Thomas scored 27 points at Northrop to break the Allen County scoring record. He now as 1,848 career points, which now puts him past Oscar Robertson and E'Twaun Moore. Here is the story (c&p) from the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette:
This is what hoop history looked like Friday: It was 6-foot-7 Deshaun Thomas holding the basketball low, then rising above everyone from the far right-hand corner. And when both came down – first the man-child, then the ball through the rim – the Bishop Luers junior became his uniform number of 1.
A three-point shot a minute, 19 seconds into the game Friday made Thomas the all-time leading scorer among Allen County boys. His 27 points at Northrop not only thrust his career total to 1,848 to surpass the short-lived record of 1,823 held by Elmhurst’s James Hardy, but they were instrumental in Luers defeating Northrop 76-69.
When Thomas’ record-breaking shot fell, it gave the Knights (10-3, 4-1 SAC) a 7-0 lead. Seconds later, Northrop coach Barak Coolman called a timeout – not to give Thomas his moment, in which he basked, including photos and receiving the game ball that he handed to his mother four rows up – but to regroup.
“I wanted to talk to the kids,” Coolman said. “I knew (Thomas) got his points, but they were up 7-0 and looking to run away and hide. Obviously, we want to honor him; that’s a great accomplishment, but I’m coaching my team to win.”
And for a while the Bruins (5-4, 2-2) appeared to be headed in that direction. A frenzied 23-2 spurt over the last 4:43 of the first half sent Northrop into the halftime with a 38-27 lead.
But in spite of the deficit Luers coach James Blackmon was also a cool man in the locker room.
“We knew the game is played in 32 minutes,” Blackmon said. “We knew we had a second half, so it wouldn’t do me any good to go in there and tear the locker room up. We still had a game. The game’s won in the second half and not the first half.”
Which it was.
Although it was Thomas who stole the show, it was Luers guards Kenny Mullen, Lawrence Barnett and Evan Blackmon who stole the ball often enough for the Knights to run away from Northrop midway through the last period.
Leading 57-56, Evan Blackmon buried a three. Then Mullen scored on a fast-break layup. And Barnett cut through a seam in the Northrop defense for a layup. And Mullen hit one free throw; the missed second was put back by Thomas.
And then came the showtime to close the deal. On back-to-back possessions, the fast-breaking Mullen tossed the ball against the glass only to have the trailing Thomas slam down career points 1,845-1,848.
But more will surely come; many more, considering he is only a junior.
“I want to put (the record) out of sight; keep my name up there and let everybody remember me,” he said.
When he stepped out of the Bishop Luers locker room, this is how hoop history was recorded: Of Thomas holding aloft 3-year-old James Hardy IV for a picture to be sent to his NFL father, who is recovering from knee surgery in Buffalo, N.Y.
So what of James Hardy III? Thomas smiles that kid smile. “I wish he was here to play me. I’d play him. I’d take a challenge.”
That, too, would be history.
Record-breaking Knight | The Journal Gazette
