If Deerfield fans harbored any doubts Friday night, Tommy Donahue dispelled them eventually.
But Donahue didn’t have any in the first place, and the 6-foot-4 junior guard’s confidence didn’t waver even though the Warriors trailed for most of the Class 3A Carmel Regional championship game against the host Corsairs.
“It all comes from our preparation every day,” Donahue said. “There was never a doubt. We were never losing that game.
“We treat every day like it’s playoffs, so that’s why when we play in the playoffs, it’s no different than practice.”
Donahue was the difference-maker, however. He hit two 3-pointers, including the go-ahead basket, in the fourth quarter to spark second-seeded Deerfield’s 40-37 win over the eighth-seeded Corsairs in Mundelein.
Donahue finished with a game-high-tying 13 points for the Warriors (21-11), who will play third-seeded Wauconda (26-7), the Northern Lake County Conference champion, in a Deerfield Sectional semifinal at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Deerfield trailed 20-14 at halftime and 28-24 through three quarters. But Donahue, who had hit a 3-pointer to start the second half, made two free throws to make it a two-point game at the beginning of the fourth quarter. His biggest shot came two minutes later, when he hit another 3-pointer to give the Warriors their first lead since the game’s opening basket.
“I always stay confident,” Donahue said. “If my shot’s there, I’m going to take it. My teammates set me up, and I knocked it down.”
Donahue’s production was necessary because Carmel (13-20) was having success keeping the ball out of 6-8 senior forward Jake Pollack’s hands and senior guard Evan Nagler’s shot wasn’t falling like usual.
In November or December, that could have spelled doom for Deerfield, but Donahue has become a different player over the past two months.
“He has taken a massive leap in the second half of this season,” Nagler said. “The confidence he had in the locker room at the half, I knew he was going to do something like that. My head, Jake’s head is down, and we’re a little nervous, and Tommy said, ‘Just keep shooting.’
“There was no doubt in my mind he was going to hit those shots.”
Donahue also provided a huge assist with less than a minute left, finding Nagler underneath the basket for a layup on an inbounds play from near midcourt. That put the Warriors up 39-34.
“He plays point guard for his AAU team, and he played a little bit of 4 for us last year,” Deerfield coach Dan McKendrick said. “So he’s versatile. He can handle the ball, he has a good IQ and he can shoot — you’ll take all of that. Even as the inbounder making the pass to Evan, he took us under his wings.”
This isn’t the first time Donahue has done so in a regional championship game. His go-ahead 3-pointer in the final minutes was the catalyst during the Warriors’ 42-34 win over Notre Dame last year. That shot helped him earn the moniker “Big Shot Tom.”
But Donahue had a slow start to this season and then missed three weeks with a torn hip flexor.
“At the beginning of the year, he was trying to find where his shots were going to come from,” McKendrick said. “We have Jake, we have Evan, and (Donahue) was feeling it out.
“But since he came back in the middle and end of January, he has been finding the right shot at the right time, not forcing it. He relaxed into his role.”
Donahue’s role had already expanded after he was named a team captain, and even though he was sidelined, his stature on the team increased.
“I got to reflect a little, and I worked on my mindset,” he said. “I also got to grow as a leader. As a captain, I found a way to contribute even when I wasn’t playing, and that was a unique experience.
“That reset really helped me, and my game has taken off since then.”
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter.
