Despite falling short in the district finals, the Montgomery County girls basketball team had an outstanding 2023-24 season, finishing with 22 wins, placing first in two tournaments and capturing its fifth straight Eastern Missouri Conference title.

This year, the Wildcats will look to finish with their eighth straight winning season with just two returning players from last year’s team – senior Aliviah Fischer and sophomore Aubrey Janes. They will be joined by sophomores Angel Breeher, Kaylee Daume, Khloe Kribbs and Reaghan Hemeyer and freshmen Emma Rodgers, Addie Schroer and Kendra Rakers.

MCHS’ quest for its eighth straight winning season starts on Nov. 22 with a road game against Monroe City. The Wildcats have won their season opener in each of the last eight years. They will take on a Monroe City team that finished with losing records in each of the last three seasons, including a 13-14 mark last winter.

MCHS will look to beat the Panthers for the fourth straight year. A year ago, the Wildcats topped Monroe City 45-28 at home en route to a 22-6 record.

Last year, MCHS won its first 10 games of the season. The Wildcats captured championships at the Montgomery County Invitational and the South Callaway Invitational. They won the EMO title with a 10-0 mark.
Malia Rodgers, Maddy Queathem, Madi Polston, Olivia Shaw and Claire Cobb were the key players the Wildcats lost to graduation. Rodgers finished as the program’s all-time leading scorer and earned all-state honors for the second straight year and Queathem reached the 1,000-point mark for her career.

Fischer and Janes turned in strong efforts for the varsity last year. Fischer had a 13-point effort in the Wildcats’ 73-49 victory over Hermann in the Montgomery County Invitational championship game. Janes had a six-point performance from off the bench against Southern Boone in the Sophie Cunningham Classic, named after the former University of Missouri standout and current Phoenix Mercury guard.

The other seven players will be competing in varsity for the first time. Last winter, Kribbs, Daume and Hemeyer played on a junior varsity team that lost just one game. Rodgers, Rakers and Schroer played for the Montgomery County Middle School squad a year ago.

The Wildcats start their EMO season on Dec. 16 with a home game against Silex. They have won 51 straight conference games.

For the second straight year, MCHS will play Moberly in the Moberly Area Community College Shootout. The contest is scheduled for Dec. 28. Last year, the Wildcats lost to Moberly 53-45 at the MACC Shootout to suffer their first loss of the season.

Also, the Wildcats will play the Miller Cardinals – who won six straight district titles in Class 2 – in the Tipton Lathem Bank Shootout on Jan. 3. They will also play Southern Boone again, this time it will be on Jan. 6 at home. MCHS also added Fatima (Jan. 9) and the St. Louis Christian Knights (Jan. 14) to its schedule.

Joe Basinger is back for his ninth season as MCHS coach and has a 142-78 record. He will be assisted by Anna Henke.