After pulling off a huge win over Missouri basketball powerhouse Hogan Prep on Dec. 29, the Montgomery County boys basketball team was setting its sights on knocking off another state basketball powerhouse – St. Francis Borgia – as the two teams squared off for the first time on Jan. 5 at Ballew & Snell Court.

But the Washington school had other ideas. The Knights handed the Wildcats their biggest loss of the season as they cruised to a 68-50 victory.

MCHS led by one point in the second quarter before Borgia rallied to take a 32-27 halftime lead and outscore the Wildcats 36-23 in the second half to remain undefeated. The Knights, the No. 2 team in Class 4, improved to 12-0.

“It was a really tough game, but it’s a lot of fun going out there and playing with my friends,” MCHS junior Jay Rodgers said. “We worked really hard to get there. We wanted the win, but it wasn’t the outcome.”

The Wildcats, who came into the contest ranked No. 10 in Class 3, dropped to 9-4. They also lost their second home game of the season.
MCHS junior Tyler Erwin said he enjoyed playing in the contest between two state-ranked teams.

“We didn’t come out with the win, but it’s a great atmosphere to play against,” he said. “We have a great student section and they give us a lot of energy. Plus, the opponent side and our home team give us a lot of energy to win our games.”

Junior Clayton Parker finished with 22 points and was 6-for-6 from the free-throw line, junior Isaiah Thomas finished with 10 and senior Jake Stellwagen added nine to lead the Wildcats.

A week before, MCHS edged Hogan Prep 53-51 in the 12 Courts of Christmas Shootout at Hy-Vee Arena in Kansas City. Hogan Prep, a Class 5 school from Kansas City, finished in the top four at state seven times, including state titles in 2011 and 2018.

“They’re a really good team and they’re a huge school,” Erwin said. “That was a good win for our community because you don’t ever hear about a little Class 3 school out in the middle of nowhere beating Hogan Prep. You don’t hear about stuff like that.”

On Jan. 5, the Wildcats lost to a Borgia team that finished in the top three in the Class 4 state tournament 10 times, including five state championships.

“Borgia is a very good team,” Erwin said. “We just talked in the locker room that the mental game is part of the sport. Mason Leu told us that. It’s not like football where you get a break in between so you can cool off. Basketball is a continue-to-play sport. So if you get mad, it’s going to build up, build up and build up and it’s going to get you nowhere. It will cause you to quit mentally.”

After two months, the Wildcats have played a very competitive schedule. Besides Borgia and Hogan Prep, MCHS also played Southern Boone, Battle and St. Louis University High. The Wildcats will play Jefferson City at the Central Bank Shootout on Feb. 3 at Helias High School in Jefferson City.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Rodgers said. “It’s going to help us out a lot. We’re still getting experience because we really didn’t play teams like that last year. We’re just battling with the big schools.”

The Wildcats are aiming for their fifth consecutive winning season. They won 19 games last year.

“Our goal is to win a lot of games,” Rodgers said. “We definitely want to win districts because last year didn’t go as planned.”