The streak continues for the Montgomery County girls basketball team.

Make that two streaks.

The Wildcats continued their dominance in the Montgomery County Pink Out game after beating Wellsville-Middletown 42-39 in the annual event between the cross-county rivals on Dec. 20 at W-M’s Roundtree and Johnson Court. It’s the 15th year in a row the Wildcats won the Pink Out game.

The win also extended MCHS’ long winning streak in Eastern Missouri Conference play to 51 games. The Wildcats are the five-time defending conference champions.

But beating the Tigers was not easy for MCHS. It had to come back from a five-point deficit late in the fourth quarter to improve to 2-0 in EMO play.

“It wasn’t very pretty, but we did win,” Fischer said. “I felt like we could have played better, but in the end, we pulled ahead and that’s all that matters right now.”

Trailing 39-34, the Wildcats closed the game on a 7-0 run, including a 3-pointer by Aubrey Janes with 28 seconds left that gave MCHS the 42-39 lead.

Janes finished with a team-high 17 points with three 3-pointers and freshman Emma Rodgers scored all of her 10 points in the second half to lead the Wildcats.

Rodgers hit a 3-pointer with 1:16 left in the game to cut the Tigers’ lead to 39-37. Janes tied the game at 39-39 with a layup with 37 seconds to go. After a W-M turnover, Janes received a pass from Rodgers and hit the game-winning, 3-pointer from the left wing.

Janes is enjoying another strong season with the Wildcats. A month ago, she earned all-tournament honors at the Montgomery County Invitational Tournament.

“I think it’s amazing having a teammate like Aubrey,” MCHS sophomore Khloe Kribbs said. “She’s very uplifting and encouraging. Overall, she’s an amazing player. I couldn’t have asked for a better teammate.”

The Wildcats couldn’t have asked for a better start in league play. So far, MCHS, Louisiana and Clopton are the only undefeated EMO teams at 2-0. The Wildcats haven’t lost a conference game since Feb. 2019.

“It’s good, especially for the younger girls to be ahead in conference play,” Fischer said. “I think that it gives us good energy to go into the next games with.”

MCHS began their EMO season on Dec. 16 with a 38-32 win over Silex at Ballew and Snell Court. It was also the Wildcats’ home opener.

“It was a good game,” Fischer said. “I think we played pretty good. We grew a lot as a team during that game, so that’s good.”

With the come-from-behind victory in the Pink Out game, the Wildcats beat the Tigers for the 15th consecutive meeting. MCHS hasn’t lost to W-M since 2012.

“It was a really good game,” Kribbs said. “I think we all found a way to better ourselves in this game with the fight in the last 10 minutes of the game because we were down so much. I just think we grew a lot tonight from the other games.”

Fischer, the Wildcats’ only senior, played in her fourth and final Pink Out game. She said she enjoyed playing in the event every year.

“It’s always a good atmosphere every year,” Fischer said. “Everyone comes out to support us.”

After the game, the Wildcats received the Traveling Trophy, which is given to the winning team of the Pink Out game. On Dec. 7, they earned a third-place plaque after beating Mexico in the third-place game of the Montgomery County Invitational Tournament.

Now, MCHS is looking to add some more hardware to its trophy case as it is seeking its sixth straight EMO championship. The Wildcats’ next conference game will be on Jan. 21 against Bowling Green on the road.

“I hope we keep it up, practice harder and get more wins and stuff,” Fischer said.

For the Tigers, senior Keigan Hall scored 20 points – 10 in each half – and senior Hallie Guzy finished with 11, including a free throw that gave W-M a 39-34 lead with 1:27 to go in the contest.