By Aimee Ford FosterSpecial to Treasure Coast Newspapers

FORT PIERCE — Throughout her long, accomplished career at Lincoln Park Academy, Brandy Montgomery always was surrounded by older, talented teammates.

That was no longer true this past season, when the senior guard stood as the lone returning starter, and, af-ter Alexis Jean was lost to a knee in-jury in the preseason, the only player with varsity experience.

What followed was a truly memo-rable season.

Montgomery led with words and deeds, powering Lincoln Park to its fifth consecutive district champion-ship and taking the team to the Re-gion 3-4A semifinals. Along the way, she averaged 31 points a game — tied for 14th in the country according to MaxPreps.

For that steady, outstanding per-formance throughout the season, Montgomery has been named the Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers All-Area Girls Basketball Player of the Year.

“I knew what I had to do,” Mont-gomery said. “I knew even before Coach (Wendell) Adams told me. He said ‘B, you’re going to have to step it up even more.’

“I knew I had to step up more as far as leading them, not just in prac-tice, but on the court during the games. It helped me become a bet-ter leader … for us to do as well as we did. It wasn’t just me. The girls really stepped up, and going into the playoffs, they weren’t freshmen anymore.”

Montgomery always was a scorer, as her more than 3,000 career points showcases, but this year, she was much more. Adams estimated that she had the ball in her hands 80 to 85 percent of the time this year.

In addition to that, she faced ev-ery defense imaginable — but never stopped scoring.

“Before the season started, I told her that this year she would have to play more minutes, so we condi-tioned for her to play 32 minutes,” Adams said. “She was double- and

triple-teamed. She saw a different de-fense every night — doubles, boxes. She still managed to get her num-bers. She averaged more points than any other year.”

Montgomery was pleased with her performance this year — earning a second Player of the Year award, to go with the one she earned as a sophomore, was one of her goals. But she was more pleased with what the team accomplished.

“They honestly shocked me,” she said of her young teammates. “They kept progressing and getting better. People didn’t expect us to be that good. But I couldn’t do it by myself. That’s what shocked me, how far we got. They really showed a lot of maturity.”

So did Montgomery.“She brought such a positive atti-

tude,” Adams said. “She was a coach on the floor.”

Veteran stepped up her gameLincoln Park Academy’s Brandy Montgomery took the reins of the girls basketball team this season

WEDNESDAY

Girls Soccer

THURSDAY

Boys Soccer

FRIDAY

WrestlingSATURDAY

Girls Basketball

SUNDAY

Boys Basketball

MONDAY

Girls Weightlifting

ALL-AREA GIRLS BASKETBALL TEAM

All-Area First Team

Honorable Mention

LaSonja Edwards

Rose Marie Julien

K.P. Pound

Ashley Robinson

Meredith Flynn

Mariah Newkirk

Yasmine Queen

Tayler Smith

PLAYERS OF THE YEAR BRANDY MONTGOMERY

All-Area Schedule

ROGER DORIOTreasure Coast, third yearThis season: Led Treasure Coast to its first district championship in school history en route to a 21-5 record. That included a 50-29 win over Winter Park in a Region 2-8A quarterfinal, the first regional win in school history. Treasure Coast also won the St. Lucie County Championship and its division at the Queen of Palms Classic in Fort Myers.Quotable: “I was looking back over my records and this was the best season I ever had as a (head) coach. ... The thing I’m most proud of is coming from where we were three years ago when I took the job, right before the season started, and progressing the way we did and the kids getting better and having the first set of seniors that are getting scholarship offers. That means a great deal. ... At this stage in my career, I’m not going to get the Duke job, but it’s an honor to be coach of the year and I appreciate it for the kids, for what they did.”

LaSONJA EDWARDSFort Pierce Central junior guard/forwardStats: 13.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.2 steals per game

MEREDITH FLYNNSt. Lucie West Centennial senior power forwardStats: 17.0 points per game, 10.0 rebounds per game

ROSE MARIE JULIENTreasure Coast senior wing/postStats: 20.3 points per game, 12.7 rebounds per game

MARIAH NEWKIRKMartin County senior guardStats: 14.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 4.3 steals per game

K.P. POUNDSebastian River senior forwardStats: 24.3 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.7 blocks per game

YASMINE QUEENMartin County sophomore guard/forwardStats: 12.0 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists per game

ASHLEY ROBINSONJensen Beach senior guardStats: 28.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 3.2 steals per game

TAYLER SMITHSebastian River sophomore forward/centerStats: 11.9 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 2.9 steals per game

Coach of the Year

GIGI ALCINDORJohn Carroll senior guard

CASSIDY BELLPine School senior guard

KASEY COXJensen Beach junior point guard

VICTORIA CRAWFORDMorningside Academy eighth-grade forward

SHANA DeWITTPort St. Lucie junior guard

AMI EDWARDSOkeechobee senior forward

TIANNEA FRYSONSouth Fork freshman guard

MEGAN GORMANVero Beach freshman forward

TREASURE INGRAMJohn Carroll junior center

NENE JOHNSONMartin County junior guard

RONEISHA JORDANFort Pierce Central senior guard/forward

EBONY JOSEPHFort Pierce Central senior point guard

JORDAN McHARDYMartin County junior guard

CARLEY McCOINOkeechobee sophomore point guard

MARRIAH NUNNALLYTreasure Coast senior wing

MIAH SHEPHARDSebastian River senior guard

CAITLYN SMITHSebastian River freshman guard

KATIE TAYLORSebastian River sophomore guard

SYDNEY TOWNSENDJensen Beach sophomore guard

CHRISTINA WOODWARDMorningside senior forward

KAYLA WOULARDVero Beach sophomore guard

ALL-AREA TEAMThe All-Area girls basketball team was compiled by Aimee Ford Foster.

BRANDY MONTGOMERYLincoln Park Academy senior guardStats: 31.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 4.1 steals per gameCoach Wendell Adams: “She carried the leadership role this year. She played all these years, but she was always one of the younger kids. She was our only returning starter this year, and she just set a good example. The other kids followed her this year.”

Player of the Year

T C « S C R I P P S T R E A S U R E C O A S T N E W S PA P E R S « Saturday, March 30, 2013 « 7C

ALEX BOERNER/TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS

Lincoln Park Academy’s Brandy Montgomery is the Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers All-Area Girls Basketball Player of the Year.