The Montgomery County girls basketball team is partying like it's 1993.

With a 45-35 road win over North Callaway on Feb. 12, the Wildcats clinched their third consecutive Eastern Missouri Conference championship, making it the first time in 29 years the program captured three EMO titles in a row.

“It’s good to win another conference championship,” MCHS coach Joe Basinger said.

Now, the Wildcats will look to add a district championship plaque to their trophy case. MCHS begins district tournament play at 6 p.m. on Feb. 23 against North Callaway in a Class 3, District 7 semifinal game at South Callaway High School.

The Wildcats are the No. 1 seed in the six-team district tournament, which marks the first time since 1993 that they earned the top seed in districts. The seedings and pairings were released hours before MCHS’ game against North Callaway.

“It’s a big accomplishment for this program for us to put ourselves in that position to gain that kind of respect from our area schools,” Basinger said. “It’s kind of like I told the girls. It’s great to have. You want to have that, but you just put a target on your back. Everybody is going to be coming to get you.”

North Callaway defeated New Bloomfield in a quarterfinal game on Feb. 21 at South Callaway.

If the Wildcats win their semifinal game, they’ll advance to the title game at 6 p.m. against either top-seeded Hermann or sixth-seeded Tolton Catholic on Feb. 25. MCHS’ last district championship was in 1998.

“If we’re able to move past our first game, there will be somebody sitting there every round ready to take a shot at us,” Basinger said.

MCHS will take an 18-7 record into its district semifinal game. The Wildcats had a season-high, eight-game winning streak snapped with a loss to Moberly on Feb. 16.

The Wildcats breezed through their competition in EMO play this year, finishing at 10-0 and beating their opponents by an average margin of 23 points. They won all of their games by double digits except their home season finale against Elsberry on Feb. 15.

MCHS edged Elsberry 38-35 at Ballew & Snell Court. Elsberry rallied to tie the game at 30-30 early in the fourth quarter before the Wildcats came back to close the game with an 8-2 run.

Sophomore Malia Rodgers scored six points during that run. She finished with a team-high 13 points.

“Malia has been our engine all year long,” Basinger said. “She’s a special player. She’s got a good supporting cast around her and she’ll be the first one to tell you that. She’s our engine that makes us go. She gets up and down the floor. She finds people. She’s averaging almost five assists a game.”

Sophomore Maddy Queathem, who tied the school record for most 3-pointers in a game with five in the Wildcats’ conference opener against Silex on Dec. 13, finished with nine points with a pair of treys.

The Wildcats now have seven conference titles. They won the league from 1991-1993, 1997, 2019 and 2020. They also have a 30-game conference winning streak.

Basinger said before the season began, he predicted that teams such as Van-Far, North Callaway and Elsberry were going to challenge his team for the conference title this season.

“The conference improved quite a bit,” Basinger said. “From where it was a year ago to where it is now, it’s way more competitive. We’ve got some coaches in this league who are doing a really good job, like (Wellsville-Middletown coach) Todd Cripe. His girls are playing well right now.”

Rodgers finished with 11 points and junior Carson Flake added nine in the win over North Callaway.