Daily Journal Athletes of the Week: Half Moon Bay Cougars

Nutting — who died in 2019 after a battle with cancer — coached the Cougars from 1987-98 and made a lasting impression on Parsons.

“Just how much his players loved to play for him,” Parsons said. “They would definitely run through a wall with him. And he just kind of had that inviting vibe about him. He was a hard-nosed coach, but you could tell he really cared about his players.”

For those who have seen Parsons in action, that description has certainly carried over to the next-gen coach. And he has delivered the boys’ varsity program to new heights.

The Cougars have earned Daily Journal Athletes of the Week honors for reaching those heights, after last Tuesday’s historic 71-61 win at Chino in the CIF Northern California boys’ basketball regional finals. It’s not only the first Nor Cal title in program history, it is the Cougars’ first appearance on the regional championship stage.

The Nor Cal crown is the culmination of generations of Coastsiders growing up in the tightknit Half Moon Bay community, one now synonymous with Central Coast Section success. The Cougars have won three CCS titles, the most recent in 2018 in Parsons’ first year back at the helm. But he is quick to point out Nutting won the program’s first two in 1994 and ’96.

“He was huge,” Parsons said. “He was the first one to really put Half Moon Bay on the map as far as winning league titles. He won two CCS titles, and the school was really not a basketball school by any means before he got there.”

When HMB senior Drew Dorwin was named co-Athlete of the Week for the week of Feb. 19-25 during the Cougars’ run as CCS Division IV runners-up, he detailed his growing up as a grade schooler attending HMB varsity games, alongside several of this years HMB players. This is a way of life in Half Moon Bay, more now than ever, as Dorwin and senior Dio Lucido grew up playing together with Coastside Basketball.

While Coastside Basketball was originally run by Nutting and Parsons’ father as a CYO program, Parsons brought it back from hiatus 12 years ago. In doing so, he reinvented it, growing the offseason basketball club into an AAU program. Dorwin, Lucido and HMB freshman Gio Garduno-Martin all played for the team this year and have logged over 100 competitive games over that time, Parsons said.

It's strange to think Parsons almost opted to walk away from the public-school program at HMB entering his freshman year.

“Yeah, funny how that all kind of worked out,” Parsons said. “But I guess some things kind of worked out for a reason, and I think there was definitely a reason I decided to stay there.”

Parsons considered attending Riordan when he was starting high school. It was difficult for him to consider playing at HMB as Nutting had relocated to Lodi the year before his arrival.

Taking over for Nutting was Kenny Milch, a coaching legend in his own right, who left HMB after the 2005-06 season and eventually took over at Terra Nova from 2011-21 to coach is own sons.

Parsons opted to stay and play for his hometown school. It was one of the most impactful decisions for HMB basketball in the past quarter century.

“Leaving my friends and not being able to see what we could have accomplished just kind of stuck in my head,” Parsons said.

Parsons went on to etch a fine career at HMB. The second-generation Cougars great set the career scoring record as a senior, a record previously held by his father. More importantly, his lifelong dedication to the sport — as a kid growing up at the HMB gym, as a varsity player, and as a coach and mentor — became the prototype for generations to follow.

“No doubt, I’ve given a piece of my life to this program and this city,” Parsons said. “I’ve been fortunate to coach such a great group of kids.”