With her Montgomery County girls basketball team trailing Sullivan in the final seconds of the third quarter in its season opener on Nov. 21 at Ballew & Snell Court, Malia Rodgers came to the rescue.

The MCHS junior point guard recovered a Sullivan turnover and scored a layup to give her team a 23-22 lead it would never relinquish. Then, she began the fourth quarter by scoring seven straight points. She finished with a game-high 20 to lead the Wildcats to a 36-34 win, their seventh straight season-opening victory.

Rodgers’ goal against Sullivan was simple.

“I wanted to go out there and work hard, run fast and play defense,” Rodgers said.

The month before, her hopes of coming back for another season with the girls basketball team were in jeopardy as she missed the final three weeks of the cross country season due to a groin injury.

Now after two months of the basketball season, Rodgers has been a valuable player for the Wildcats on both ends of the court. Going into MCHS’ road game against Monroe City on Dec. 30, Rodgers is leading MCHS in scoring (15.5 points per game), assists (three per game) and steals (three per game).

Rodgers said she’s happy that she is healthy in this year’s basketball season. She has played and started every game.

“I feel good,” she said. “I just had to rest to recover and took some time off.”

Last year, Rodgers helped the Wildcats turn in one of their best seasons in program history. MCHS finished with 20 wins and captured Eastern Missouri Conference and district championships.

Rodgers led the Wildcats in scoring (15 points per game), assists (129) and steals (79) in the 2021-22 season. She was named Most Valuable Player at the Montgomery County Invitational and earned first-team all-EMO honors.

This winter, Rodgers scored in double figures in all but one game this season. Against Sullivan, she hit a career-high four 3-pointers. She also earned MVP honors at the Montgomery County Invitational for the second year in a row after scoring 53 points in three games, including a career-high 25 against New Haven in the semifinals.

Rodgers is leading a team that returned most of its players from last year. She said she was looking forward to coming back for another basketball season since practices began on Oct. 31.

“I was pumped,” Rodgers said. “Coming off a district win last year, I still think we’re going to have a really good season.”

Rodgers won a varsity spot in her freshman year. That season, she was named to the all-tournament team at South Callaway after helping the Wildcats finish second.

Rodgers credits seventh-year MCHS coach Joe Basinger for her success.

“He puts in a ton of hours with a ton of people,” said Rodgers, who has been playing basketball since elementary school. “He’ll open the gym for you anytime. I think he’s a great coach. I respect him a lot. He’s a good person.”

Basinger said he enjoys working with Rodgers after three years.

“I push her probably harder than I push anybody,” Basinger said. “I’m hard on that kid. But at the same time, she knows that I’ve got her back just like the rest of the girls. She knows what the goals are. They are making her better, making her team better and making her competitive come February and March.”