Under the strange, gloomy lights inside the Tacoma Dome, the legend was hatched, and over the next decade, reality gave way to hyperbole.
In 2006, a short and scrawny junior at Curtis High School in University Place struck a match, scored 51 points in a state semifinal game against Franklin — and lost. His name was Isaiah Thomas.
He was listed at 5 feet 9 and threw down dunks that defied his height. He hit deep and then deeper 3-pointers. He attracted attention wherever he went, and hardly any of it slowed him. Nor did it matter that Franklin had two players who would play big-time college basketball in Venoy Overton (Washington) and Peyton Siva (Louisville).