Sports

THE WORD OF ISAIAH: Lewis calls benching valuable ‘lesson’

Every other week during the winter, Christ the King’s Isaiah Lewis, one of the nation’s top junior guards, takes us with him on his journey for a city and state Federation championship. In this exclusive diary for NYPost.com, the multi-talented 6-foot-3 Lewis talks about his recent benching by coach Joe Arbitello and the valuable lesson he will learn from it.

Right now I’m going through something with my school. I’m just working hard in practice, trying to get back for the semifinals.

I’m taking all of the positives. Someone said I got cut from the team, but that’s not true. I’m on the team. Coach [Joe Arbitello] gave me some space to get my head straight. I can return if we win on Sunday [in the CHSAA Class AA intersectional quarterfinals against Mount St. Michael]. I can play in the semifinal game at St. John’s; that’s real possible.

It was me being over-emotional, sometimes I get too emotional. Me being a point guard and me being the player I am, I have to be settled on the court. We had a talk during the week, on Wednesday. First he talked to my dad about everything. They had a long talk and then he talked to me.

I’m trying to take everything in, work hard at practice and get back on the court. It doesn’t feel right; obviously, you don’t want that to happen, but at the end of the day, I’m not focused on Twitter and what people are saying about me. I’m trying to handle this the right way. I’d rather this happen now than this happen at college at a Louisville or a Kansas, or the schools I’m being recruited by.

I’d rather it happen now and I can learn from it. I’m working on keeping my emotions intact. It was about me being over-emotional on the court. No matter what goes on the court, no matter if we’re winning by 50 or losing by 50, I still have to be poised. It was a lesson he was trying to teach me: always be poised on the court. The position I’m playing, I’m always going to have the ball in my hands. Just because I go 0-for-6, I can’t get down on myself. That’s what happened in the Bishop Loughlin game (a loss in the CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens semifinals).

I’m going to try come out better in games, with my play. Me and my dad had a long talk. Always play through everything – play through mistakes, play through bad shots, turnovers, everything. That’s what I have to work on the most.

The team wants me back, they welcomed me back [Friday] in practice. I don’t plan on leaving [Christ the King] now. I don’t plan on doing anything like that. It was something coach decided to do that’s best for me. It’s not the end of me. I’ll do my best to try to come back for the semifinals.

I was in the hospital while the [CHSAA Class AA second round game against Stepinac on Thursday] was going on. I had a stomach virus. I tried going to school and I threw up. I saw Coach Arbitello before I left and wished him good luck.

Right after the game, I got updates from some of the assistant coaches on the team. They let me know how everything went. I’ll be at the game Sunday against Mount.

Check back with Isaiah Lewis every other Wednesday during the season. His next diary will run March 14.