The Montgomery County girls basketball team will look to end a 25-year drought this year.

The Wildcats earned the No. 1 seed in this year’s Montgomery County Invitational Basketball Tournament, which is scheduled to start on Nov. 28 and end on Dec. 4.

The Wildcats will play eighth-seeded Bowling Green at 6 p.m. on Nov. 28 in a first-round game at Ballew & Snell Court.

MCHS has won four titles in the girls division. The Wildcats’ last championship was in 1997, when they beat Hermann in the finals.

Also, the MCHS boys were seeded third and will play sixth-seeded Bowling Green in an opening-round game at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 29 at Ballew & Snell Court.

Both Wellsville-Middletown girls and boys teams will play their first-round games at Montgomery County Middle School. The W-M girls earned the No. 6 seed and will play defending champion Mexico at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 28. The W-M boys are seeded eighth and will play Mexico, which won the title last year, at 6 p.m. on Nov. 29.

Seedings and pairings of the Montgomery County tournament were released on Nov. 12. All teams are guaranteed to play three games. Consolation games will be played at Ballew & Snell and seventh-place games will be played at MCMS on Dec. 2. The third-place and championship games will be played at the MCHS gym the following day.

A year ago, the MCHS girls played in the championship game but fell short, losing to Mexico 45-36. It was the third time the Wildcats finished runner-up in the girls tournament, which first started in 1981.

MCHS began tournament play with a 59-44 win over Clopton in the first round. The Wildcats advanced to the finals with a 51-41 win over 11-time champion Hermann in the semifinals.

MCHS had two players on the all-tournament team. Junior Malia Rodgers earned most valuable player honors after scoring 58 points in three games, including 14 in the finals against Mexico. Junior Olivia Shaw earned all-tournament honors after scoring 23 points in three games, including 14 against Clopton in the first round.

This winter, the Wildcats return Rodgers, Shaw and 10 other players from last year’s team that finished with 20 wins and captured Eastern Missouri Conference and district championships.

MCHS began its season on Nov. 21 with a 36-34 win over Sullivan at home, its seventh straight season-opening win.

The MCHS boys finished third in last year’s tournament, beating New Haven 59-44 in the third-place game. The Wildcats defeated Bowling Green 50-32 in the first round and lost to Mexico 57-43 in the semifinals.

Clayton Parker was the Wildcats’ lone representative on the all-tournament team. This year, the sophomore is one of several returning players from last year’s team that won 17 games and captured a district championship. On Nov. 22, he scored 33 points to lift the Wildcats to a 59-52 win over Winfield in their season opener at home.

Both W-M teams finished seventh in the 2021 tournament. The W-M girls beat Bowling Green 34-32 in the seventh-place game, while the boys topped Clopton 36-35 in the seventh-place contest.

Carly Henderson was the W-M girls’ top scorer in last year’s tournament with 26 points, including 10 against Bowling Green. This year, the senior is out for the season due to a torn ACL injury she suffered in the first week of practice.
The Tigers return seven players, including sophomore Hallie Guzy, who was the Tigers’ second-leading scorer in the Montgomery County tournament with 24 points.

Carson Huff was the hero for the W-M boys in last year’s seventh-place game, hitting the game-winning jumper with 12 seconds left. This year, the sophomore is one of nine returning players from last year’s team that finished fourth in the Class 1 state tournament.

On Nov. 29, the Tigers will take on a Mexico team that is the top seed in the boys tournament.

Both W-M girls and boys teams lost to Community R-6 in their season openers on Nov. 22.