Sulphur High’s Ian Malone has played multiple sports over the years, but basketball is where he feels most at home.

He played baseball until eighth-grade and was a starting wide receiver for the Tors in 2023. Focused on basketball now, he scored his 1,000th career point in the first game of his senior season and hasn’t stopped scoring.

“I just like how you can really show your own ability,” Malone said. “For me, football, I was kind of out there; I knew I was good, but at times I couldn’t really show it.

“In basketball, I just play with a lot of passion, so that’s what I like the most.”

Malone, a 6-foot-1 senior guard, averages 21.8 points a game and is doing it against some of the top teams in the state. At the St. Thomas More Sunkist Shootout last week in Lafayette, Malone led the Tors (15-3) to a third-place finish with wins over two defending state champions.

Against defending Non-select Division III state champion Marksville on Dec. 27, Malone poured in 31 points. Two days later he scored 24 against Isidore Newman and highly recruited Randy Livingston Jr., who scored 13 points. Newman is the defending Select III state champion. He scored a season- high 35 points in a 60-42 win over David Thibodaux, then undefeated, on Dec. 21.

Tors head coach Adam Coleman said he saw the passion and intensity when Malone was a freshman.
“You could tell from an early age that he was a very special player,”
Coleman said. “He was an intense competitor. He was highly skilled and athletic. He never got satisfied never plateaued with just being good. He always tried to be a little bit better each season each month each week and so it’s been fun to be a part of that process and kind of see the maturity and growth not just as a player, but just as a person and as a competitor.”

Malone has worked to balance his passion on the court and being a leader.

“I really worked on my leadership and staying level-headed during the game because, like I said, I play with a lot of passion, but sometimes I would get a little over my head,” Malone said. “If I’m having an off night or stuff like that, I’d just get in my head and just feel like the weight of the world would be on my shoulders because I was like the guy as an underclassman.

“It is really just being there for my teammates, being that leader. They really follow suit. If I’m being negative and stuff like that, they see that and mimic that.”

Early in his career, he was known more for his 3-point shooting, but this season he has become more aggressive driving to the lane, improved his mid-range shooting and worked more to get his teammates involved.

With other shooters such as Blaine Davey and Carson Thibodeaux around him, teams have not been able to double-or triple-team him as much allowing him to thrive in one-on-one situations.

“We feel like if he can get 15 feet in the end, I feel like he can go score it,” Coleman said. “I think he’s a shooter first but then he’s really added to his game the ability to attack the rim off the dribble.

“He’s surrounded by really good teammates this year and so his ability to find teammates as well is something that we really appreciate and see him doing.”

The Tors have won six of their last seven games with four games against top-10 teams during that stretch. Sulphur is ranked No. 4 in the Non-select Division I power ratings.

“This is definitely the most talented and mature team that I’ve been a part of my four years,” Malone said. “It’s just a great feeling having other guys that are confident enough to go out there and knock down a big-time shot, a big-time game.”