There will be no return trip to Mizzou Arena for the Montgomery County boys basketball team this year.

The Wildcats were denied their second straight trip to the Class 3 Show-Me Showdown after losing to the Principia Panthers 77-55 in a Class 3 state quarterfinal game on March 7 at Webster Groves High School. MCHS ended its season at 28-2 and had its 17-game winning streak snapped.

No MCHS team has ever played in the state Final Four in back-to-back years. The Wildcats competed in the Show-Me Showdown four times. Last year, they made their first state Final Four appearance since 1974.

After finishing fourth in last year’s Class 3 Showdown at Mizzou Arena, the Wildcats came into season with high expectations as they returned eight players.

But after losing to Principia, all of the MCHS players left Roberts Gymnasium dejected.

“It was really tough,” MCHS junior Chase Queathem said. “I can’t believe it’s over.”

The Wildcats lost a contest that featured the top two teams in the Missouri high school basketball polls. Principia and MCHS have been 1-2 in the state poll since the first one was released on Dec. 12.

Both teams came into the contest with 28-1 records. The Wildcats and Panthers advanced to the quarterfinals by winning their sectional games on March 3, creating a highly anticipated quarterfinal contest.

“It’s the magic of MSHSAA,” Principia coach Jay Blossom said. “We’ve been No. 1 and they’ve been No. 2 all year. We lost once and they lost once. We knew this game was coming once it was announced. We scouted them from November on and they scouted us.”

Principia was the host of the contest. The game was moved to Webster Groves since the Panthers’ gym, which has a seating capacity of 800, wasn’t large enough to host it.

The quarterfinal matchup drew massive support from both teams. The game drew 1,200 fans, 600 from each school. Tickets were sold out on the morning of March 7.

Queathem, who played off the bench in the state quarterfinals, was amazed with the support. Most of the MCHS fans showed up about 90 minutes before game time and many of the students sat behind the Wildcats’ bench with black T-shirts.

“I have never seen anything like it,” Queathem said. “(MCHS coach Scott) Kroeger said in the locker room he has never seen the community support a group of kids like this ever in his life. It was surreal. I didn’t know there were that many people from Montgomery.”

Still, the support wasn’t enough to help the Wildcats pull off the win over Principia, which was moved from Class 4 to Class 3 this year.

The Panthers led 17-12 after the first quarter and 35-23 at halftime. MCHS got within 10 points after going on a 7-0 run in the third quarter, but that’s as close as it got.

Principia had four players in double figures. Quentin Coleman scored 22 points, followed by Gassim Toure and Sekou Cisse with 15 apiece and Ron Henry with 11.

The Wildcats cruised past most of their competition this season, winning all but three of their games by double digits. The 22-point loss marked the first time since Nov. 23, 2021 that MCHS lost by 20 or more points.

“Had we hit our shots like we normally do, I think it would have been a different game,” Queathem said.

The Panthers ended the high school basketball careers of Clayton Parker, Isaiah Thomas, Tyler Erwin, cousins Jay and Sean Rodgers, Tatum Wessel and Andrew Moore.

Parker, who is planning to continue his basketball career at Morehead State University, finished with 30 points. Moore, a transfer from Troy Buchanan who will play college ball at McKendree University next year, finished with 14.

“Hats off to Montgomery County,” Blossom said. “That’s an incredible senior class. They’re extremely well-coached and Clayton Parker is a special player. He’s not just a special player, but he’s a special person with the way he conducts himself on and off the court. I feel for somebody like that.”

Next year, the Wildcats will have six seniors coming back, including Queathem.

“We’ve been playing together since second grade all the way up, kind of like the seniors did,” Queathem said. “We don’t have the height or athleticism as them, but we have the chemistry for sure. We just have to get in the gym and work at it. I think we’ll be pretty good.”