Prep basketball: Hart’s Donohoe named Foothill POY
All year, the Hart boys basketball team has preached balance. That’s been the narrative all season. But at the forefront of a harmonious Indians’ squad there has been a leader who emerged over the course of his senior year — Chad Donohoe.
Donohoe’s sharpshooting from the three-point line and quick drives to the basket helped Hart to its third straight Foothill League crown, going a perfect 10-0. But it also earned him the league’s top honor, as Donohoe was named the 2015-16 Foothill League Boys Basketball Player of the Year.
“I was caught off guard,” Donohoe said of Hart head coach Tom Kelly taking him aside and informing him about the award. “I feel extremely honored.”
Coming into the season, Kelly said there wasn’t one particular person that was the guy for Hart.
But Donohoe, who earned All-Foothill League honorable mention in his junior year, has developed into the guy who can create opportunities for his teammates or, if necessary, put a team on his back and carry them.
During league play, Donohoe averaged 14.7 points per game, including a 23-
point night against Canyon on Feb. 2.
Although the award is only based on what was done during the Foothill League season, the senior led the way for the Indians during the playoffs, averaging 18.3 points per game — including 28- and 27-point performances in Hart’s losses in the CIFSouthern Section Division
2A semifinals and the CIF Division 3 second round, respectively.
“Everyone believed we were going to be great at the beginning of the season,” Donohoe said. “We had a terrific run. To be able to accomplish what we did with my teammates, I’m extremely blessed. I had so much fun.”
Donohoe’s teammate Ryan Kaneshiro earned All-Foothill League first team honors, along with
Valencia’s Isaac Davis and Chibuzo Ikonte.
Davis and Ikonte were Valencia’s go-to, one-two punch down the stretch.
The duo also helped Valencia recover from a fifth-place finish in league to get to the CIFSouthern Section Division 1AA quarterfinals.
Canyon’s Selom Mawugbe, Saugus’ Zach Phipps, West Ranch’s Austin Galuppo and Golden Valley’s Bryce Tyler-St. Claire rounded
out the first-team list. Galuppo, a sophomore, was the only underclassman on the first team.
Seniors Preston Dominguez (Hart), Cameron Fuller (Hart), Cameron Smith (Saugus) and Kevin McQuillen (West Ranch) all nabbed second-team honors.
Golden Valley’s Richard Kawakami, a secondteam selection, was the only freshman on any of the All-Foothill League selections.