After scoring 1,000th, Fannie Lou’s Thomas has eye on team prizes
AFTER SCORING his 1,000th career point on Jan. 31, Isaiah Thomas has just two more things he wants to achieve on the basketball court for Fannie Lou Hamer: winning another PSAL ‘B’ city championship and capping it all off with the state Federation title that eluded the Patriots last season.
Thomas was honored for his personal achievment on Friday night in the Bronx, receiving a commemorative ball that was inscribed with the words ‘ 1,000 career points.’
But Thomas, a senior, knows it will mean nothing without the Federation championship he and the Patriots have been aiming for. After winning the PSAL ‘B’ title a year ago, Fannie Lou Hamer went up to Albany and advanced to the Federation final but lost to CHSAA ‘ B’ representative Monsignor Scanlan, 52-50.
“We came up short last year, and to get back up there and win it will mean a lot for me and my teammates,” Thomas said.
Patriots coach Marc Skelton applauds Thomas for passing the 1,000-point mark but definitely wants more for the player and the team. Skelton knows that falling short of city and Federation finals would be a major disappointment for a team that has won 20 or more games in four straight seasons.
“We enjoyed our time in Albany,” Skelton said. “We’d like to get back and we felt like we left something up there that we’d like to bring to the Bronx.”
Thomas will be the key factor for Fannie Lou Hamer in their quests. Playing basketball since the age of 5, Thomas is accustomed to setting and accomplishing goals. He challenges himself in every aspect of the game, and when he feels he’s not good at something he heads to the gym to perfect his skills.
“As a freshmen Isaiah came in and I told him that he couldn’t shoot and he interpreted that as he was unable to shoot,” Skelton said. “So he said that he worked on it all summer sophomore year and came back as a better shooter, all because I said he couldn’t shoot.”
Averaging about 20 points a game, the 6-1 guard is leading the team in scoring, steals and rebounds. And because of his work ethic, passing the 1,000-point mark was nearly as meaningful to his teammates as it was to him.
“It was one of those moments where the team coalesced, one of those moments that you could not pass up,” Skelton said. “Everyone was very supportive.”
Senior teammate Yusef Rice has played basketball with Thomas since elementary school and was happy for him.
“I’m really proud of him for scoring 1,000 points, and it’s a good goal for him to accomplish,” Rice said.
With the biggest games of the season right around the corner, Skelton is hoping Thomas can play as well as he did during last season’s playoff run, when he scored 19 points in the city title game.
“He’s learned to play the right way,” Skelton said. “He deserves the accolades that’s fallen to him, the thousand points and the PSAL championship MVP.” Now, there’s only one more thing for Thomas to accomplish — winning that Fed
eration crown.