Wilbraham & Monson Academy Boys' Basketball player Idan Tretout '19 lost his focus for a while during the Titans' home game vs. South Kent Jan. 27.
But that's OK, because Idan forgot about focusing on himself and shifted his efforts toward helping the team.
Idan reached a major milestone for a high school basketball player, scoring his 1,000th career point in an overtime loss against South Kent. He needed 17 points to hit the mark entering Saturday's game but forgot all about it once the AA Conference game began.
"In the middle of the game, I didn't know it was going on," Idan said. "Coach (Mike Mannix) and I talked about it before the game. I knew I needed 15 or 17 points going into the game but I really wasn't thinking about it. But when it happened I was excited. When I got the ball from Coach Mannix (when the game stopped), I told him 'Let's get this win.'"
The Titans didn't get the win. However, thanks largely in part to Idan's play the last few weeks, WMA is in the hunt for a spot in the AA Conference playoffs.
"I think we've started to pick it up recently," Idan said. "We're starting to play together, and the pace we're playing is good. We're playing fast and that's how we like to play. I hope we keep going in the right direction and finish strong so maybe we can make the playoffs."
Idan leads the Academy in scoring at 25.2 ppg this season. Since returning from winter break, he's remarkably recorded 30 or more points four times.
"Scoring 1,000 points in your career in less than three full years of high school varsity basketball is a great accomplishment," Coach Mannix said. "And the roll he's been on in 2018 has been fantastic. In the new year he's had a 30-point game, a 32-point game and two 37-point games. That certainly helps you get to 1,000 a lot quicker.
"His level of play has been great. And all throughout it, even in the game when he knew he was going for his 1,000th point, I thought he was all business and put the team first, which I think is really important and why his team shared in the moment in terms of how happy he was."
Idan, a 6-foot-4-inch swingman who can score inside or outside, has drawn interest from Stanford University, George Washington University, Villanova University, Virginia Commonwealth University, Temple University, University of Connecticut and University of Massachusetts, as well as a number of Ivy Schools, including Brown University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University and the University of Penn. A coach from Villanova is scheduled to attend WMA's home game Jan. 31.