Four offseasons ago, the West Senators’ girls’ basketball program brought in a new head coaching hire during the summer months.
It paid off with the program’s first-ever conference championship as well as a regional tournament appearance, its deepest tournament run in program history.
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With a strong nucleus coming back that includes each of its five starters and all but two of its top 10 players in its rotation from the 2025-26 season, West is hoping that lightning, in this case, will strike twice.
The Lady Senators will certainly have another experienced hand leading them, as West will tab former Piketon High School player, graduate, and junior high head coach LeAnn Montgomery, who also has assisted the likes of well-known Ron ‘Tuck’ Connor with Team Ohio, as its next head coach.
She takes the reins of the program after former West head coach Doran Martin resigned. Martin did lead the Lady Senators to a 15-10 overall record, an OHSAA Division V District Final appearance and a one-game improvement in the overall record despite not having All-Southeast District standout forward Macey Whisman for five games due to injury.
Whisman, Brayleigh Pistole and Hailey Carver were each named All-Southeast District honorees while Maddie Lawless enjoyed a strong freshman season.
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“It’s a huge honor,” Montgomery said. “This is a wonderful community and a wonderful school district. I just feel honored to be in this position. I saw that the school was accepting applications on a social media post and I decided to submit my application. I’ve been watching these young ladies since they were in seventh and eighth grade, and I knew that they possessed a buildable foundation for a strong legacy program.”
Montgomery certainly has hit the nail on the head on her last point.
Entering the 2026-27 season, the West girls basketball program is easily enjoying what is the program’s best decade in its history.
Since the 2020-21 season, West hasn’t finished worse than 14-11 in any academic year and has gone 110-40 over its 150-game stretch in that time with two SOC Championships and two district championships during that timespan.
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The program’s winning percentage is 73.3 percent since 2020. West’s last losing season was the 2019-20 campaign, when the Lady Senators went 10-13 in Megan Artrip’s first year as the head coach — a year where Artrip led a seven-game improvement in the win column. Artrip led West to 15-7 and 20-6 seasons after that.
Larry Howell then took over for Artrip in 2022 and proceeded to lead the Lady Senators to 25-2, 21-4 and 14-11 overall records in his three seasons before accepting the Clay boys basketball head coaching position. Martin then went 15-10 in his lone season leading the group in 2025-26.
Along with the leadership of the individuals mentioned above, West has had willpower from its players within the program in changing the program’s trajectory.
Two of those former players are Abby Adkins and Lexi Deaver. Adkins and Deaver, who both served as assistant coaches under Martin last season, will both be back under Montgomery. Adkins, who played under former West head coaches Artrip and Jason Claytor, was a point guard, while Deaver was a combo guard.
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Both players were highly lauded for their IQ, knowledge of the game and work ethic throughout their high school careers, and Deaver ultimately played for two seasons at Shawnee State, playing a complimentary role on SSU’s 28-5 squad during the 2024-25 season that reached the second round of the NAIA National Tournament.
“They are truly wonderful young women and their connection to the school and community is truly unmatched,” Montgomery said of Adkins and Deaver. “Both of them are former players and they bring a unique perspective along with a lot of basketball knowledge. I’m grateful to have them.”
Along with Pistole (13.6 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.6 steals, 2.2 assists), Whisman (11.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.7 steals, one block) and Carver (eight points, three assists, 2.2 steals), Lawless (7.4 points, 4.7 rebounds), Ally Buckner (four points, 1.2 steals), Lauryn Trinidad, Gracelynn Bigham and Molly Whisman all return.
Macey Whisman, Carver, Buckner and Bigham are the team’s returning seniors. Pistole and Trinidad are juniors and Lawless and Molly Whisman will be sophomores. The rotation gives West a plethora of options, particularly in the low post, where the Whisman sisters, Bigham and Lawless all played last season.
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Kayla Throckmorton and Rileigh Miller were West’s lone graduating seniors.
“I feel great about where the program is at,” Montgomery said. “We were fortunate to return all of our starters from last year. We will feel the loss of Kayla Throckmorton and Rileigh Miller for sure. They were tremendous kids and really brought great senior leadership last year. This senior class is unique, they’re the kind of kids coaches wish for. Combine that with the vast amount of talent all the way down to the freshman class and we will certainly be a huge force.”
Montgomery is no stranger to many of the kids on West’s roster. Montgomery, in fact, coached and has now coached with Deaver, and has coached Carver and Whisman among others alongside her former coach, Connor, on Team Ohio.
Montgomery attended NCAA Division III Heidelberg College for a spell after playing at Piketon before transferring closer to home at Ohio.
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Following her college days, Montgomery coached inside the Lady Redstreaks’ feeder system, serving as the head coach of Piketon’s junior high girls basketball program. She ultimately stayed with Piketon for six years, saying that she “was privileged to coach a lot of great kids.”
She credits Connor and longtime Piketon girls basketball head coach Brett Coreno for molding her basketball mindset.
An attacking defense with an old-school offense that features various give-and-go styles, Montgomery said, will be what she employs going forward with the West girls basketball program.
“I plan to play a very aggressive defense,” Montgomery said. “In the words of Pat Summitt, ‘offense sells tickets, defense wins games, and rebounding wins championships.’ As far as offense goes, I’m not over complicating it, I like old school basketball. Give me a good give-and-go offense and I’ll find different variations of that all night.”
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With a squad that’s heavy on upperclassmen with four seniors and two juniors behind them, Montgomery says that this season’s West squad is locked in on taking care of missed opportunities from the 2025-26 campaign.
“We have big goals,” Montgomery said. “The girls are holding a grudge from last year over some games we should’ve won. We will work hard, focus on fundamentals, and elevate our level of basketball.”
Beyond 2026-27, the goal is to maintain and build upon the high standards that have been set within the program, as evidenced by the records that the West girls basketball program has churned out since the beginning of the decade.
“Long term, I hope to build a legacy here,” Montgomery said. “I want anyone who loves this game to be able to develop, have fun, and play this beautiful game. Basketball has given me a lot, and I just want to give back in some way. We hope to cultivate a strong youth league program as well. They are our future.”
