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Stefan Thompson will celebrate his 18th birthday next week, but there will be no surprise packages to open as he knows this year’s big gift is going on the senior class trip. Two days after graduation, he will board a plane with some Girard Academic Music Program classmates for Cancun, Mexico.
It allowed Thompson, of the 2500 block of South 15th Street, to focus his attention on Wednesday afternoon’s Public League District 12 Class A semifinal at defending champ Freire Charter’s court, a game that started after press time. Freire eliminated the South Philly squad in the 2007 tournament.
"It’s going to be a tough game," the senior said heading into the contest, which was postponed from Tuesday afternoon due to the winter storm.
Early Wednesday, the athlete knew his team needed a strong defensive effort.
"When somebody doesn’t do their job, that’s how we breakdown easily," the senior said.
Thompson is talking from experience as GAMP (3-7 league, 8-15 overall) suffered numerous double-digit defeats. It also didn’t help the South Philly school comes up a little short in size as 6-foot-2 Thompson is the tallest on the roster.
"I had high expectations [for the season], but I realized that we were small so I knew it was going to be tough," he said. "Some games we could’ve actually played better and should’ve had more wins."
One of the recent defeats came in a Jan. 26 74-72 triple overtime contest against South Jersey’s Audubon, where the athlete finished with a career-high 34 points. In a Feb. 5 league match against Masterman, Thompson and his teammates fared better with a 60-53 overtime victory. The Pioneers outscored the opposition 11-4 in the extra minutes.
Individually, the senior put up strong numbers this season as his 19.6 points per game ranked among the city’s best and his 22.9 points per league contest ranked fourth-best among Division D athletes. Thompson said he is especially proud of his Feb. 6 recognition as a Markward Memorial Basketball Club honoree. The weekly luncheon recognizes Philadelphia-area high school basketball players from the Public, Catholic and Inter-Ac Leagues. The senior was the first GAMP representative to be recognized since Michael Brino attended during the ’03-04 season.
Thompson, who plays second and third for GAMP baseball, is hoping to earn his first All-Public nod for his strong work this season on the court. The athlete is looking to continue his basketball career, with Manor College and Penn State Abington being two possibilities. SPR
