Montgomery County boys basketball team Scott Kroeger is pretty excited about his junior class this winter.

The Wildcats have six juniors on their team, all of them combined for 1,236 points last winter. Tyler Erwin, Clayton Parker, Jay Rodgers, Sean Rodgers, Isaiah Thomas and Tatum Wessel make up the strong junior class.

The group will look to help the Wildcats finish with their fifth consecutive winning season. Last year, MCHS went 19-8 and won its seventh Eastern Missouri Conference championship, but was eliminated by North Callaway in district play.

“We have six of them there and they’ve been playing together for a long time,” said Kroeger, who is back for his seventh season as coach. “They’ve been building up to be competitive in high school. We accomplished some things last year. The season didn’t end the way we wanted to for those guys. We’re going to try to run it back. It’s going to take a full team effort. They have to support guys from the other classes. The other classes have to support them.”

Parker is the Wildcats’ top returning offensive threat. He averaged 23 points per game with 240 rebounds and 42 blocked shots last winter. In September, he was ranked as one of the top 250 high school basketball recruits for the Class of 2025, according to the 247Sports website.

Also a year ago, Thomas averaged 19 points per game, led the team in assists and steals and earned all-tournament honors at South Callaway, Erwin averaged 7.6 points per game and was named to the all-tournament team at Hermann and Jay Rodgers averaged five points per game with 26 three-pointers.

Erwin began the Wildcats’ season by scoring a breakaway dunk against Mexico during a jamboree at Mexico High School on Nov. 13.

“It was a pretty cool way to start off the jamboree,” Kroeger said. “I know he was excited to play against somebody besides his teammates for a change.”

The Wildcats have five seniors – Maddox James, Mason Leu, Hayden McKenzie, Cade Smith and Jacob Stellwagen.

Leu, who is coming off an outstanding football season this fall, played 26 games and averaged four points per contest in the 2022-23 season.

“He’s the spark of all sparks,” Kroeger said. “He’s got energy for days. He’s intense.”

Stellwagen is a transfer from Verona High School. Kroeger said Stellwagen will be a solid addition to the team.

“I feel like Jake is getting acclimated well,” Kroeger said. “I was very happy with his decision making in Mexico. Just sharing the ball a little bit more is something he’s got to get used to because he’s got such a knack for putting defenses at a disadvantage and causing defenders to come over and draw double teams. Whenever he learns how to make the right play consistently, he’s going to be a dynamic threat because he can really shoot the ball, attack the basket and score in a variety of ways.”

The Wildcats began their season on Nov. 21 with a road victory over Winfield. This season, they strengthened their schedule by adding teams such as Battle (Dec. 14), Hogan Prep (Dec. 29 at HyVee Arena in Kansas City) and St. Francis Borgia (Jan. 5) and adding events such as the Midwest Showdown at Ritenour High (Dec. 16) and the Central Bank Shootout at Helias High (Feb. 3).

“We’re excited about that,” Kroeger said. “We’re excited about the challenge. I know the kids are excited about it. Obviously, we have to see exactly how we handle it whenever those challenges come walking onto the court.”

MCHS begins its conference season on Dec. 8 at Silex. The Wildcats were 10-0 in EMO play last winter.