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Foothill’s girls basketball team and first-year coach Andre Smith share a special bond entering their CIF-SS playoff game on Thursday.
They’ve both made impressive comebacks to reach the postseason.
In his return to coaching after a serious health scare, Smith, 63, has guided the Knights (11-11) to a third-place finish in the North Hills League and the Division 3A playoffs. Foothill — which finished 5-21 last season — plays at La Serna (18-10) in the first round.
“I’m blessed,” Smith said. “For three years, I wasn’t doing anything laying in hospital beds.”
Smith, who starred at Buena Park High in 1979 and played for Fullerton College and Vanguard University, was diagnosed in June 2021 with stage-four prostate cancer. The cancer spread to his hips, lower back and pelvis.
Smith underwent radiation and chemotherapy.
While undergoing the treatments, he learned that he also had Addison’s disease, a rare endocrine disorder in which the body doesn’t make enough of certain hormones.
“It was just a lot of war going on in body,” Smith said. “The battle I went through, and my family, has helped me do the things I want to do with basketball.”
Smith had never coached girls basketball before taking the helm at Foothill. He had coached boys in prep school and is the former boys coach at Orange, Perris and San Bernardino. He also coached the Fullerton College men.
“I was just trying to get into coaching again,” Smith said of Foothill. “The prep stuff was good for us but I just couldn’t do the traveling anymore like that and didn’t want to do traveling anymore.”
Smith is commuting to Foothill from Redlands but he is not complaining.
His assistant coach is former Newport Harbor boys coach Larry Hirst, his college teammate at Vanguard and a close friend.
Smith is enjoying his time with Hirst and his players, all of whom were are returners from last season.
Foothill is led by senior forward Jay Perez, sophomore point guard Maleah Paige, junior forward Elize McAveney, junior guard Lynn Morishita and junior forward Paige Bak.
Smith’s key reserves include twins Kayla and Leah Chairez, Maddie Fuentes and Sybella Hernandez.
“It’s a core group of young ladies who have really stepped up and worked hard, trying to be better than they were last year,” Smith said.
Smith’s journey is similar. As a coach, he focuses on being more patient, spotting daily improvement and teaching life skills. He’s grateful for the support of his wife Beth and family.
“The time off I had was not only to heal but to make sure that if I was given a chance again to coach, I would do it differently,” he said. “And now I’m doing it differently.”
OTHER IMPROVED TEAMS
Troy overcame an 1-11 start to finish second in the North Hills League and reach the Division 3AA playoffs under retiring coach Roger Anderson. The Warriors (12-16) play at top-seeded Pacifica Christian (12-14) in the first round on Thursday at 5 p.m. Troy was boosted by the return of senior guard Kaylene Vivo in late December from a knee injury. …
El Modena (21-7), the fourth-place team from the North Hills, showed improvement after going 12-16 last season. The Vanguards, however, didn’t receive an at-large berth in Division 4A. …
Laguna Hills (21-4), the champion of the Orange Coast League, is the No. 5 seed in Division 4A after finishing a combined 13-54 the previous three seasons. “Our two seniors Addi Olsen and Ryah Stefani deserve a lot of credit for sticking with things through some tough years,” said Laguna Hills coach Jim Martin, whose team won its first league title since 2019. The Hawks play host to San Jacinto Valley Academy (15-9) in the first round.
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