Etoyah Montgomery showed Player of the Year mettle against nation’s elite teams
Clovis West High girls basketball coach Craig Campbell never lost faith that junior forward Etoyah Montgomery would get going during the 2021-22 season.
He felt her confidence would come back after a slow start to the season.
All it took was a wake-up call: out-of-state tournament trips.
“She knows she can play and as we headed to Arizona and in Texas, she started putting up big numbers against elite competition and I think that got her confidence going, got her flow going and it carried from there,” Campbell said.
“We were playing state-ranked teams from multiple states against Division I kids and very physical teams. You had to bring your ‘A’ game or you’re going to get smoked. She really picked it up.”
Montgomery led the Golden Eagles to a Tri-River Athletic Conference title and a Central Section Open Division championship — the 10th straight section title. She finished the season with 441 points and made 30 3-pointers and is named The Fresno Bee’s Player of the Year. Her season per-game averages were 15.6 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists.
Montgomery will return next season and sits at 955 career points, according to section historian Bob Barnett.
She reflected back on the season and is looking forward to finishing her senior season on a high note, with another section title in mind.
“This season was a very good season for all of us,” she said. “It was fun and the ups were fun and the downs were even fun and everything about this season was fun and we still got out business handled and won the Valley.
“It starts off with culture. This is our 10th peat winning Valley and it’s something we like to hold on to. You never want to be that team that ruins the streak. You never want to be that person that ruins the streak. That is what I was thinking about the whole time. I think that is what the team was thinking about, just the streak of winning.”
