by Matt Schwab

Las Positas women's basketball coach Tracey Walker considers redshirt freshman guard/forward Savannah Montini an "invaluable asset" to the team.

The facts bear that out.

Montini, a 5-foot-9 Foothill High graduate, has excelled as a student-athlete, team leader, and highly productive player. She entered the week ranked 10^th in the state in scoring with 20.3 points a game, shooting 43 percent from the field and topping the conference in total points with 304.

"Savannah is a natural athlete and a dedicated, hard worker," Walker says. "Her positive attitude and encouragement that she provides for her teammates help build a strong and uplifting team culture."

Walker says Montini's "eagerness and willingness to learn" have elevated her game.

It's a been tough sledding overall for the Hawks, who have a thin roster primarily due to injuries and illness. They fell to 4-13 overall and 0-3 in the Coast-North Conference with a loss to Ohlone, 65-53, on Wednesday, Jan. 22. Both teams were seeking their first conference win.

The Hawks started the season with 12 or 13 players, Montini says, but the current squad sometimes practices with just four. They faced Ohlone with six players but finished with five after one was injured.

"That was tough for us. We've had games that we should have won, but just haven't been able to play to our potential all four quarters," Montini said on Thursday. "That hit us hard losing to Ohlone because that was a winnable game."

Montini had an amazing game in the Hawks' win over Diablo Valley College on Dec. 18, scoring 45 points on 20 of 32 shooting, also hauling down 12 rebounds. She had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds in a win over Los Medanos on Dec. 6.

Montini is seemingly hard-wired to excel, in and out of the classroom, and wants to attend a four-year school in Southern California and play basketball. She had a 4.0 GPA all four years at Foothill and enjoyed the experience with her Falcons basketball teammates and coaches. She also maintains a 4.0 grade point average at Las Positas.

She respects the highly dedicated Hawks coaching staff.

"It's been tough on all of us with the circumstances we've been given, but I like (coach Walker)," Montini says. "She shows up with a good attitude every day. Both her and our assistant coach (Ashley Hart), they put in the work, film, come to practice every day, so they show up for us. I really appreciate that."

Montini opted to redshirt last season with 10 games remaining in the season after suffering a "pretty bad" concussion which sidelined her for a couple of months, she says.

Clearly, she's made up for lost time this season.

"This year I've given it my all I have because I wasn't able to be on the court last season," she says.

The JUCO route kind of runs in Savannah's family. Savannah's older brother Cameron Rowland is the pitching coach at Pepperdine University. A former Foothill baseball star and Falcons pitching coach, he played at Chabot and Diablo Valley College before getting a scholarship at the University of Nevada. He blazed the trail for Savannah.

"He took the same route as I did," she says, "which is part of the reason I came to junior college, because that was an inspiration for me that he could make it out of a junior college and still be successful."

Her part-time job complements her play in college. Savannah works in the pro shop at Bay Club gym in Pleasanton, where she also plays basketball with her dad.