In the history of the Montgomery County boys basketball program, a total of 23 seniors played in the Final Four.

This year’s senior class – Maddox James, Mason Leu, Cade Smith and Jake Stellwagen – became part of that group as it helped the Wildcats finish fourth in the Class 3 Show-Me Showdown. It’s the first time since 1974 MCHS reached the State Final Four.

The last MCHS seniors who played in the Final Four were Marty Bosley, Walt McQuie, Brad Gregory, Alphonso Flyingcloud and Percy Johnson in 1974. When the Wildcats won it all in 1972, they had eight seniors – John Cunningham, Daniel Green, Neil Wehrman, Frank Schlanker, Steve Deering, Jim Niedergerke, Bruce Brown and Tony Marteen. Luther Camp, Loyd Davidson, David Kelsick, Bob Lauer, Wesley Oliver and Bob Ploudre made up the senior class of MCHS’ third-place team in 1959.

Leu and Smith played with the Wildcats all four years. They helped the program win over 70 games with three district titles. Stellwagen joined the team this winter after playing three years at Verona High School.

During the press conference following the Wildcats’ loss to Thayer in the third-place game on March 9, MCHS coach Scott Kroeger talked about how valuable Leu and Smith were to the team.

“These two dudes have a ton of pride when you see them out there diving on the floor,” Kroeger said. “Cade was our guy who got us going earlier in the season. He got our first loose ball of the year. Mason was on the floor all game and every game. Who they are as people is a huge testament to their character. That’s what we’re going to miss the most well beyond anything that has to do with basketball. It doesn’t matter if they average 40 points per game. We’re going to miss the people they are.”

Smith, who scored a season-high nine points against Mark Twain on senior night on Feb. 6, said he was happy to wrap up his high school basketball career with a trip to the Show-Me Showdown.

“I grew up playing with everybody, so it’s fun to be here with all of the people we grew up with,” Smith said. “It’s a good way to end your senior year.”

James played with the junior varsity team for most of his career. His biggest highlight was hitting a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the Wildcats’ 62-37 win over Hermann in the Class 3, District 7 finals on Feb. 24.

Leu played a key role in the Wildcats’ 42-40 win over Priory in overtime in the state quarterfinals on March 2 that qualified them to the Show-Me Showdown. He scored a basket in overtime to give his team a 41-40 lead, then made a key steal.

Leu finished with two points in both games against Summit Christian Academy and Thayer in the Show-Me Showdown. He said competing every day in practice and games is what he’s going to miss the most in playing basketball for the Wildcats.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” said Leu, who plans to continue his football career at Culver-Stockton next year. “I became good friends with everybody.”

Stellwagen was a strong addition to the Wildcats, averaging over 15 points per game. He finished with 12 against Thayer.

“It takes a lot of courage to come in and be a confident player on the team that had a lot of success, which we did last year,” Kroeger said. “But he came in and ended up fitting like a glove. It’s a testament to the leadership that we have because our older guys didn’t accept anything less than he’s a part of us.”