Montgomery County junior Malia Rodgers accomplished a big milestone in her team’s 53-36 loss to Skyline in a Class 3 sectional game on Feb. 28 at Jefferson City High School.

Rodgers became the ninth player in program history to break the 1,000th career point mark. She finished with 13 points and now has 1,008 points in her career.

But Rodgers really wished her team won the game.

“She would give every single one of them back if she could play another game,” MCHS coach Joe Basinger said. “That’s the type of kid she is. That’s who she is.”

Rodgers joined Erica Daume, Stephanie Sebacher, Anna Henke, Kayla Schmidt, Lissa Marteen, Angela Mahaney, Roxie Boschert and Gina Gregory as the only MCHS players to score 1,000 points or more. Rodgers is just 293 points away from becoming the team’s all-time leading scorer. Daume is first on the list with 1,300 points.

With 448 points this season, Rodgers finished with the fifth-highest single-season mark of points. Gregory has the record with 520 points that was set in 1982.

Going into the contest against Skyline, Rodgers needed just five points to hit the 1,000-point mark. She reached that mark with a basket with 2:39 left in the second quarter
But during that time, Skyline was leading 26-11 and never looked back.

“We gave up a lot of transition points,” Rodgers said. “They’re a good basketball team. We are, too. We just fell short tonight.”

After the game, Rodgers received a basketball to commemorate her accomplishment.

“Honestly, it was really cool when I got it,” Rodgers said. “But we were down at the time. I was like, ‘Man, I got to get back into gear.’”

Rodgers said she was upset that four of her senior teammates – Carissa Doyle, Bailey Fischer, Carson Flake and Maddie Wisdom – saw their high school basketball careers come to an end.

“It’s always cool to score 1,000 on a night like this where I played my last game with some of my favorite people,” Rodgers said. “It kind of stinks. But it is what it is.”

From the first game of the season, Rodgers was the Wildcats’ top offensive threat. She averaged 15 points per game and finished in double figures in all but three games this season. Her effort helped the Wildcats win 22 games and capture Eastern Missouri Conference and district championships.

Rodgers credits Basinger for her strong season.

“He lets me in the gym anytime I want,” Rodgers said. “He’s a big part of this.”

The junior said her brother, Jay, and sister, Emma, were also helpful. Jay played with the MCHS boys basketball team this season.

“They’re always willing to go in the gym and play one-on-one, then we play five-on-five,” Rodgers said. “They make me better every day.”

Rodgers scored 20 points in the Wildcats’ 36-34 win over Sullivan in their season opener on Nov. 21. She scored a career-high 26 points against Clopton on Feb. 2.

Next year, Rodgers will be one of six seniors on the team.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” Rodgers said.

Rodgers said she hopes her team will clear the sectional hurdle next winter. The Wildcats were eliminated in sectionals for the second straight year.

“I think we did a lot of things better this year than we have in the past,” Rodgers said. “I think defensively, we are so sound. Offensively, we have improved a lot. We just need to get the confidence. It’s a huge deal to us. If we know that we’re as good as we are, then we can jump over that final hurdle and finally move forward.”