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West Branch’s Montgomery earns 600th victory
Warriors’ Montgomery gets milestone on brother’s court
HUBBARD
Several forces were at play for the regular-season finale between Hubbard and West Branch, but none greater than irony.
Sure, Hubbard played all but a few games this season without standout athlete Davion Daniels and Shannon Slovesko’s torn ACL in Game 14 relegated him to the opening tip-only play Friday night.
But Hubbard athletic director Chuck Montgomery’s presentation of the game ball to his brother — West Branch coach Randy Montgomery — was bittersweet.
“I wanted Hubbard to win in the worst way because I want to win in whatever I do, but I’m happy for my brother because he’s worked hard over the years,” Chuck Montgomery said after West Branch’s 55-46 win over Hubbard that gave Randy Montgomery his 600th career coaching victory.
What does 600 mean to Randy, whose 600-204 won-loss record also includes earlier stints at Wooster Triway and North Canton Hoover?
“It means you’ve got a lot of good players, a lot of good teams and a great family that supports you. One of my first players [on a Wooster Triway team] drove all the way over here,” Randy Montgomery said of a guard on Triway’s 1984 team who showed up at Hubbard’s gym.
“It means a lot when those things happen. I’m sure it’ll mean something down the road, but I just wanted to win the game. It keeps the momentum going,” he said.
After trailing at halftime, 26-19, West Branch shook off a pesky Hubbard team with entry passes by guards to post players along the baseline.
“You pull a short corner and it pulls the defense out a little and gives a little more room for the other [teammate] guy,” Randy Montgomery said.
The coach said that big men Nick Everett and Brandon Zuchowski, both 6-5, struggled in the first half because Hubbard was feisty, energized and causing some problems by hustling and rebounding.
Coach Randy Montgomery credited Cohen Lamp, Nick Pidgeon and Reese Leone for their play.
“Cohen gave us a good lift, Nick Pidgeon played a great game in all areas and Leone is just so solid that it’s easy to take him for granted.”
But the coach’s final attribution was for Everett, who had nine of his 19 points in the fourth quarter.
“He got going a little bit in the fourth quarter and we needed that,” Randy Montgomery said
Leone added 15 points.
Cam Resatar and Chanze Kelley each had 16 points for Hubbard, while 6-7 Anthony Shaffer defended against Everett.
“He came out a little bit harder in the second half,” Shaffer said. “I was trying my hardest to limit him on the scoring, but I knew I wasn’t going to be able to stop him completely.”
Shaffer, whose two points came in the final quarter, is headed to Mount Union to play football.
Hubbard coach Justin Townsend was asked about the Eagles’ surprising halftime lead.
“We’re capable of playing like that, but we just haven’t strung it together all year,” he said. “We finally played a little bit to our potential in terms of putting a few things together. We played a solid 16 minutes [in the first half], which enabled us to get that lead that we haven’t done all year.”