The Montgomery County boys basketball team started its Eastern Missouri Conference season on Dec. 9 on a high note.

The Wildcats cruised to a 68-38 win over the Silex Owls in their EMO opener at Ballew & Snell Court. The 68 points marked a season-high for MCHS, which bounced back from a 66-54 home loss to Southern Boone three days before.

MCHS improved to 2-0 in league play with a  72-33 win over Wright City on Dec. 13.

Now, the Wildcats are hoping to capture another EMO title this season. Last year, they finished 5-5 in league play after winning the conference title in back-to-back years (2020 and 2021). They had a 22-game conference winning streak snapped a year ago with a loss to Wellsville-Middletown at home.

MCHS will play W-M in a conference road game on Dec. 16. It will be the Wildcats’ first road game of the season after playing their first seven games at home, including three at the Montgomery County Invitational. The Wildcats will take a 4-3 record against their game with the Tigers.

MCHS also has conference games against North Callaway (Dec. 20, home), Bowling Green (Jan. 17, away), Van-Far (Jan. 31, away), Clopton (Feb. 3, home), Mark Twain (Feb. 7, away), Louisiana (Feb. 10, away) and Elsberry (Feb. 14, away).

The Wildcats have won six conference titles in program history, two of them under coach Scott Kroeger.

The Wildcats were too much to handle for Silex from the opening tip-off. They led 26-10 after the first quarter and 42-19 at halftime. They made 59 percent (26 of 44) of their shots.

Sophomore Clayton Parker turned in another strong performance for the Wildcats, scoring 26 points with four rebounds. He scored 22 points in the first half. He also went 7 for 7 from the free-throw line.

MCHS also had solid efforts from seniors Alex Hartman and sophomores Jay Rodgers and Isaiah Thomas. Hartman and Rodgers each finished with 12 points. Thomas scored eight points, including the first basket of the game with just seven seconds into the contest.

Senior Noah Farmer had four points, junior Mason Leu finished with three points and junior Cade Smith hit a 3-pointer with one second left in the first quarter.

The Wildcats hit five 3-pointers against the Owls, two of them came from Thomas.

Also, the MCHS girls basketball team picked up its first road win of the season on Dec. 8, beating the New Haven Shamrocks 27-18. The 27 points marked a season low for the Wildcats, who snapped a two-game losing streak.

Junior Maddy Queathem scored nine points with two 3-pointers and junior Malia Rodgers added seven points for MCHS, which defeated New Haven for the ninth consecutive meeting.

The Wildcats defeated Silex on Dec. 12 to start their EMO season. MCHS improved to 5-2.

The Wildcats are the three-time defending conference champions. Last year, they finished 10-0 in league play. With the win over the Owls, MCHS extended its EMO winning streak to 32 games.

MCHS will play another road game on Dec. 16, when it travels to W-M for the annual Pink Out game.