Parker leads Wildcats over Battle

By Theo Tate
Posted 1/30/25

Montgomery County senior Clayton Parker was glad to be back playing at his home court on Jan. 23.

The Battle Spartans found out why.

In front of a packed crowd at Ballew & Snell Court, …

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Parker leads Wildcats over Battle

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Montgomery County senior Clayton Parker was glad to be back playing at his home court on Jan. 23.

The Battle Spartans found out why.

In front of a packed crowd at Ballew & Snell Court, Parker turned in the best performance of his high school basketball career to help the Wildcats cruise past Battle 77-48. He scored 43 points, coming up one point shy of the school mark that was set by Chase Parrish.

The 6-foot-8 Parker was determined to not let his team lose to Battle again. Last year, he scored just eight points in the Wildcats’ 63-49 loss on the road.

“It was great for our home fans to come back and watch us play,” Parker said. “I felt like we put on a pretty good show for them. After what happened last year, it was pretty personal for our senior group. I thought we came out and played really well.”

MCHS improved to 16-1 with the victory over Battle, which is a Class 6 school from Columbia. The game was originally scheduled to be played on Jan. 7, but it got rescheduled due to the winter storm that hit the Montgomery County area.

MCHS was scheduled to play Wright City in a first-round game of the Hermann Tournament on Jan. 28. The Wildcats have six regular season games left, five of them are in conference play.

During the season, MCHS played a very competitive schedule that included the game against Battle, the Great 8 Classic at Jefferson City, the Norm Stewart Classic and the Ramey Shootout at Ritenour High School. The Wildcats fell to Union of Tulsa, Okla., 63-62 in the semifinals of the Great 8 Classic for their only loss.

“We have a really tough schedule,” Parker said. “I think we’re playing really well. We lost a heartbreaker by one. The next game up is our mentality, always. Whoever is next is what we’re focusing on.”

The Wildcats played their first home game since Dec. 17. They are 7-0 at home, including a victory over Mexico in the Montgomery County Invitational Tournament finals. MCHS has just two home games remaining, including a senior night contest against North Callaway on Feb. 15.

Parker said he can’t believe he will be playing his final home games in about a month.

“I look back on my freshman year and it feels like I blink my eyes,” Parker said. “I feel like it’s just gone and it’s over. But I wouldn’t want to do it with a group of guys like this. I think they’re the best group of guys. I love them.”

Every seat on both sides of Ballew & Snell Court was filled in the contest against Battle, even the Cheer Block section.

“It was incredible,” Parker said. “The crowd was the sixth man tonight. We fed off the crowd for sure. We couldn’t have done it without the crowd for sure. We have a great student section. I think our school thrives on basketball, so that’s awesome.”

The Wildcats never trailed against the Spartans. They were leading 33-29 late in the second quarter before going on a 17-0 run that carried into the third quarter. They led by as many as 31 points in the fourth quarter.

MCHS held Battle to its lowest offensive output of the season. The Spartans came into the contest averaging 77 points per game.

“We’re a tough group,” Parker said. “We played really well together. We feed off each other. If I’m not scoring, somebody else is scoring.”

Senior Andrew Moore, a transfer from Troy Buchanan, finished with 24 points and is two points shy from the 1,500-point mark of his career. He scored 16 in the first half.

“We brought back a great core group for sure,” Parker said. “I feel like he just meshed right in with our play style. I feel like our group of guys plus Andrew just fits in perfectly.”

Parker said he was thrilled that his team beat a squad that finished with 20 or more wins in each of the last two seasons and is off to a 10-4 start.

“All week in practice, we thought about, ‘We can get these guys.’ That’s what we did tonight,” Parker said.

Parker, who played in 106 games in his career, has scored 30 points or more eight times. He came close to hitting the 40-point mark late in his sophomore year, when he finished with 37 points, including a game-winning buzzer beating shot from half-court, against Elsberry that clinched the Wildcats an Eastern Missouri Conference title.

Parker reached the 40-point mark late in the fourth quarter, when he scored on a conventional 3-point play. He scored 22 points in the first half and 21 in the second.

“It was just my night,” Parker said. “I really wasn’t missing much.”

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