Since he was playing in his last Montgomery County Invitational of his high school basketball career, Zak Rodgers was determined to turn in a strong effort.

“This was my last time coming out here playing, so they were very important games to me,” the Montgomery County senior said. “This tournament has always been a big deal and it’s been super fun to play in. So I kind of felt, especially being a senior, that I had to come out and go hard.”

Rodgers played a key role off the bench for the Wildcats, scoring 28 points in three games and finishing with two double-digit performances. The effort helped his team get a top-four finish at the MCHS tournament for the fourth year in a row.

The Wildcats finished fourth in the eight-team tournament after losing to the Hermann Bearcats 58-45 in the third-place game on Dec. 3 at Ballew & Snell Court. MCHS finished third in each of the last two years.

The Wildcats took a 2-2 record into their home game against Southern Boone on Dec. 6. They started their season on Nov. 22 with a 59-52 win over Winfield at home. MCHS will play Silex at home on Dec. 9 to begin its Eastern Missouri Conference season.

MCHS came up one place short of getting a trophy at its own tournament. The third-seeded Wildcats started their tournament play on Nov. 29 with a 62-24 win over Bowling Green in the first round before losing back-to-back games to second-seeded Fulton and fifth-seeded Hermann. Fulton, which won the tournament title, beat MCHS 65-54 in the semifinals on Dec. 1.

The Wildcats led Hermann 27-26 at halftime before the Bearcats started the third quarter with a 6-0 run that gave them a 32-27 lead. Hermann, which won the consolation title last year, never trailed the rest of the way.

“It was tough, but there are a lot of good teams playing in this tournament,” Rodgers said. “We just struggle with giving up runs here and there. That is what’s ultimately getting us. If we can figure out how to play more consistently and really put it all together, we’re going to be a tough team to beat. We have shown that before with Winfield and Bowling Green. But against better teams like that, we can’t let them go on runs like Hermann and Fulton did.”

Sophomore Clayton Parker was the Wildcats’ leading scorer in the tournament with 71 points, earning him all-tournament honors for the second year in a row. He scored 25 points against Bowling Green, 29 against Fulton and 17 against Hermann. Parker poured in 33 points against Winfield.

Rodgers finished as MCHS’ second leading scorer in the tournament. The senior had six 3-pointers in three games. He scored 12 against Bowling Green, 11 against Fulton and five against Hermann.

Rodgers is part of a small senior class that includes Alex Hartman and Noah Farmer. He said he was upset that his team didn’t celebrate with a trophy at the MCHS tournament in his final year of high school basketball.

“It’s tough to go out like this,” Rodgers said. “But it’s earlier in the season. We’re not going to let this tournament define the rest of our year. It showed us all of the holes that we have and what we can do going forward to really make us the team I know we can be.”

Sophomore Isaiah Thomas scored 10 points with two 3-pointers from off the bench against Hermann, his first double-digit effort of the season.

Reese Rehmert scored 22 points with four 3-pointers to lead the Bearcats. He hit all of his treys in the second half.