Longtime St. Francis High head coach Ed Kelly earned a share of the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League Coach of the Year honor with Santa Cruz High’s Lawan Millhouse, the league announced on Monday.
Kelly, the program’s first and only coach since its inception in 2005-06, led the Sharks to a second-place finish in the SCCAL with a 10-2 record.
St. Francis also notched 20 wins in a season (20-6) for the fourth straight year, and advanced to the Central Coast Section Division V semifinals.
It was Kelly’s second consecutive coach of the year honor and third overall — he also won the award after leading the Sharks to the league title in 2009-10. Last season he took home the honor after guiding a loaded squad to league, section and regional titles, as well as a berth in the program’s first-ever state championship game.
Four of Kelly’s players also earned recognition from the league.
Star senior forwards Chase Watkins and Jason Gallo were named to the SCCAL First Team for the second straight season, junior point guard E.J. Kelly made the league’s second team and junior guard Andrew Seymour received honorable mention.
Watkins, a 6-foot-4 athletic slasher, averaged 18 points, eight rebounds and two assists for the Sharks after coming back from an early-season groin injury. A star left-handed pitcher headed to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on scholarship, Watkins finished his career with 1,320 points — the second most in program history — and 532 rebounds.
Gallo, a 6-foot-5 rebounding machine with a smooth jumper, averaged 19 points, 12 rebounds, 2.3 assists and a steal per contest. He finished his career as the program’s leading scorer (1,414) and rebounder (963).
Kelly dished out 115 assists this season, the fourth most in program history, and averaged 6.5 points, 4.8 assists, four rebounds and two steals per game.
Seymour averaged 9.5 points per game.
Santa Cruz senior point guard Max DeHart was named the league’s Most Valuable Player after leading the Cardinals to the SCCAL title with an 11-1 record.
Aptos High senior guard Rashaun Wooden earned a spot on the SCCAL First Team for the second straight season. He averaged 13.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.4 steals over 24 contests, as the Mariners finished third in the SCCAL at 8-4.
Aptos senior forward Blake Welle made the league’s second team by averaging 16.5 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game.
Mariners’ junior point guard Max Pepperdine and senior forward Joe Mendoza were given honorable mention.
