Rachel Montgomery continues to make name

WHS junior Rachel Montgomery continues to make name for self

Williamstown junior Rachel Montgomery (15) takes a shot over a Grant Co. defender in a Lady Demon victory earlier this season.

By Wade Holland

Publisher

Most players take years to establish themselves as a solid contributor at the varsity level. But not Williamstown's Rachel Montgomery, who wasted no time in making a name for herself on the hardwood.

In her first varsity start as an eighth-grader, Montgomery set Williamstown's single-game record for assists and has been a leader for the Lady Demons ever since. Currently a junior, she has emerged as a standout performer for her team and is on pace to do some special things before her career is over.

Montgomery is not just a leader for Williamstown, but is also one of the 8th Region's top performers with averages of 15 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals per game for a Lady Demon squad that is among the best in the region.

As impressive as those number are, none tell the true worth of Montgomery to the Lady Demons' program.

"Rachel fills it up everywhere," said Williamstown Coach Kasey Mason. "She does a little bit of everything, not just the big two. It's big to get a kid to realize that scoring is not everything. And when Rachel is not scoring, she knows what she needs to do to put her teammates in position to score and to put herself in position to create more opportunities for herself.

Lady Demon guard one of Region 8's best with averages of 15 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals per game

"When Rachel's not scoring in large quantities, she is doing a lot of little things like rebounding, dishing out assists, getting steals, and getting touches on the ball," continued Mason. "And here recently she has been assigned the toughest defensive assignment and excelled at that, too."

Putting up the kind of numbers that has made Montgomery a star player has been done with the team's best interest as a priority, and has nothing to do with personal achievements. According to Mason, Montgomery has always been a team-first player, proven by her school-record 12-assist game while still in middle school.

"Rachel always plays very unselfish. Just like the other night against Villa Madonna, Rachel could have done a lot more offensively as far as scoring. She could have been a little more selfish," said Mason. "But instead, she made sure she got a lot of people involved trying to recreate that teamness and that oneness. It was very neat to see that. It was the best team ball I've seen us play and a lot of it had to do with Rachel and what she put in place before the game and how she acted during the game. It's no secret, Rachel has the potential to score 25 points every night. She has done it in two of our last three games. In the Villa game it would have been very easy for her to get 25. But instead, she made sure to spread it around and get more people involved."

While Montgomery often times makes it look easy while turning in dominating performance after dominating performance, nothing has come easy for her in the game of basketball. Trading in dancing for basketball as a skinny, lanky fifth grader, she spent plenty of time as a reserve player over the next several years as she honed her skills. But an unwavering work ethic propelled her game to a high level.

"Watching her progression from being a kid who was tinier than everybody else with not a lot of basketball skill, and watch her develop into the player she is today has been a really cool thing to watch," commented Mason.

"She has a really strong work ethic. She spends a lot of hours in the gym on her own. There's times when I have to kick her out. I have to say 'you've been here long enough, it's time to go home,' continued Mason. "Rachel's spent lots of hours in the gym over the years. And it's because she has a love for the game and plays it because she loves it. It's not an individual thing for her. She just enjoys playing and enjoys her teammates. "

Lady Demon Rachel Montgomery (15) looks for a teammate to pass to versus Grant Co. A top scorer, Montgomery is also a premium passer and holds the single-game record for assists with 12, a mark she set in her very first varsity start.

While Mason has got to watch Montgomery grow as a basketball player, Montgomery has also gotten to watch Mason grow as a coach. And Montgomery's loyalty, even when things were not going so well, is impressive, said Mason.

"She's got to watch me grow as a coach. And I can honestly say, in my first two or three years, some of my methods were not the right way to go about things," said Mason. "But Rachel has always done what we asked her to do. She would run through a brick wall for me. She has stood by my side when that whole group that her and Katie Cheek came up with either transferred or quit. As a coach, the loyalty from her has been huge.

"Now that she is older she is more of a voice and a leader," added Mason. "Rachel knows me and she knows what I expect out of the team, and she is able to relay that message in a way that some of our other girls can't. And a lot of that comes from the special bond between her, Katie and I. They've been through thick and thin with me."

Montgomery became interested in basketball at an early age due to her mom, Stacey, being a former player and coach. And it's her parents who are still her biggest inspiration to this day.

