CARROLLWOOD — Brothers always compete with each other.
And this Montague duo, JB and Brayden, is no exception.
“Maybe I'm too competitive sometimes,” said JB, a senior at Tampa Preparatory School.
“We're definitely pretty competitive,” added Braden, a junior at Carrollwood Day School.
But like most competitions, it just made the brothers better. And that competitive spirit is also the reason they don't attend the same high school.
We both wanted to be the starting goaltenders at our schools and knew we could be, so JB went to Tampa Prep and Brayden went to Carrollwood Day.
“Obviously, that action worked,” JB said.
It has been incredibly successful.
At Carrollwood Day on Feb. 23, Braden found the back of the net to cap off a great season and win the program's first state championship and the Class 2A trophy. Less than 24 hours later, Tampa Prep did the exact same thing in Class 3A with JB in net, helping the Terrapins win the program's eighth state title and second in three seasons.
The two grabbed championship hardware at Lake Myrtle Sports Park in Auburndale, where each brother watched and then celebrated with the other brother.
JB watched intently as Brayden shut out Maitland-Orangewood Christian 3-0, while Brayden and his teammates cheered on JB as they defeated Downtown Doral 4-2.
“I couldn't be happier to go see him play. It was amazing,” JB said. “It was a really great experience because our family was the first one he came and celebrated with.”
“I definitely got to be there and watch his games and celebrate with him,” Braden added. “The first thing we all did was celebrate each other. It was an incredible few days (at the state tournament).”
“But this was a great opportunity for us to put all that (competition) aside and realize what a great accomplishment this is for our family,” JB concluded.
Ironically, there were similarities between the Montagues' seasons.
Tampa Prep and Carrollwood Day suffer regular season losses that force the teams to reevaluate their play, but they ultimately come together as a team and do not lose again for the rest of the season. .
For example, Carrollwood Day started the season with a 2-2 record, including back-to-back losses to Wiregrass Ranch and Jesuit early in the season. The Patriots would not lose again and would be tied with Berkeley Prep scoreless at midseason.
As for Tampa Prep, it was the Jesuits who gave the Terps losses (as well as ties), and as mentioned above, those losses only brought the team together.
“That was actually important because we came together as a team and started playing harder and better,” JB said. “And it obviously paid off in the postseason because we were scoreless until the last two games.”
Tampa Prep won five straight postseason games with a shutout and allowed only three runs in the state tournament, scoring 36 goals in that span.
Carrollwood Day was equally impressive, with the Patriots outscoring their opponents 16-1 in the postseason tournament, with St. Petersburg's Shorecrest Prep sneaking the only goal past Braden.
“(Our) postseason performance was insane,” the younger Montague added. “We've only scored once in the last eight games. Our defense was great. I didn't think we could keep them out of the net for that long.
“We knew our team was going to be special because we kept winning and winning and winning all the way to the state finals.”
The brothers are competitive, but surprisingly, they didn't play against each other much.
Actually only twice.
And it was the past two seasons that Tampa Prep and Carrollwood Day faced off in the “Battle of the Brothers.” However, the Terps won both games 3-1.
Plus, JB still has one more win left over his younger brother. His first state title he won in 2022.
“I definitely tease him about having two (state titles),” JB deadpanned. “I have an advantage.”
But that doesn't stop Brayden.
As it turns out, he's too competitive with his brother.
“Next year it's my turn to get a second one,” Braden said confidently. “I'm waiting for next year and I'll get the second one too like him.”