The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

Lane Demontiey is the only senior on this boy's basketball team. Last year, at the end of the season, he was planning on having four senior teammates. One moved to live with his father, one got injured playing football, and one decided not to play. He said, "It feels good and bad at the same time. We are missing a lot of people that I thought would be with me this year, but I'm really excited to have the opportunity to work with these younger kids and have a good year with them."

Lane has taken some steps for himself this year. He's finishing his high school years by homeschooling his Senior classes. He also has a job at the medical center, but he honors his team players by staying committed to the game of basketball that he loves.

He just started working at the medical center but says, "Everybody's been really nice. And it's been good!

He stays motivated by "just thinking about the end goal; it keeps me pretty motivated. And just thinking about what I hear daily keeps me pretty motivated."

I believe his impact on the younger players will be huge. He'll be kind of like an emotional/mental coach. He knows that "a lot of those kids look up to me. I mean, I can tell when we practice. I can tell when I'm out in Big Sandy. I mean, it's very obvious. But you know, I always wanted somebody to look up to as a kid, so I have no problem being that role model."

His end goals –"Right now it's a toss-up between going to Missoula, and maybe not taking the sports route and just getting a software engineering degree. But I would really like to attend somewhere and play basketball. I wouldn't mind going to Tech. He mentioned either one because of their academic programs. He wants to be a software engineer.

Concerning Pioneer basketball, he said, "I think we'll surprise a lot of people this year." I can't wait to watch this year. Yes they are on the young side, but talented and motivated with good senior leadership.