Recounting Thomas' Exploits As A Cardinal

THOMAS NAMED FARMINGTON ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

File photo Matt Thomas, shown driving on Harrison as a Farmington sophomore, scored 1,434 points as a Cardinal. He shares honors for 2016 male Athlete of the Year at Farmington with former teammate, Matt Wilson. Thomas transferred to Pea Ridge for his senior year.
File photo Matt Thomas, shown driving on Harrison as a Farmington sophomore, scored 1,434 points as a Cardinal. He shares honors for 2016 male Athlete of the Year at Farmington with former teammate, Matt Wilson. Thomas transferred to Pea Ridge for his senior year.

FARMINGTON -- In three seasons as a starter on Farmington's varsity boys basketball squad, former Cardinal Matt Thomas' achievements would put him in the hall of fame for most schools.

That likely won't happen because Thomas transferred to Pea Ridge for his senior year. Yet, his overall body of work as a Cardinal speaks volumes. Thomas shares honors with his former teammate, Matt Wilson, on the Cardinal boy basketball team, as male Athlete of the Year for 2016 at Farmington as selected by the Enterprise-Leader.

A National Honor Society student, Thomas became a varsity starter as a 14 year old freshman, averaging 18.3 points-per-game. Consistent shooting was his trademark throughout his Farmington career with 53 percent field goals made and 74 percent free throw shooting as a freshman, to go along with 34 percent on 3-point shots.

While at Farmington, Thomas played against some of the best athletes in the state and helped Farmington hold their own. He twice faced Pottsville's Michael Perry, a high school Heisman winner, during his freshman season. Farmington squeaked out a 64-63 win Dec. 28, 2013, but was eliminated from the 4A North Regional, 48-33, with Perry scoring 27.

"He [Perry] is a great player, he's been a great player for a long time," said Farmington coach Beau Thompson after the game. "He's a starter as a freshman. I hope my freshman [Matt Thomas] looks like [him] by the time he's a senior."

Thomas helped the Cardinals finish as co-conference champions of the 4A-1, equaling a 12-2 record of a very tough Lincoln squad that included Shandon "Biggie" Goldman, now at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Farmington hosted the district tournament in Mryl Massie Gymnasium. With future Iowa State football recruit Dylan Soehner playing center, Prairie Grove upset Lincoln in the district semifinals, then upstaged their No. 1 rival, Farmington and Thomas, in the district championship.

As a sophomore, Farmington moved up to the 5-A West Conference. Facing larger schools with better defenders, Thomas averaged 15.5 points, hitting 50 percent of his field goals with a 3-point field goal percentage of 22 and free throw percentage of 77. Not known as an outstanding defender, he none-the-less led the team in drawing charges. Thomas played in the last varsity game held at Myrl Massie Gymnasium, a Dec. 2014 non-conference, 66-53, defeat of Prairie Grove.

In that contest, Thomas transformed a Tiger turnover into a 3-pointer which swelled an early Cardinal advantage to 16-4. They led at halftime, 33-25. In the third, Soehner connected on a jumper in the lane for Prairie Grove which narrowed the lead to 33-27. Thomas came back with another 3-pointer, then followed that up with a steal and layup which inflated Farmington's lead to 38-27 and the Cardinals were able to pull-away. Thomas' 13 points represented their margin of victory.

A month later, Farmington's new competitive basketball gym, Cardinal Arena opened on Jan. 16, 2014, with Thomas helping the boys basketball team get a dramatic, 62-54, win over visiting Greenbrier in 5A West play. With 2:18 left in the first quarter Thomas rebounded and cleared the outlet to kick-start a Farmington fast break leading to senior Jeremy Mueller recording the first assist in the new arena with a nifty behind-the-back pass to Skyler Barnes for a layup. With 1.8 seconds remaining Mac Spears stepped in front of a Greenbrier pass making a steal in the left corner and drew a foul stopping the clock. Farmington cashed in on the possession with Thomas throwing in a 3-pointer from beyond the time line giving Farmington a 12-8 lead.

Greenbrier scored the first four points of the fourth to go up, 40-36, but Farmington rallied behind Thomas' free-throw shooting and grabbed the lead. Greenbrier closed to within, 52-49, but when their bench protested a technical foul was assessed and Thomas made all four charity shots. Farmington won 62-54.

"We found out right quick there's a war every night in this league," Thompson said. "There's not a bad team in it, there's not an average team in it."

As a junior, Thomas was named team captain, and helped the Cardinals win the Alma tournament. He was named Arkansas Democrat Gazette honorable mention first team, All-Conference, Arkansas Basketball Rankings Top 40 players in the state, KURM Dream Team, and honorable mention for Arkansas Basketball Top 20 Players from Class of 2017. Thomas averaged 20.8 points per game, shooting 34 percent from 3-point range, 52 percent on field goals, 71 percent from the foul line, with 4 rebounds, 2.3 assist, and 2.0 steals per game. Thomas scored in double figures every game and finished the season with a total of 1,434 points as a Farmington Cardinal.

Sports on 12/07/2016