Prospect Spotlight: Parker Montgomery 2020
The Marlborough Mustangs have gotten off to a solid start this season, and a big part of their success has come from the growth and development of Parker Montgomery. Montgomery is a senior guard who has emerged as one of…
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Continue ReadingThe Marlborough Mustangs have gotten off to a solid start this season, and a big part of their success has come from the growth and development of Parker Montgomery.
Montgomery is a senior guard who has emerged as one of the top talents in the Southern California area. She led Marlborough to the second round of CIF playoffs last season and was named to the first team All-Mission League.
This season, she became the school’s all-time leading scorer with over 1370 career points. She surpassed the previous record held by former Mustang and UCLA Bruin Shaina Zaidi who had set the record in 2003.
She had several different Division1 schools that reached out to her, but she ultimately chose UC San Diego to continue her basketball journey. She feels that her versatile skill set as a guard will help them in a big way next season.
“As a guard, I am bigger than most of the guards. If I need to, I can post up down low, Montgomery told Prep Girls Hoops. “Also, if I have someone big on me, I can take them off the dribble when I’m on the wing and I think that can add a lot to their game.”
In today’s evolving game, more and more players are becoming well-rounded. It’s not enough for players to pigeon-hole themselves in only playing one position or only being able to do select things on the court.
Montgomery is a prime example of that. She has a very good off the dribble game and finishes strong at the rim while being able to shoot consistently from three-point range. But she plays well in the paint too. She has great footwork and can consistently punish smaller guards in the post.
“I think it’s very useful because whoever is guarding you, you can score off of different options, it’s not like they can stop you off one thing,” Montgomery said. “If they stop you on the wing, you go to the post. If they stop you in the post, you can go off the dribble. It gives you different options.”
Montgomery spent this summer playing AAU with West Coast Premiere on the NIKE EYBL circuit. The EYBL circuit is considered by many to be one of, if not the top AAU circuit in the country.
She suited up alongside other top players including Harvard-Westlake’s Kiki Iriafen, Mater Dei’s Alyssa Frescas, Etiwanda’s Joy Campbell, Bishop Montgomery’s Khylee Pepe, and Sabino’s (AZ) Kiya Dorroh. She believes that experience is only going to help her at the college level.
“I think the faster pace of the game. High school is different from the EYBL circuit, you have that faster-paced game that you’re going to need in college,” Montgomery said. “Also, learning how to play with different teammates and against different teams, I think that’s really going to help me at UCSD.”
This season, Montgomery has really embraced her role as a leader. She’s one of only two seniors on the team along with Erin Yoshitake. Behind Montgomery, the Mustangs have some good wins over solid teams such as Oaks Christian and Flintridge Prep.
They had a strong showing at the Nike Tournament of Champions last month, and have had close games against Chaminade and Etiwanda. With a young team comprised of mostly underclassmen, Montgomery is doing her part to instill a winning mentality among them.
“As a senior, I’m the team captain at this point,” Montgomery said. “I’m here to help the younger freshmen and sophomores and juniors and extend the program by learning from me. If they have any questions I’m going to help. I’m here to help their skill level develop.”
With conference play now underway, and about half of her senior season to go, Montgomery has some goals in mind before she goes off to the next level.
“I want to grow as a player and win some championships for this school,” Montgomery said. “We’ve been the underdog so I want to represent our school well.”