Basketball has been a specialty for cousins Jay and Sean Rodgers ever since they started walking.

“We lived by each other our whole lives out in the driveway, shooting shots and playing 3 on 3, 2 on 2 versus our siblings,” Jay said. “We’ve been playing since literally birth.”

For six years, the Rodgers cousins have been valuable members of the Montgomery County R-II basketball program. When they were in middle school, they helped the team turn in a 27-0 record in two years. Now, they’re helping the high school team turn in a successful run.

Jay and Sean Rodgers are part of a MCHS boys basketball team that is 24-1 overall and 9-0 in Eastern Missouri Conference play and has a 13-game winning streak with one regular season game remaining. On Feb. 15, they helped the Wildcats cruise to an 83-43 win over North Callaway on senior night at Ballew & Snell Court.

The Rodgers cousins were among seven seniors on the boys basketball team who were recognized in a ceremony before the game. The other seniors were Clayton Parker, Tyler Erwin, Isaiah Thomas, Tatum Wessel and Andrew Moore. Parker, Erwin, Thomas, Wessel and the Rodgers cousins played with the program all four years, while Moore joined the team this year after playing the last three years at Troy Buchanan.

Jay Rodgers said he enjoyed being part of a ceremony in which all of the players were honored with their parents.

“It was a lot of fun playing with your best friends for the second to last time,” Jay Rodgers said. “It’s sad, but it’s a lot of fun.”

Parker was honored for breaking the all-time scoring record on Feb. 4 against Van-Far as well as reaching the 2,000-point mark the week before. Against North Callaway, he broke another record – he scored 48 points, surpassing the old record of 44 that was set by Chase Parrish. He broke the mark with 4:58 left in the fourth quarter.

Also for the Wildcats, Thomas finished with 12 points and Jay Rodgers scored nine.

Sean Rodgers played briefly in the fourth quarter as he’s nursing an ankle injury. He said he was happy his team pulled off the win on senior night.

“It was fun to watch,” Sean said. “We had a good crowd here. The energy was fun. The game was a little closer than it probably should have been, but it was still exciting to play like that. It’s almost our last one here.”

When they were in middle school, the Rodgers cousins helped the Wildcats complete two undefeated seasons. They finished 12-0 in seventh grade and 15-0 in eighth grade.

During their four years with the high school team, the Wildcats have won over 80 games with two Eastern Missouri Conference titles and a Class 3 Show-Me Showdown appearance.

Sean Rodgers said he knew that the successful run at middle school was going to carry over into high school.

“I felt like most people were expecting something special,” Sean said. “There was a little bit of pressure starting in high school. Playing varsity basketball is little different than middle school. I feel like we played together so long and we’ve been working so hard that we’re good enough to beat any team we play.”

Jay and Sean will be going their separate ways after the season ends. Jay will play basketball at Missouri Valley College, while Sean will attend the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Jay, who leads the Wildcats in 3-pointers this season, said he’s happy to continue his basketball career in college.

“It’s really exciting,” Jay said. “I liked it a lot there and it felt like home to me. Plus, Tatum is going there. So I’ll have somebody there I know. It will be a lot of fun.”

Sean said he enjoyed being part of a team with a strong winning tradition. The Wildcats are guaranteed to finish with their sixth straight winning season and are a win away from matching last year’s win total of 25.

“It’s going to be hard to walk away from it at the end of the season,” Sean said. “But I’m happy that I got to play with these people.”

The Wildcats wrap up their regular season on Feb. 20 with a home game against Clopton.