Several months ago, Addie Schroer enjoyed a busy freshman season with the Montgomery County girls basketball team.

She not only played 27 games with the Wildcats, but she also had to find time to raise her goats and hit the books.

“I don’t really know how I managed it, but I managed it,” Schroer said.

Despite her busy schedule, Schroer was one of the key players in the Wildcats’ successful season. She helped her team finish with its eighth straight winning season with a 15-12 record.

“It was a very fun season,” Schroer said. “There were only eight of us, so we were very close and we felt like a family. It was a good season to have.”

This summer, Schroer prepared for her sophomore basketball season by playing with the MCHS girls basketball team in two shootouts at Montgomery County Middle School, one on June 16 and other on June 30.

Schroer said she was happy to come back to a team that will have five other returning players and a large group of freshmen for the 2025-26 season.

“It’s fun,” Schroer said. “I already have the experience, so I get to help the younger girls to get to know what happens.”

The other players who participated in the shootouts were juniors Aubrey Janes, Kaylee Daume and Reaghan Hemeyer, sophomore Emma Rodgers and freshmen Aurora Gibson, Abigail Knoepflein, Alyssa Davis, Marleigh Gildehaus, Addie Cannon and Emma Gruenefeld.

In the first shootout, the Wildcats finished with a 2-1 record, beateing Mexico 45-38 and Silex 33-29 and losing to Osage 46-14. In the second shootout, MCHS played Louisiana, St. Clair, Bowling Green and Fatima.

“I liked the competition,” said Schroer, who played in the shootout for the second straight year. “It challenged us. I liked the wins, too.”

Both Rodgers and Janes turned in strong performances in the shootout events. Rodgers scored 52 in three games in the first shootout, while Janes had 31. Against Bowling Green in the second shootout, Janes finished with 20 and Rodgers had 16.

Schroer was in the starting lineup for the Wildcats in both shootouts. She’s one of the inside players. She scored a basket against Mexico.

“I like playing in the middle,” Schroer said. “It’s fun.”

In both shootouts, all teams played four nine-minute quarters on a running clock except the last two minutes of the four quarter. There was also a two-minute tournament played in both shootouts, in which all of the teams played two-minute games with each squad having one timeout and all players having four fouls apiece.

Schroer said the shootouts gave her an opportunity to improve on her game before the regular season starts in four months.

“I want to do better with finishing because last season I wasn’t very good at that,” Schroer said.

Last season, Schroer was one of three freshmen on the team and was a bench player for most of the year.

She said her best moment of her freshman year was helping her team beat Moberly at the Moberly Area Community College Shootout during Christmas break.

“It was a really good game,” Schroer said. “I was energized and I was helping the team out.”

Every night during the basketball season, Schroer had to raise her 10 goats and work on her studies. She got all A’s during her freshman year.

Schroer credits her older sisters – Hannah, Ann and Carie – for her efforts in the classroom, basketball and goat raising.

“It just came naturally,” said Schroer, who also plays volleyball for the Wildcats. “My sisters set a high level for me, so I just had to match that level.”

Even though she’s taking a break from basketball, Schroer still has a rigorous schedule for the rest of the summer. She plans to show a goat at the Montgomery County Fair – which starts on July 14 – and she’s a member of the Junior Fair Board.

“It’s going to be a busy week,” Schroer said.