by JASON GORDON
With the last week of school upon us and summer break a few days away, let’s take a moment to reflect on the top three Hays High spring sports stories:
Hays girls basketball head coach Donny McDonald retires/Lady Rebs fall a game short of regional tournament: The biggest story of the Hays High spring sports season was longtime girls head coach Donny McDonald deciding to call it a career after a combined 35 years at San Marcos, Madison and Hays high schools. The last 16 of those were spent with the Lady Rebels, where he led Hays to the state tournament in 2001 and 2009 and finished with a total of 399 wins. There were 668 wins between the three schools he led as a head coach.
One of the most well-liked coaches in the history of the school will certainly be missed. “It was just time,” McDonald said. “I was going to retire after last season, but when we made it to state and had nearly everyone coming back, I decided to wait. It was still a tough decision. I went back and forth on it.” Hays school board vice president Mark Jones said it will be hard to replace McDonald. “He’s the
type of coach kids wanted to play for,” Jones said. “He truly cared for them and enjoyed being around them.” Hays athletic director Bob Shelton agreed. “Donny
certainly did a very good job and we were fortunate to have him for 16 years,” Shelton said. “He always ran his program with a lot of integrity. His leadership style was very instrumental in the success of his teams over the years.”
Despite having nearly everyone return this season from a team that made it to state in 2009, Hays fell a game short of making the regional tournament, falling 66-63 to Huntsville in double-overtime in the regional quarterfinals. It was a heartbreaking loss for the Lady Rebs, who led by four points in regulation with five seconds left before Huntsville made a miraculous comeback to send the game to overtime. “That will be a tough loss to forget,” McDonald said. “The girls fought hard, and this senior class should always be proud of what they accomplished.”
Hays’ Phillip Abreo had several dramatic game-winning hits for the Rebels this season, including one against San Marcos that helped the Rebs earn the district co-championship on their way to a regional-quarterfinal playoff run. (Photo by Joel San Miguel)
Hays baseball team earns co-district title and makes run to regional quarterfinals: Hays unquestionably had one of the best baseball teams statewide in Class 4A in 2009, with seven players that ultimately went on to play at the collegiate level. But a second-round playoff loss to Little Cypress-Mauriceville left the Rebs well short of their goal of making it to state. No one quite knew what to expect from this year’s team, as few Hays players had any varsity experience. The Rebels proved their might with comeback win after comeback win this season. In all, Hays won 10 games they once trailed, including six in district play alone. The Rebels finished 11-1 in district play, and dramatically beat league favorite San Marcos on the Rattlers’ home field in comeback fashion to secure a co-district title. Hays went on to beat Montgomery and Nederland in the playoffs, before running into a brick wall in the regional quarterfinals against No. 5 Brenham. Still, Hays finished the season 24-9 overall as area champs. “The mark of this team was definitely all those comebacks,” Hays head coach Doug Ragsdale said. “They honestly never felt like they were ever out of a game. I think they exceeded everyone’s expectations except their own.”
Hays boys soccer team ends playoff drought: It had been more than a half-decade since the Hays boys soccer team tasted success in the postseason, but Rebels’ head coach Jason Burnett said all season long he felt he had a special group in 2010. The Rebels proved their head coach right. Hays knocked off LBJ in a dramatic shootout at Shelton Stadium in the first round, as goalkeeper Luke Adams stopped every single Jaguar shot in the shootout. Hays went on to beat Lake Travis 2-1 in round two, before finally falling against Alamo Heights in the regional quarterfinals. It tied the furthest a Hays boys soccer team had ever advanced in the history of the program. The Rebels also reached the regional quarterfinals in 2000 and 2003. “These kids still accomplished something very few players ever to play soccer here have,” Burnett said. “That’s something you can’t take away from them.”
