s a shot-maker,” Bolingbrook coach Rob Brost said. “He can make shots that most kids at this level cannot make.”

Williams put that skill on display Friday.

He made his first nine shots from the field, and scored 20 of his 26 points in the first half.

Visiting Bolingbrook never trailed in blowing past Oswego East 83-54 in the Southwest Prairie Conference game.

“I was just getting in the groove of things, my teammates kept finding me, making sure that I was open,” Williams said. “If I was hot they kept finding me the ball.”

Brady Pettigrew added 20 points, Jeremy McCullum 12 and Trey Brost eight points and 10 assists for Bolingbrook (17-6, 12-0). For Oswego East (14-9, 7-4), Dshaun Bolden scored 20 points and Mason Lockett 19.

Williams was wide open in the corner on Bolingbrook’s first possession, and slowly unwound a 3-point attempt that was nothing but net.

He was just getting started.

He knocked down a pull-up jumper and drilled a long, contested two-point shot as part of Bolingbrook’s 10-2 start.

Later he drove, came to a jump stop and floated a shot up over a defender.

Williams scored 13 in the first quarter, part of Bolingbrook’s 23-7 blitz.

“I’ve been working on my jump shot with high elevation, trying to get my shot better because a lot of people say I need to get my shot off faster,” Williams said. “I’ve been in my gym working on my shots, making it in games like I do in practice.

“Once I found out I was in a good rhythm I just wanted to keep attacking, just show that I wasn’t going to let my foot off the gas.”

Bolingbrook did not, collectively, shooting 64% in the first half to go up 49-27 at half.

Oswego East, which dropped its fourth straight, also gave up 49 points in the first half this past Saturday against New Trier.

“Gotta be better at playing team defense; just didn’t have that tonight,” Oswego East coach Ryan Velasquez said. “We’re not going to outscore teams so we have to defend. We like to give up 50 points in a game; we gave up 49 in the first half.”

It’s been a tough stretch for Oswego East, whose third-leading scorer and second-leading rebounder Jacsen Tucker was out sick.

The Wolves have allowed three teams to top 80 points in its four-game losing streak. They lost to Joliet West on Tuesday at the buzzer.

“It’s been a pretty tough January ever since we lost to Oswego,” Velasquez said. “This sport will teach you a lot about character. I feel like we have some resiliency. We have to get back on our feet.”

While January was not kind to Oswego East, Bolingbrook is getting whole as the month closes.

Brost played in his second game back from injury Friday, and his presence showed.

“We’re just completely different without him,” coach Brost said. “He just knows what matchups to take advantage of, he gets TJ and Brady the ball in spots where they can score. It’s not all about Trey, but it makes our team a little more cohesive. He understands the game.”

It makes for quite a guard combination with Pettigrew, one of the state’s top prospects as a sophomore, and Williams, who has settled in nicely in his first season at Bolingbrook after leading Glenbard West to a sectional title last year, scoring 32 in a sectional game.

“The year has been great,” Williams said. “We’ve all been sharing the ball, there is no selfishness. We have been coming into each game getting everybody involved.”

Williams throughout his high school career has not always been a high-volume shot-taker or scorer, but Brost was not surprised to see him go off like he did Friday.

He kept it rolling out of halftime, making his first three shots with a baseline jumper and a long one from the wing.

Ironically, three of his later misses were two layups that rolled off and a missed dunk.

“I think he had a 30-point game earlier in the year; he’s capable of doing those things,” Brost said. “He’s shown throughout the year that he can make difficult shots. He’s allowed to shoot shots others wouldn’t be allowed to do because of it.

“Our team is moving in the right direction. We have Evanston at their place tomorrow. They’re really good. When we’re right we’re really good.”