Boys’ Basketball Player of the Year: Serra’s Parker McDonald

When the Padres were at their best this season, McDonald’s approach was like clockwork. Dribble-drive with abandon to score in bunches early, provoke the defense to compensate, then start dropping dimes left and right.  

“Honestly, I’ve never really been the go-to scorer,” McDonald said. “My main skill is just being able to penetrate … and drop it off if need be.”

Serra needed McDonald to take his game to another level this season. Not only was the senior flex guard the Padres’ only returning starter, he was the only player prior to this year to have accrued any substantial varsity minutes.

So, it became the third-year varsity starter’s task to serve as the team’s catalyst.

“I knew I had to take on a bigger role,” McDonald said. “I would say I had to score a lot more than I had to do in past year and guarding the best players on the other team most of the time … just having to step up a lot more.”

Sure, this year’s Padres had talent. Senior forward Cade Rees, who missed his entire junior season due to injury, was primed as a multi-tiered shooting threat. Junior guard Antonio Abeyta, in his first varsity season, was renowned for his dagger 3s. Big man Cooper Fitz had the frame to bang around in the post.

All Serra needed was that spark. McDonald was happy to provide it.

“The good thing about Parker is he’s unselfish,” Serra head coach Chuck Rapp said. “He’s just as happy passing to a teammate as he is scoring himself. And that was contagious.”

When it was time to shine, though, McDonald was not shy about stepping up. His game is based in strong fundamentals — fluid ball-handing ability with both hands, a lightning-fast first step off the dribble and a dangerous outside shooter to keep defenses honest — but he could light up a crowd with the best of them.

Of all his career highlights, McDonald’s claim to fame is that of a “Jungle Game” hero, making a habit of coming up big in the clutch in Serra’s annual rivalry game with St. Ignatius. Two years ago, as a sophomore, he blazed a 15-foot running jumper to beat the buzzer for the game-winner in a 60-59 victory to set the home fans at Morton Family Gymnasium into an on-court frenzy of celebration.

Fast forward to this season, McDonald added another historic performance to the renowned rivalry, leading Serra back from the abyss of a 20-point deficit at halftime to celebrate a 48-44 win. McDonald scored 22 points on the night, including 14 in the third quarter, putting the finishing touch on what Rapp called the best Jungle Game win of his career with a 3-pointer in the closing minute.

“The games are crazy so you want to perform for your friends in the stands,” McDonald said. “And you want to beat the other team. So it’s one of those games you have adrenaline for the whole game.”

As sure as McDonald’s ability to light up his home crowd, he surely could command the opposite effect on the road. Come the Northern California playoffs, Serra opened the Division II bracket with back-to-back road games. As the No. 9 seed, the Padres’ 60-53 win at No. 8 St. Patrick-St. Vincent-Vallejo wasn’t exactly an upset. But the second-round win 62-57 at No. 1 St. Mary’s-Stockton sure was.

The win earned Serra a surprising third-round home game. Again McDonald led the way, exploding for 10 first-half points in a 70-46 blowout of Rocklin to advance to Nor Cal Division II regional finals. The Padres’ run came to an end there with a 59-38 loss at eventual state champion Campolindo.

In terms of earning Daily Journal Boys’ Basketball Athlete of the Year honors, McDonald becomes a rare two-time recipient with each coming for different sports. As a junior, he took the title for boys’ track and field as a star high jumper. This year, he opted to skip track, making the March 5 postseason finale the last action of his career in Serra athletics.

“As far as this being kind of it in terms of sports, I’ve been so involved in basketball since a young age … so it’s definitely bittersweet,” McDonald said. “There’s so much more out there in the world that I want to explore. … I think looking back on it, I think I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished in my basketball career.”

McDonald made his mark as a complete basketball player, impactful in all areas of the game. Throughout his senior year, he averaged 3.7 rebounds, 2.2 steals, shot 43.2 percent from the field, including 31.8 percent from 3-point range, and took care of business at 73.1 percent from the free-throw line.

But most importantly, his leadership proved second to none.

“I think my role was leading by action,” McDonald said, “especially at practices, being kind of a spark for everyone else … getting everyone fired up. Not by my voice but by the way I’m playing.”