Hart finds it’s still competitive in post-Montgomery era

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Who needs Mike Montgomery?

Well, the Hart boys’ basketball team has certainly illustrated it doesn’t need the 6-foot-4, 20-ppg shooting meister to stay in the running for another Foothill League title. After the Indians’ dramatic comeback victory over West Ranch on Friday, Hart stayed in the game against Saugus on Tuesday until it finally succumbed to a 74-66 loss.

Yes, the Indians didn’t win, but after their performance against Canyon last week, I thought Hart would be stuck on a sinking ship until everything finally went under in February. But Parker Dominguez, Brad Wyche and Levi Wenrich are proving they’re still full of fight and capable of challenging teams like Saugus, my personal pick for the title.

So it seems the Montgomery factor isn’t as big as I thought it would be. And clearly there were some issues between Montgomery and the team that now have been buried, allowing the remaining players to keep focused on their goal of winning the league title.

I think the Indian are still the underdogs at this point, but they definitely have a lot of the same pop that has made them a 12-2 team in nonleague play. No one should underestimate these guys.

-- Austin Knoblauch