By Jason Hickman
MaxPreps.com
Not That Isaiah Thomas
Prior to Washington's Class 4A State Basketball Tournament last week, word association with the name Isaiah Thomas brought to mind the Detroit Pistons, a pair of NBA titles, Bob Knight's greatest disciple, and the New York Knicks' current general manager.
But after witnessing the greatest scoring display in state history, fans in Washington may have a different set of answers. Scoring machine. Future star. A miniature Allen Iverson.
Isaiah Thomas of Curtis High School in Tacoma, Wash., broke eight state tournament scoring records while leading his Vikings to a sixth-place finish in the state's highest classification.
Thomas' assault on the record books started innocently as he dropped 31 points, one below his season average, in Curtis' opening-round, 74-56 win over Jackson. In the following game, the point guard struggled to just nine points at the half as his team trailed Mount Tahoma by 12 points.
"They (Mount Tahoma) were doing a lot of face-guarding and were just real aggressive," Thomas said. "With us down by a big deficit at the half, I felt that was my time to take over."
And for the next six quarters, the little big man put on a scoring clinic that Washingtonians won't soon forget.
Thomas, listed generously at 5-9, sparked a comeback win against Mount Tahoma with 36 points in the second half and overtime, including 13 during a single two-minute span. He finished with 45 in the 86-81 quarterfinal victory, just three points shy of the state tournament record set in 1955.
But Thomas would take care of that mark in the semifinals by pouring in 51 points in an 80-76 loss to Franklin, the eventual state champion. The junior closed out the four-day tournament with 33 points in a 77-76 loss to South Kitsap and was named the most valuable player.
In all, Thomas broke eight state tournament records including points in a game (51), points in a tournament (162), points in a state tournament career (241), tournament scoring average (40.5), field goals made (53), field goals attempted (103), three-pointers made (23), and three-pointers attempted (56).
Gonzaga's Adam Morrison was one of two players that held the tournament scoring record (127) prior to last week's record-breaking run by Thomas.
Tournament of Champions Begins Thursday
Quarterfinal play in New Jersey's Tournament of Champions, which brings together each of the state's group winners for a winner-take-all finale, begins Thursday.
As usual, the event will be packed with high school hardwood stars. Top seed Bloomfield Tech (25-1) is loaded with future collegians, including 6-10 post player Casiem Drummond, who will take his game to Villanova next year, and 6-7 Desean Butler, a West Virginia commitment. Tech has a backcourt to go along with its inside presence with quality guards in junior Rashon Dwight, junior Wesley Jenkins, and senior Dante Rollins.
St. Patrick of Elizabeth (27-4), the No. 2 seed, could be the team of the future in New Jersey, but seniors Yves Mekongo-Mbala (6-7), Yannick Formbor (6-8), and Jhamar Youngblood (6-2) won't be looking down the road. Junior point guard Corey Fisher is considered to be among the top, non-senior floor generals in the country, while Anthony Baskerville is a highly-touted freshman.
Both Bloomfield Tech and St. Patrick earned first-round byes in the six-team field.
Haddonfield (30-1) faces Hamilton West (21-6) in the first quarterfinal Thursday at the Ritacco Center in Toms River, while Linden (26-6) will meet Seton Hall Prep (28-2) in the nightcap.
Haddonfield's Brian Zoubek, a 7-2 center, will play at Duke next year and had 21 points, 20 rebounds, and eight blocks in the Bulldawgs last outing against Newark Central. Seton Hall Prep has a seven-footer of its own in junior John Marciano, but is led by sophomore guard Ashton Gibbs, who averages 15 points per game.
The Tournament of Champions semifinals will be held Saturday at Rutgers University, with the finals March 22 at Continental Airlines Arena, home of the NBA's New Jersey Nets.
Herbstreit Scheduling Tough For the Buckeye State
Ohio will have its hands full in the 2006 Kirk Herbstreit Ohio vs. USA Challenge, featuring a 10-game gridiron slate played over two days, Sept. 15-16.
The featured matchup will be five-time USA Today national champion, De La Salle, Calif., facing Elder of Cincinnati. Lakeland, Fla., a strong candidate for the preseason No. 1 national ranking, tackles St. Xavier of Cincinnati in another high-profile game.
In all, Herbstreit's Ohio teams will face squads from eight different states - Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Texas.
Ehret Overcomes Katrina
High school sports have helped ease the pain in New Orleans, a city attempting to overcome the aftermath of the worst natural disaster in United States' history.
Against all odds, schools scrambled successfully to field teams for fall sports, but it is John Ehret High School's Class 5A state championship basketball team that perhaps best captures the spirit of recovery in the city.
John Ehret, located in Marrero - just outside of New Orleans - struggled out of the gate, compiling a 15-10 record using a roster that featured 10 players from five different schools. But then something clicked, the bickering stopped, and the Patriots began to roll.
John Ehret defeated Woodlawn of Baton Rouge Friday, 62-57, to capture the 5A title, capping a run of 12 wins in 13 games and completing a turnaround that is bound for the big screen. More on this story to come in the following days at MaxPreps.com.
Another Streak Snapped
Last week marked the end to a pair of prominent basketball win streaks. Randolph-Clay, Ga., saw a 90-game victory parade come to an end, while Oak Hill Academy, Va., lost after 56-straight wins.
This week it was Robert E. Lee of Staunton, Va., going down in defeat after 85-consecutive wins dating back to 2003. Martinsville, a Virginia high school basketball dynasty with 13 state titles, knocked off Lee 63-54, capturing the Group AA title in the process.
The Leemen entered the game with a 30-0 record on the season and had not lost since December of 2003. The streak goes down as the ninth-longest nationally.
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