It was a little over a year ago when Paige Sevrain scored her 1,000th point for Northwestern Lehigh and later became the leading scorer in the program’s history.

On both of her milestone baskets, the assist came from a sophomore, Cara Thomas. At the time, Thomas talked about how she wanted to be the one to dish off the assists to her teammate because of how much respect she had for her and her accomplishments.

Now, Thomas is the one marking the accomplishments as she joined the 1,000-point club at Northwestern Lehigh and did it in a way that no other player in the program has accomplished. Every other 1,000-point scorer in Northwestern girls’ basketball – including Thomas’ sister Erika - reached the accomplishment during their senior season. Thomas did it a year earlier, hitting the mark as a junior.

“I don’t really think about it that much,” said Thomas heading into the game against Blue Mountain where she would set the mark. “I’m excited about it and I am looking forward to it, but I just want us to keep playing and to do that, we have to keep winning, so that’s what we are all focused on right now.”

Thomas had put herself on a path to the 1,000-point club early on with 298 points in her freshman season and 276 points as a sophomore.

In her junior season, Thomas became her team’s go-to scorer, but needing 426 points in one season to reach 1,000 was going to be quite a task, especially since other teams would be keying on her defensively.

“She has been just awesome to have on the team,” said Northwestern coach Chris Deutsch. “She is very calm. She goes about her work and doesn’t shy away from putting in extra work, whether it’s shooting free throws or working on her shot. That’s what it takes to put up the numbers that she has both this season and overall.”

In the quarterfinal win over Tamaqua, Thomas scored 23 points to move within striking distance of the milestone, leaving her just six points away. In the semifinals, a tough Blue Mountain team kept her well-guarded, but she managed to score seven points to put her at 1,001 points for her career. Another 11 points in the district third-place game has Thomas at 1,012 heading into her final season.

Thomas passed her sister Erika’s total in the season finale.

“We have talked about it but mostly, she is just there to help me with my shot and let me know if she sees something I might be doing wrong or something I should consider,” said the younger Thomas. “We both just have always wanted each other to do well and are each other’s biggest supporters.”

Thomas currently stands 257 points behind Sevrain for the mark as the program’s leading scorer, a mark that she should reach during her senior season.

“That’s something for down the road,” said Thomas. “I’m just focusing on finishing this season strong.”