It’s been a rollercoaster season, let alone a dramatic high school athletic career for senior Jake LaMountain.
Three years ago, when LaMountain was a freshman, he failed to make the junior varsity (JV) basketball team. “I didn’t make JV freshman year, which was obviously pretty disappointing. I really wanted to be on the team,” LaMountain said. His mind was set on making the cut the following year. “I put in a lot of work, specifically before my sophomore year, to try out again and hopefully make it,” LaMountain said. Now as captain of the Runnin’ Rebels, the boys’ varsity basketball team, LaMountain has achieved many of his personal goals in becoming a basketball player.
Attending six-week long sessions of basketball summer camp, LaMountain worked on fundamentals such as dribbling and shooting. Each session consisted of several hour-long drills. “At the end of every day, I came home dead,” LaMountain said. “I enjoyed it so much. It’s not like I regretted it.”
The hard work paid off. The ambitious sophomore made the JV team. In 12 games, he averaged 3.33 points per game, along with 2.67 rebounds per game and 0.50 assists per game. “I didn’t get to play as much as I wanted to,” LaMountain said of his sophomore season. The JV team did, however, win the division title with a 10-2 record.
In his junior year, LaMountain gained considerable playing time with several key seniors including Tammer Farid (’06), Menley Khuu (’06) and Eric Knutsen (‘06)- a trio who made up around 87 percent of the total scoring. “I was impressed with the amount of effort, determination and passion they had for the game,” LaMountain said.
Varsity Rebels’ coach Phil Fisher, however, was impressed with LaMountain for different reasons. Last January, in a game against A.P. Randolph High School, the Rebels were down by 12 points when Fisher put LaMountain into the game. “I remember he dove head-long for the ball. It was the first time I saw a player on my team do that like that. He thoroughly energized the team,” Fisher said.
For the rest of that season, LaMountain started for the Rebels and helped maintain an eight-game winning streak. But as guard, he only was able to average 2.50 points, 2.36 rebounds and 1.43 assists per game in the 14 games he played during his first year on the varsity squad. “He’s probably the last guy I kept last year as a junior. But I liked his athleticism and his attitude so I kept him,” Fisher said.
Throughout this school year, LaMountain has experienced many ups and downs. He missed the first half of the Stuyvesant soccer season after he contracted mononucleosis and only played in four games during the regular season. Then, during a second round playoff game last November, LaMountain scored the winning goal against Canarsie High School, sending the Rebels to the quarterfinals.
In addition to basketball, LaMountain said that soccer helped him greatly as an athlete. “The biggest plus that I got from soccer was conditioning and teamwork. It helped keep me in shape,” LaMountain said.
LaMountain has never been the leading scorer. During the regular season, he only averaged 6 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists per game “He’s not a consistent outside shooter. I still wanted him to do all the little things that you can’t find in a scorebook,” Fisher said. “If you want a kid that is going to give you all the intangibles and score a basket occasionally, he’s come on very strong.”
Over the last two years, LaMountain has worked tirelessly to improve the different aspects of his game. For the past two summers, he has attended a two-week basketball camp at St. John’s University campus, where he worked with National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I coach Norm Roberts, who is currently the head coach of the Red Storm basketball team at St. John’s.
“It really helped me a lot to learn about basketball from [Division I] coaches, some of the best there are in the world,” LaMountain said. He also attributes his improvement to playing with other competitive athletes.
One of his main skills is his hustle. While attending a camp at Christ the King High School, he was given the “Mr. Hustle” award. “That’s always the strong point of my game,” LaMountain said.
Throughout the season, LaMountain has totaled 88 rebounds, the highest among seniors on the team. “He plays with incredible tenacity that you don’t see from anybody else, and he’s willing to do the dirty work,” junior and Rebel starter Nolan Becker said.
At Rebels games, it is not surprising to see the captain leaping after long rebounds, and chasing down loose balls. “He’s the first one on the floor after a loose ball,” Fisher said.
As captain, LaMountain not only excels physically through his defensive skills, but also leads with a positive mental energy. “He is encouraging on the court and he believes in his team,” Becker said.
LaMountain had much to believe in going into this year’s postseason, where the Rebels were given the 38th seed. In the play-in game against Theodore Roosevelt High School on February 26, he had his best offensive performance of the season, scoring two three-pointers and a total of 15 points. The Rebels defeated Roosevelt, 74-45. “Everything was clicking and it flowed right,” LaMountain said after the game.
Though LaMountain was disappointed when the season ended, he felt proud about the way he and his team performed against the second-seeded High School of Food and Finance. ”There’s the other side of me that is so proud of my team and so impressed with how we just played,” LaMountain said. As for his athletic career, “I’m definitely going to miss it. It’s been a fun experience,” LaMountain said.