There was no return trip to the district finals for the Wellsville-Middletown girls basketball team.

The Tigers’ postseason ended early after losing to the Jamestown Eagles 51-44 in a Class 1, District 9 quarterfinal game on Feb. 19 at Blair Oaks High School in Jefferson City, making it the first time in three years W-M was eliminated in district quarterfinal game.

The loss ended the high school basketball careers of Bethany Slovensky, Jenelle Boeckelman and Meagan Cripe, who played with the Tigers all four years and helped the program get back on the winning track. When they were freshmen, W-M won just four games. This year, they helped the Tigers finish with a 13-13 record, their second straight season with a record of .500 and above.

The W-M boys also were eliminated in district quarterfinal round play, losing to the Harrisburg Bulldogs 87-22 in a Class 2, District 5 game on Feb. 20 at Clopton High School. It’s the second year in a row the Tigers were knocked out in the district quarterfinals.

W-M had no seniors on its team. It had just seven players on its squad, five of them participated in basketball for the first time.

The Tigers finished 2-22, making it the first time since 2012 they lost 20 or more games. They dropped their final 11 games of the season.
The W-M girls played in the district championship game in each of the last two years, falling to Pilot Grove in 2022 and Community R-6 in 2023.
W-M was the No. 4 seed in the seven-team district tournament, which was hosted by St. Elizabeth. The Tigers were eliminated by a Jamestown team that enjoyed its best season since 2009. The Eagles, who were seeded fifth, won 19 games just like the 2009 team.

Freshman Elly Cash was the Tigers’ leading scorer with nine points, followed by Slovensky, Boeckelman and junior Keigan Hall with seven points apiece, junior Indica Scott with six, junior Hallie Guzy and sophomore Helenea McKenzie with three each and Cripe with two.

Slovensky finished her outstanding high school basketball career with 967 points. She was recently voted as the Tigers’ lone representative on the all-Eastern Missouri Conference team, earning second-team honors. Slovensky, who plans to attend State Fair Community College to compete in track next year, was named to the all-league team all four years.

The Tigers finished in double digits in victories for the third straight year. Last year, they won 16 games.

W-M began its 2023-24 season on a high note by beating Community R-6 for the first time since 2009. The Tigers won the Keytesville Tournament for the second year in a row and had a 9-6 record on Jan. 27 before losing seven of its final 11 games.

Junior Cooper Henderson was the Tigers’ leading scorer with eight points in the loss to Harrisburg in districts. Junior Gage Marshall had six points, followed by junior Jonah Slovensky with four, junior Aaron Peterson with three and freshman Shane Joles with one.

Henderson was the only W-M player named to the all-EMO team as he earned second-team honors.

W-M lost its first eight games before beating Community R-6 43-30 in the consolation semifinals of the New Franklin Tournament. The Tigers beat Norborne in the consolation championship game of the Keytesville Tournament on Jan. 27 for their other victory.