That’s because Thomas is now officially the all-time leading scorer in the history of Randall boys’ basketball, and as he goes, so go the Raiders. But the good news is that on this particular Tuesday night at the Randall Gym, the Raiders were good enough against Amarillo High that Thomas didn’t need to go off in the second half.
In the Bell Street battle of unbeaten top five teams in their respective classifications, Thomas etched his name atop all the players who have ever scored in a Randall uniform when he scored a basket midway through the first quarter. That was enough to celebrate in and of itself, but was just one storyline as Randall, ranked No. 5 in Class 4A, thumped Amarillo High, No. 3 in Class 5A, 62-48.
Something obviously had to give in a matchup of unbeaten teams located just over three miles from each other. That was Amarillo High’s record, which fell due in no small part to Thomas, who had a game-high 24 points for the Raiders (5-0).
He was within striking distance of the record before tipoff, but that’s not what motivated him against the Sandies (9-1).
“Coach (Broadhurst) had let me know but I was just worried about winning the game today,” said Thomas, who has signed to play at University of Texas-El Paso, and who broke the school record held by Nathan Maxwell, who had 1,886 career points. “We felt like we were going to beat them all week with the preparation we put into this game. The thing was hitting them from the jump and wearing them down.”
Aside from the opening minutes, Randall was in control the whole way, not trailing the entire game. Thomas, naturally, set the tone, scoring 11 points in the first quarter, and his third field goal of the game, a drive to the basket, vaulted him past Maxwell (who graduated in 2006) and to the top of the school record book. Randall led 18-5 at the end of the quarter, and the Sandies never got closer than six points after that.
The Raiders led 32-21 at halftime, and Thomas had 18 points to lead them. That surprised absolutely nobody.
“You know, you love all your players and I’ve coached them all here, but he’s the best player we’ve had at this school,” said Broadhurst, who not only has coached Thomas all three years on the varsity, but every Randall boys basketball player since the school opened in 1988. “He proved himself tonight against as good a defensive team as we’ve faced. He steps up every single time. We’re just grateful for him, his family and all these guys.
“I sleep better with (Thomas) on my team, I’ll tell you that.”
Thomas went fairly cold from the floor in the second half, adding to his total by hitting 6-of-10 free throws in the fourth quarter. By that time, the Raiders were firmly in control.
The milestone caps a big November for Thomas, who earlier in the month signed with UTEP. He’ll go into every game for the rest of the season as Randall’s all-time leading scorer, but can now concentrate on leading the Raiders, who return four starters from last year’s team which made the state tournament.
“It definitely helps,” Thomas said. “The total focus all season was to get back to state. That’s the most important thing.”
Tayesen Combs added 15 points for Randall.
Amarillo High, on the other hand, may have gotten a wake-up call. The Sandies often seemed tentative putting up shots, especially inside against Randall’s Zack Bol, who had several blocks.
The game did end an era for longtime coaches Broadhurst and Amarillo High’s Jason Pillion, the latter of whom is happy to have seen the last of Thomas.
“He’s extremely skilled,” Pillion said of Thomas. “He can pass, he can dribble, he can go all directions and stop on a dime. He obviously shoots it really well. He just has a work ethic. He’s in the gym early, he’s in the gym late. He’s done all the things a guy has to do to become a great player.”
Braden Hausen led the Sandies with 19 points and Zach Brown had 10. It was a far different result from when the two teams met last year at Amarillo High, with the Sandies winning 65-44.
“It was definitely motivation from last year,” Thomas said. “They kind of embarrassed us. We owed them this year.”
Amarillo High 5 21 27 48
Randall 18 32 41 62
AHS – Braden Hausen 19, Zach Brown 10. R – K.J. Thomas 24, Tayesen Combs 15. Records: Amarillo High 9-1, Randall 5-0.
Lady Sandies rout Lady Raiders, 84-49
The Randall and Amarillo High boys weren’t the only two teams from their respective schools with state top 10 rankings to meet at Randall, as the two girls’ teams opened the evening by squaring off against each other, but with less competitive results.
This time Amarillo High, ranked No. 2 in Class 5A, got off to a fast start and never let Randall, No. 7 in 4A, get into the game, as the Lady Sandies rolled to an 84-49 victory.
Amarillo High (10-2) took a 24-9 lead in the first quarter and steadily increased it from there. In the second quarter, Amarillo High’s Bella Edwards scored 14 points, including four 3-pointers, to boost the Lady Sandies to a 48-23 halftime lead.
Edwards continues to be a discovery for the Lady Sandies, as she hit six threes en route to leading Amarillo High with 24 points. Taytum Bell scored 19 for the Lady Sandies while Jada Graves had 16 and Ca’Nia Mitchell added 15.
Sadie Sanchez led Randall (5-4) with 24 points.