Despite a painful loss to North Callaway in a Class 3, District 7 semifinal game on Feb. 22 at South Callaway High School, the Montgomery County boys basketball team had plenty to celebrate in the 2022-23 season.

Among the accomplishments were finishing with their fourth straight winning season, clinching their seventh Eastern Missouri Conference championship in dramatic fashion, winning the South Callaway Tournament title and helping coach Scott Kroeger pick up his 100th career win.

With nine returning players next year, the Wildcats will be setting their sights on turning in another banner season.

“I think we have a group that knows they’re going to have to put in that sweat equity,” said Kroeger, who wrapped up his sixth season as MCHS coach. “They have to find their butts in the gym. They have to find their butts in the weight room. They have to get stronger. I think we have a group that’s going to be committed to that. We’ll see. We’ll find out this spring and we’ll find out this summer.”

The Wildcats finished 19-7, surpassing last year’s win total of 17. They were at 6-5 before going on a seven-game winning streak that began on Dec. 30, when MCHS topped Monroe City to help Kroeger hit the 100-victory milestone.

Also in that winning streak was a 67-65 victory over Hermann in the finals of the South Callaway tournament on Jan. 14. It was the Wildcats’ third South Callaway championship in four years.

MCHS had a talented sophomore class in Clayton Parker, Isaiah Thomas, Jay Rodgers and Tyler Erwin. Also contributing for the Wildcats were juniors Mason Leu and Cade Smith and seniors Alex Hartman, Zak Rodgers and Noah Farmer.

“These kids are so close,” Kroeger said. “They had a ton of fun together. Practices were awesome. I had a pretty rough year as far as stuff that was happening outside of basketball. So it would have been very easy for practices to become something I didn’t necessarily want to be a part of or show up to everyday. These guys made it the exact opposite of that. It was so fun to be around them. I looked forward to coaching them as a group.”

The Wildcats’ hopes of winning a third straight district championship ended on Feb. 22 with a 43-41 loss to North Callaway in the district semifinals. MCHS came into the contest as the No. 2 seed.

“I didn’t want one bad game to stain what they have built throughout the season because we were a much better basketball team now than we were in the beginning of the season,” Kroeger said. “We showed off in some big ways throughout the season. It’s ultimately a huge product of how they show up to practice every day and the culture that all of those guys wanted to be a part of.”

Parker, who was the team’s only returning starter from last year, was the Wildcats’ top offensive threat, averaging 23 points per game with 240 rebounds and 42 blocked shots. Against Elsberry on Feb. 14, Parker finished with 37 points, including a game-winning three-pointer from half court as time expired, to help the Wildcats clinch the EMO crown. He also earned all-tournament honors at Montgomery County, South Callaway and Hermann.

Thomas averaged 10 points per game, led the team in assists (84) and steals (44), earned all-tournament honors at South Callaway. Erwin averaged 7.6 points per game and was named to the all-tournament team at Hermann.

The Wildcats finished 10-0 in conference play after going 5-5 the year before. They also placed second in the Hermann Tournament and fourth in the Montgomery County Invitational.

Also, the MCHS junior varsity boys team finished 13-8. The squad won the Montgomery County JV Invitational in February. Players on the team were sophomores Sean Rodgers, Tatum Wessel and Jordan Hicks and freshmen Chase Queathem, Kendrick Lewis, Adrian Combs, Mac Farrar, Wyatt March, Colby Ellis, Noah Beck, Seth Walton and Lyric Kemp.

Seventh graders Jackson Benny, Brody Rieke, Owen Hillebrand, Brayden Finch, Cohen Beattie, Gaige Parker, Luke Farrar, Marshall Bishop, Dayden Tidwell, Brenden Crider, Lucas Bender and Zander Beck and eighth graders Attis Bartlett, Dallas Hans, Lafe McCurdy, Reed Pottebaum and Tyler Rodgers made up the Middle School squad.