Aquinas father-daughter named AP Coach, Player of the Year
No third consecutive state title. Robbed amid the a global pandemic to fight COVID-19, the Aquinas High School girls basketball team had to settle for just getting to the state championship.
Thursday, the Blugolds were rewarded a bit more.
Aquinas senior Lexi Donarski was unanimously named The Associated Press Player of the Year, while her father and coach, Dave Donarski was named Coach of the Year.
In their four seasons, father, daughter and the rest of the Blugolds went a combined 107-3, including four state championship berths and two Division 4 titles.
Lexi, who finished with 2,016 career points, will play for Iowa State University next season. Her senior year, she averaged 24.2 points, 6.9 assists, 5.5 steals and 4.5 rebounds.
The last game the Blugolds got to play was a 73-42 state semifinal win over Crandon at the Resch Center in Green Bay back on March 12. That pushed Aquinas’ record to 25-1 on the season and to a fourth consecutive state championship berth.
But, before matching up with Melrose-Mindor for a third consecutive state title, the season was ended due to precautions with the virus outbreak.
Aquinas senior Courtney Becker was named to third-team all-state, while these players were named honorable mention: Melrose-Mindoro’s Mesa Byom and Emily Herzberg, Aquinas’ Taylor Theusch, Arcadia’s Ellie Hoesley, Onalaska’s Olivia Gamoke and Prairie du Chien’s Lily Krah.