"They're always there for me," she said. "Mom pushes me so hard, which sometimes I don't like, but I know it's for the best and she knows what she is doing. And dad is always there supporting me, encouraging me to go out and be the best player I can be."

Besides her parents, Montgomery also credits her teammates, acknowledging that without them neither her nor the Lady Demons would be successful.

"I love my teammates. Without them I could not do any of the things I do. I love having them out there with me on the basketball court and I love having them as sisters. They're amazing," she said.

Excelling her game to a high level also would not have been possible without the leadership of some outstanding coaches, said Montgomery.

"Coach (Melissa) James has really helped me be a leader and is always there when I'm down," she said.

Rachel Montgomery (15)

"And Rob Heeger has helped me a lot with my shot. And Coach Mason, obviously.

"Coach Mason has done so much for me," continued Montgomery. "She's been there for as long as I can remember. I use to be the water girl before she was head coach so I've always known her and was associated with her. When she put me on varsity in the eighth grade I was scared as can be and she was always there supporting me, pushing me, encouraging me. She's always been there, no matter if it is basketball or life problems, she has always been there for me."

Montgomery is not just a good basketball player, she is also an outstanding young lady who is a top notch citizen of the community and someone the younger kids can look up to as a role model. She is a straight A honor roll student who is already taking college courses and has scored a 28 on her ACT.

"As a person, Rachel is a very Godly, Christian girl," said Mason. "And it is evident in the choices she makes. It's evident in the way she speaks and treats people. It shows in her leadership. She has great parents and that is where a lot of the credit goes. But Rachel is one of those players that if I could clone her 20 times, I would. She is the epitome of being a coaches dream. Rachel is someone that I don't have to worry about anything she does.

"Rachel is not just dedicated to basketball, she is dedicated to the academic side of it, too" added Mason. "I was joking with her at a boys' game the other night. She was here to watch her brothers play. She's watching them play and she's cheering for them, but she also has her books out doing homework."

As for the future and what it holds for Montgomery, even she's not sure at this point. College is a given, but athletics at the next level would be secondary as she plans to pick a college strictly based on academics. Also a standout, award-winning volleyball player, offers to be a student-athlete in college are sure to be there.

"Rachel has the ability to play at the next level," said Mason. "Her options are endless. She's got the GPA and she's got the ACT scores. Athletically, she is a good athlete. She's also a good volleyball player. She is tall and long. It really depends on what she wants to do.

"If a college coach or recruiter called me today and asked about her, I would give it my whole-hearted recommendation, with no doubt in my mind that she would give them the best four years possible," added Mason. "You're not going to have a problem with Rachel in any way including academically. And I would have to touch on her leadership."

But before worrying about any of that, there is still plenty to accomplish at the high school level with the remainder of this season and her senior year still in front of her. Montgomery, who already holds one record and has won multiple other awards on the hardwood, including 8th Region Player of the Week honors multiple times, is on pace to do some very special things both as a player and member of the team before her high school career is over.

"When I had Rachel and Katie in the eighth grade, I had a talk with them and told them, you are going to start a legacy here that this place hasn't seen in a really long time. You guys are the ones who are going to make basketball more of a trade when people talk about Williamstown. You guys have the ability to do that. And I really feel like in the last two years it's starting to happen and show," said Mason. "Rachel believes in my vision and that is really important both for her as a player and for me as a coach. I have to have players who are going to buy into what we're doing and she has since day one."

The current task at hand for Montgomery and her Lady Demon teammates is next week's District 32 Tournament. Williamstown is set to play Walton-Verona at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Simon Kenton High School.

To be successful, according to Montgomery, it's simple. The Lady Demons just need to play their game, give 100 percent, and do the things they've worked on in practice.

"We just need everyone to be disciplined," she said. "It's towards the end of the season so everyone knows what coach expects. Everyone needs to play to their potential and come out every game and play the way we are capable of playing."

The daughter of Tom and Stacey Montgomery, Rachel also has four siblings, including twin brothers Brady and Bryce Montgomery, and sisters Chelsie and Kim Montgomery. Her grandparents are Mike and Ruth Ruditis from Pennsylvania.

As for who's better on the hardwood between her and her brothers, who are both members of the Demons' varsity squad, being a girl has not stopped Montgomery from holding her own, and more often than not, succeeding against her brothers.

"Brady has a good shot and when he's on he can beat me." she said. "And Bryce is a little bit stronger than me and uses that to push me out. But we're pretty comparable."