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Show March 13, 2001 The Forum - 4 MVP Montgomery Leads Griffins to Nationals Matt Gaschk FORUM Writer Two seasons, 57 games, 34 wins and 1,133 points later, Montgomery is preparing for the NAIA Division I national tournaTwo years ago, Mitch Montgomery was ment in Tulsa, Oklahoma with a Frontier faced with a difficult decision that we all Conference regular season championship have faced in one way or another. After under his belt. attending Snow Junior College in Ephraim, "That he had to decide which Conference champicollege he would attend. onship is the highlight His decision had a little of my season. It is great twist to it though - it to hear it announced involved basketball. that we are the regular He received offers season champions," to play at Albertson said the 6 feet 2 inches College in Caldwell, senior guard. Idaho and Marist Not only have College in Griffins the been sucPoughkeepsie, New cessful while following York. Both schools are the sharpshooters lead, established colleges but Montgomery has with even more established basketball proenjoyed some success of his own. Coupled with grams. Albertson won his 3.45 GPA, the the NAIA Division II Business Management National Championship in 1998. Marist was in major averaged 22.7 the hunt for a bid in this points, 3.8 rebounds I. HerreraTHE FORUM Maritza and 2.6 assists per year's NCAA Division I ' tournament before game en route to the Brad Willden, 33, goes up for a rebound in Frontier Conference the Griffins game against Carroll College durdropping out in a conTournament. Frontier Conference the ing ference tournament loss Player of the Year Willden was named to the honor. last week. team with Montgomery. Despite these offers, Montgomery, a Murray native, decided to stay home and play at Westminster. "My coach at Snow told me that I shouldn't go to Westminster if I wanted to win," said Montgomery after a recent prac- tice. "I kind of wanted to prove him wrong." . "Mitch is a tremendous talent. He deserves every award and all the recognition that he receives beause he has worked very hard," said Head Coach Tommy Connor. "He is a model student-athlet- e and a beautiful person." If there was any doubt before, Montgomery made it quite clear that he was deserving of the award, scoring 100 points in the three games of the Conference Championship Tournament. "I am on a very good team," said Montgomery when asked about his MVP status. "I couldn't do it without each of my teammates." But more important than any individual awards for Montgomery has been his team's success and the success of his coaches. "The only reason I am able to score so well is because teams have to respect every player on the court," he small forward position, averaging 10.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. The Griffins bench was also thrust into the limelight. Connor was named Frontier Conference Coach of the Year, an honor that he says means "absolutely nothing," while the recognition of his players means "absolutely everything. It was terrific that we had players get recognized. I am so happy for them. I am also happy we won the league. They deserve it." Next up for the Griffins is the National Tournament. Westminster opens the tournament against Biola University of La Mirada, California. The Eagles finished the season with a 25-- 6 record and have a lot of tournament experience. They finished last season with a semi-fina- l, four OT loss to Georgetown said about his recent scoring outburst. In addition to Montgomery's MVP award, three other players were also recognized by the Frontier Conference. Junior forward Brad Willden joined Montgomery on the team, while sophomore forwards Dave Nielsen and Matt Sparrow were named Honorable Mention. "These awards reflect on the whole team," said Sparrow, who came College Mitch Montgomery was named the solid with some perthrough Frontier Conference Player of the Year. But the formances in the closing Griffins are up for weeks of the season to averthe challenge, especially after losing the age 11.4 points and five rebounds per game. championship game, 5 against conWillden (18.1 ppg, 7.3 rpg) agreed with ference rival Carroll College. Sparrow, adding that the awards had some "We are keeping our heads up and extra meaning. "This type of recognition playing as a team. Nobody! is pointing only comes when you win games. The big fingers or blaming other people - we do picture is that we had four players recogthis as a team," said sophomore guard nized because we were able to win games." Cory Carlston. "We are really excited to Nielsen was also very productive at the go to Nationals." 118-10- 8. 78-7- Season Ends Successfuly for Women and with Bright Outlook for Next Year Matt Gaschk FORUM Writer " They have exceeded every expectation that we had coming into the season." -- Coach Daron Park After last season's record, it would have been hard for the Westminster College women's basketball team to have a disappointing season in 2000-200But a mix of old faces, experienced transfers, talented freshman and a new coaching staff surprised the Frontier Conference by finishing the season with a very respectable 7 conference record 1. 8-- (16-1- Amy YoungTHE FORUM Above photos: Head Coach Tommy Connor was named Frontier Conference Coach of the Year. Matt Spanow, 45, and Dave Nielsen, 34, were named Honorable Mention in the Conference. 2 overall). "I was totally blown away this year," said Head Coach Daron Park. "They have exceeded every expectation that we had coming into the season." While the Griffins started the season slow, losing, five of their first seven games, a nine-gam- e winning streak in December and January changed the face of their season. One of the primary factors in the dramatic turnaround was the emergence of freshman post Rebekah Steenblik. While she did put up some big numbers in the beginning of the season, Steenblik scored mostly off of offensive rebounds. After scoring 21 points and pulling down seven rebounds against Presentation College in the Great Falls Tournament, the floodgates were open. She scored in double digits in 18 of the next 20 games on her way to an selection. "I was surprised and excited to be chosen for gleamed Steenblik. ; The honor came as an extra surprise to the freshman, the only freshman to be honored by the conference this season, when she recalled her first game in a Griffin uniform. 'T sat on the bench the whole game," said Steenblik of the scrimmage against Salt Lake Community College. "I was surprised enough that I played as much as I did as a freshman." At 15.3 points per game, Steenblik was the only player on the women's team to average double figures in scoring. Her 7.1 rebounds per game were second only to senior forward Shari Kelsch, who outrebounded her freshman teammate by only 5 in the season totals. and she did it while leading the team in minutes (36.6 pg) and steals (1.79 pg) and finishing with a surprising 3.8 rebounds See WOMEN, page 5 Kelsch, a cornerstone in Westminster's lineup over the past two seasons and two-tim- e Honorable Mention recipient, was second to Steenblik in scoring at a clip of 9.7 points per game. 'That is a credit to their hard work," said Park. "It is an honor for them, but it is also an honor for Westminster College." One of the most underrated players in the conference was point Rebekah Steenblik (top photo) was team. guard Amy Jensen. Her 150 assists named to the Shari Cehlsch was was named (5.4 per game) led the conference. Honorable Mention for the second year. |