This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Hoover High Coach Reaches 500-Win Milestone in 107-56 Romp Over Fitch

Coach Montgomery reaches 500 career wins and senior Nyles Evans becomes all-time leading scorer in school history

boys' basketball team celebrated several individual achievements and a team record Friday night as a result of their 107-56 lopsided win over Federal League opponent Fitch High School at the Win Tunnel.

Veteran coach Randy Montgomery reached 500 wins for his career — only the 40th coach in the history of Ohio high school basketball to do so.

For Montgomery, he never really thought he would reach such a milestone.

Find out what's happening in North Cantonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"I remember after my first two years of coaching and we had won 25 games total and I saw Jack Greynolds had just won number 400," Montgomery said. "I thought 'wow I'd never get there.'"

Senior guard Nyles Evans scored 46 points to pass Bret Wackerly for both the school's single-game scoring record and career points. Evans' nine 3-pointers is also an individual game record for Hoover basketball. The 107 points scored sets a new team record for points in a single game.

Find out what's happening in North Cantonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

It was a special night as well for Evans, but his main concern was his coach and his team.

"We had a couple tough losses in the league this past week but we came out tonight focused to get coach his 500th win," Evans said. "I love the guy."

Although Montgomery never wanted his coaching milestone to be a distraction to the team, he felt it did affect his team recently.

"I think the guys have tried extremely hard to win number 500 for me, and it may have affected their shooting," Montgomery said.

The Vikings' shooting was just fine Friday night as  they came out blazing against Fitch, hitting three quick 3-pointers (two by Dom Iero and another by Evans) to jump out a quick 9-0 lead in the first minute of play.

Hoover would lead 15-0 before Fitch would score its first basket. Hoover led 37-14 after one period and continued to build on that lead throughout the game.

Montgomery, now in his 28th year of coaching high school basketball, has 158 coaching victories at Hoover (most career wins for Hoover basketball). He won 342 during his 19 seasons at Triway High School in Wayne County.

Montgomery joins former area coaching legends Charles "Red" Ash, Jack Greynolds and Ken Newlin in the exclusive 500-win coaching club. He credits several coaches for influencing him the most through his youth and beyond.

"I give credit to John Cabas and Roger Rogas, my coaches at Salem High School and Coach Dom Rosselli at Youngstown State," Montgomery said. "All of them were influences along with John Wooden."

Montgomery hasn't seen a great deal of change in kids over his long career.

"Kids are pretty much the same — they will work hard if you work hard," Montgomery said. "There are more distractions for kids now but athletics is a great teacher of life if they stay involved."

Evans was excited for reaching the two scoring records but was quick to spread the praise.

"It feels awesome, but it happens because I have great teammates and a coach who allowed me to do it," Evans said.

Evans was joined in double figures by Taylor Moore's 14 points, Kyle Arnold with 11 points and Iero added 10. With the win, Hoover improves to 10-6 on the season. The Vikings return to action Tuesday night at Louisville.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from North Canton