Hard work paying off for Johnson, Fostoria

FOSTORIA – Earlier this month, Machi Johnson made some history for Fostoria.Johnson, a senior point guard on the boys basketball team, reached 1,000 career points in a win over Rossford.It's rare territory. Johnson is only the fifth player in program history to reach the milestone, joining Dan Hipsher, Ryan Pessell, Chase Munoz and Micah Hyde "It meant a lot because I love Fostoria," Johnson said. "I love playing for this team, and I always wanted to do something special."Johnson is doing something special this season. Coming into last weekend's games, the senior was averaging 26 points and six rebounds a game. While Johnson has been excelling, the Redmen are off to a strong start, with a 5-2 record. They are 3-1 in the NBC.But Johnson's strong season didn't start in November. According to Fostoria coach Thom Loomis, it started well before then."Last season...we lost in the sectional final to a very good St. Marys Memorial team and Austin Parks, and we felt like we left some things on the table," Loomis said. "And I can't forget what his words were in the locker room after that game. He's like: 'Coach, we are starting to work tomorrow. We're not going to go out like this next year.'"And then, Johnson got to work."Since March 1, he's almost 40,000 shots up," Loomis said. "There's not a lot kids who do that. He was just highly motivated that he's gonna have a good senior season with his teammates, and he's done all the little things."Johnson is the first to admit it took him a little while to realize what he needed to do to be successful. When asked if he thought 1,000 career points was attainable his answer was candid."When I started I did think it was possible, but at that time, when I thought it was possible, I really wasn't working as hard as I should have," Johnson said. "I realized after my freshman year that it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be."So I just kept working harder, harder every year, getting progressively better as a player, as a teammate in general," Johnson said, "and it just happened."Loomis said Johnson has set an example for his teammates."It's a cliché they always say: 'If you want to star in front of thousands, you have to work thousands of hours in front of nobody,'" Loomis said. "That's what Machi does. He puts in the work behind the scenes that nobody sees and nobody knows that he's in here, doing the work. That's a tribute to him, and the success that he's had, but that work ethic has rubbed off on his teammates, too."Fostoria has a veteran squad this year, with talent. The Redmen have nine seniors on the roster, including guard/forward Jordan Ferguson, and guard/forward Kristian Carter-Stokes.Because of that, there are high expectations for Fostoria this season.Johnson said he shares those expectations."I expect a lot," Johnson said. "Most of the guys on the team, all the seniors on the team, we've been playing together since fourth grade, and I know the work that they've put in, I know what they can do, I know what they're on the court to do. We all know our roles.""I think we've said, I don't know, 100 times, you look up on the wall, there's not many years on the banner for boys basketball," Loomis said, "and our goal is to do that and change that this year and hopefully sustain that. It's not always easy, but they are really putting the time in and working hard together."Johnson has also taken on a leadership position with the team."I've also grown as a leader, so what I expect out of myself I expect out of my teammates," he said. "So, I try to get my teammates in the gym with me as much as I can. During the game, if a teammate passes up a shot that I think he should shoot, I tell him that he should shoot that, and that he can. I just want my teammates to be confident in themselves how I'm confident in myself."Johnson also said he takes a lot of pride in his team, his school and his community, and wants to reflect that on the court."I love being here, I love my teammates, I love being with them," he said. "I don't want to play with anyone else."A lot of people talk bad about us, they think that we're this, they think that we're that. But they don't live here, they don't know what it's like. They don't know the work we put in, what we do at school. They don't know our grades, stuff like that. It's annoying, but we just use it to keep working."Not that Johnson needs a reason to keep working.