St. Laurence’s Ciyah Thomas grew up playing a lot of different sports.
She played tackle football and baseball with boys. She played flag football and basketball with girls, ran track and also was a gymnast. But one sport became her first love.
“I love the feeling of playing basketball,” Thomas said. “I’m a little lazy at times, but when it comes to basketball, I have a passion. I want to be the best. I want to be talked about. I want to score.
“It’s a great feeling. I daydream about it all the time.”
Thomas’ daydreams were nightmares Monday night for Sycamore.
The 5-foot-9 senior guard scored 20 points and added six steals and four rebounds to help the Vikings roll to a 66-47 victory over the Spartans in the Coach Kipp Hoopsfest at Benet in Lisle.
Emily Doorhy added 15 points and McKenzie Saffold followed with 14 for St. Laurence (13-8). Senior guard Sara Burzycki hauled down 13 rebounds.
Quinn Carrier scored a team-high 18 points to go with 10 rebounds and two blocked shots for Sycamore (13-9). She made five 3-pointers. Sadie Lang chipped in with 17 points.
Thomas opened her high school career as a freshman starter who helped Bolingbrook’s varsity reach a Class 4A supersectional. Her path then took her to Hammond Morton as a junior.
St. Laurence coach Claire Austin is happy to have her aboard this season.
“We blessed to have someone who can score in so many different ways,” Austin said of Thomas. “She is a three-dimensional scorer. It just so happens her shooting is starting to come on as well.”
So much so that Thomas was named St. Laurence’s player of the game Monday by event officials.
The Vikings enjoyed a strong night offensively without star junior forward Aaliyah Flores, who could miss at least two weeks with a right knee injury. She missed her entire sophomore season last winter with a left knee injury.
Thomas, meanwhile, confirmed that fitting in with her new teams hasn’t been a problem.
“It not that tough — it’s just being myself,” she said. “If I play my game and I bring what I can to a team and give 100%, I can fit in.”
Thomas pointed out that she places an emphasis on a certain aspect of the game.
“Defense is my normal priority because we can get offense from my defense,” she said. “I try my best to hold the best player down and hold them to low points to keep the game in our favor.”
Burzycki praised Thomas for becoming a major part of the team for St. Laurence.
“She’s the whole package,” Burzycki said. “She can shoot, she can dribble and she can play great defense. Her presence on the court is huge for us.”
Burzycki, an Ohio Wesleyan recruit, also grabbed 19 rebounds in Saturday’s 58-29 win over Rich Township. She missed last season with a knee injury and sat out some this winter after suffering another knee injury playing flag football.
She’s happy to be back and cleaning up on the boards.
“When the ball hits the rim, you just follow it,” Burzycki said. “I guess it’s timing. I just like to go to where the ball is.”
Thomas acknowledged she’s receiving college looks but isn’t ready to make a decision yet.
She got started in both football and basketball by following in the footsteps of her brother. Chico Thomas Jr., a Naperville North grad, is a freshman wide receiver at Roosevelt.
“We both played football and he wanted to play basketball,” Ciyah said. “I followed my brother in basketball and it became a love of mine.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
