Logan Montgomery is chasing records while trying to pursue his dreams of playing basketball

Perseverance is defined as doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.

In the case of Pueblo West’s Logan Montgomery, he has never given up on his dreams of pursuing a basketball career. Now the senior Cyclone is trying to help his team make the state tournament, while also trying to break a school record.

Montgomery started playing basketball at a young age but wasn’t necessarily good at the sport in the beginning.

“I actually got cut in my 7th grade year,” Montgomery said. “From then on, I just had to get better. I had to perform better, be a better teammate, and just be an all-around good guy. I played baseball as well, but this sport just became my favorite, I love to play it.”

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Montgomery went on to talk about why he fell in love with the sport so much and what it was like to play basketball early on in his career.

“Just the experience. Being able to play in the crowd,” Montgomery said. “Freshman year was kind of slow because of COVID and all that. Sophomore year we had to play with masks, so it was tough it was hard to breathe through those. But then we got into junior year, and I started performing better. I really took off that season and performed better. I started to get my game to where it needed to be for senior year and really think I could perform really well this year.”

Montgomery has tried his best to be a leader on this team as well. He is doing what he can to help the next generation of Cyclones achieve success after he is out of the gym.

“I’m trying to help out the underclassmen to get ready and be the next generation,” Montgomery said. “I just want to get our team in the best possible position so we can get that SCL title.”

The Cyclones haven’t reached the state tournament in a few years now — Montgomery is hoping to achieve that goal in his final year with the program. As of right now, the Cyclones sit in third place in the South-Central League standings with a record of 5-4 but overall, they are 14-8 on the season.

“We want to make it to state,” Montgomery said. “We haven't done it in a while, and I think we could do it this year.

The senior has felt like he has found a home at Pueblo West. The son of a military family, Montgomery was used to moving around from place to place and never really finding a home, that is until he got to Pueblo West.

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“Throughout my childhood, I was a military kid. I moved from house to house, so I had to overcome my fears of new school after new school and making new friends,” Montgomery said. “But, I’ve definitely found a family here. The support from previous coaches till now, they’ve supported me and everything.”

After high school, Montgomery wants to continue to pursue his dreams of playing basketball. He hopes to one day follow in the footsteps of one alumni who has recently achieved what Montgomery dreams of.

“I want to pursue a basketball career, maybe like semi-pro or overseas and stuff like that,” Montgomery said. “I need to be more aggressive and figure out my shot. It hasn't been falling for me but need to get better at shooting and develop a smooth handle.”

Before following in David Simental's footsteps, Montgomery is first trying to break a school record.

“I’m trying to break the free throw record,” Montgomery said. “I’m close, I'm at 80% he's has the record at 86%, so I just need some more free throws.”

Montgomery is averaging 12.9 points per game this season for the Cyclones. He has the team in position to make the playoffs if the team can win out and hold their spot in the standings.

Christopher Abdelmalek is a sports reporter for the Pueblo Chieftain and can be reached at cabdelmalek@gannett.com or follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @chowebacca. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo West's Logan Montgomery loves basketball and the Cyclones