Malia Rodgers turned in an outstanding performance at the Montgomery County Invitational, scoring 58 points in three games, earning tournament Most Valuable Player honors and helping her team finish second.

But the Montgomery County sophomore was very upset that her team didn’t win its first championship since the late 1990s. She was in tears after the Mexico Bulldogs knocked off the Wildcats 45-36 in the title game on Dec. 4 at Ballew & Snell Court.

“It’s always sad to lose,” Rodgers said. “We had high hopes coming into the game. To not win it is disappointing, but we’ll bounce back. It’s OK.”

The Wildcats finished with a 2-1 record in the eight-team tournament. They started tournament play on Nov. 29 with a 59-44 win over Clopton in a first-round game. They advanced to the finals after beating Hermann – which won the tournament title the last four years – 51-41 in the semifinals on Dec. 1.

With the win, Mexico captured its 12th championship, a tournament record. The Bulldogs also denied MCHS its first tournament title since 1997.

“The girls expect to win and they expect to play well,” MCHS coach Joe Basinger said. “When they don’t, they take it pretty hard. We didn’t perform on the offensive end. We turned the ball over too much.”

The Wildcats, who were the No. 2 seed in the tournament, dropped to 3-1. They were scheduled to play a home game against California on Dec. 7. MCHS has a home contest against New Haven – which finished third in the MCHS tournament – on Dec. 9.

“I still have very high expectations and hopes for this basketball team,” Basinger said. “We’re going to keep working hard.”

Rodgers led the Wildcats with 14 points against Mexico in the finals. She scored 21 points against Clopton and 23 against Hermann.

Basinger said he’s pleased with the way Rodgers is playing after the first two weeks of the season.

“Malia does a lot of things right,” the MCHS coach said. “She has worked hard. She has put in what we like to call unseen hours. She has put in a lot of unseen hours. She spent a lot of time on her game and it showed this week.”

Rodgers, who earned all-state honors in cross country this fall, said she was happy to earn MVP honors despite the loss to Mexico. During the awards ceremony, the MCHS crowd shouted her name numerous times.

“I’m so honored, but I wouldn’t be where I am without my teammates,” the sophomore said. “Someone’s got to give me the ball.”

MCHS sophomore Olivia Shaw joined Rodgers on the all-tournament team. She scored 23 points in three games, including 14 against Clopton.

“Olivia is a big top force on the glass and a defensive presence,” Basinger said.

With 2:44 left in the second quarter, Shaw scored a conventional 3-point play to give the Wildcats an 18-16 lead. That was the last time MCHS led for the rest of the game.
Mexico, the No. 1 seed, came back with a 14-3 run that carried into the third quarter. The Bulldogs led by as many as 16 in the fourth quarter and went on to win their first tournament championship since 2010.

“(Mexico coach) Ed Costley does a really good job over there with that program,” Basinger said. “They’re long, athletic and strong. We thought we had some advantages in different places. But we couldn’t take advantage of them tonight. They have a lot of experience. We’re still fighting over some experience. We’ll use this as a stepping stone and a learning curve to try to get better the next time.”

The Wildcats finished second in the MCHS tournament for the second time in three years and the third time in program history. They placed runner-up in the first tournament in 1981 after losing to Mexico in the finals.