Lincolnton’s L.J. Smith was torching teams like few freshmen have done in recent years, when a broken bone in his leg cut his freshman year short.

“It just motivated me to work harder this year, to push myself and my teammates to get back to where we were last year,” Smith said.

It appears he’s done what he set out to do, getting stronger and faster.

After averaging 32.2 points per game in 16 contests last year, he’s up to 33.5 this season while also bringing in 8.5 rebounds, handing out 3.1 assists, and getting 2.5 steals. His dominance in those 16 games was enough to make the HighSchoolOT all-state third-team last year.

At least two recruiting services put him as a top-30 sophomore in the country, something he doesn’t take for granted after the way his freshman year ended.

“That just motivated me to get higher up in the rankings and prove to people I’m better than the people in front of me,” Smith said.

Smith is no ball-chucker without regard for the team success. Last year he ran point, but this year he’s moved to the 2-guard.

With just two seniors, the Wolves are 18-5 this year.

“L.J. is able to showcase his off-the ball talent which, some would say is better than his on-ball skill. It’s a hidden talent that he does have,” said Lincolnton coach Jalen Littlejohn. “He’s really good off the ball, going through a floppy screen or whatever it may be, one of the better catch-and-shoot players that people may not know about.”

If there are still some that don’t know L.J. Smith, now would be a good time to learn the name.

Smith, has more than 1,500 points before even hitting the conference tournament and postseason for his sophomore year. He still has ways to go but yet is not too far off the pace you’d need to be to top arguably the state’s most prized and often-thought-of-as-unbreakable records — the career scoring record of Eastern Alamance star JamesOn Curry, who had 3,307 points in his career.

Littlejohn said Smith tries to put up 1,000 shots each day to continue to get better.

“(He has a) want-to and drive for the game that (fans) don’t see outside of when they pay to come see him play. He’s the first one to show up and the last one to leave,” Littlejohn said. “He knows his plan in life.”