JOURNAL SPORTS
Named the state’s junior college player of the year earlier this summer, Bossier Parish Community College basketball point guard Tony Montgomery is lining up with the nation’s best these days.
Thursday and today, Montgomery is playing in the JA 48 event in Richmond, Va., and this weekend he goes south to Atlanta for the All-American JUCO Showcase Invitational event. They are designed to provide four-year college coaches, and even professional scouts, a chance to assess the top junior college sophomores-to-be playing against each other.
Montgomery was one of 11 freshmen on coach Jeff Moore’s first Cavaliers team last season and he had sparkling numbers and credentials.
The Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches named Montgomery the state’s JUCO player of the year and he received the honor May 5 at the annual LABC Awards Dinner in Baton Rouge.
The award is selected annually by men’s college basketball coaches across the state of Louisiana and recognizes the top junior college player for performance, impact, and leadership.
A 6-foot-1 point guard from Columbus, Georgia, Montgomery delivered a dominant freshman campaign for the Cavaliers. He earned first team All-Region XIV honors — one of only two freshmen named to the first team — while leading the region in both scoring (19.5 points per game) and assists (4.9 per game).
Montgomery was productive across the board for BPCC with averages of 3.9 rebounds, and 1.9 steals per game, while shooting 42 percent from the field (202-of-477), 32 percent from three-point range (58-of-182), and 77 percent from the free throw line (139-of-181).
Moore said Montgomery drew the full focus of opposing defenses — double teams, full-court pressure, traps, and box-and-one looks — but never wavered. He continued to produce at an elite level while dictating tempo and commanding the game from the point guard position, said Moore.
“As a freshman in the top junior college league in the country, Tony proved to be one of the top players by leading Region 14 in scoring and assists despite being each team’s focal point defensively, facing every defensive scheme to try to slow him down,” said Moore. “I am most proud of his growth this season as a leader at the point guard position.”