Not this time.

The Montgomery County boys won their home tournament for the first time since 2013 with a 70-56 victory over defending champions Mexico on Dec. 7. The Wildcats outscored Mexico 22-12 in the second quarter to pay the Bulldogs back for a 58-54 championship game defeat last season.

Head coach Scott Kroeger said winning the home tournament feels good for the team and the community but is prouder of beating Mexico (2-2). It is the program’s first victory over the Bulldogs was when it won its previous Montgomery tournament title in 2013. Mexico won the previous three tournament meetings with the Wildcats (4-0) and were champions three of the previous four years.

“The Mexico basketball program has been rolling for years,” Kroeger said. “They are very well-coached at both ends. Even when they’re outsized, they still make it really tough. Even though it’s a tournament championship, to beat a team like that is way more important because you have to earn that stuff.”

Clayton Parker finished with 30 points, eight rebounds and a block and was named the tournament MVP after the game. Isaiah Thomas was the other Wildcat representative and finished with seven points to match the total by Jay Rodgers and Tyler Erwin. Parker said winning the program’s home tournament was a big goal for this season and is glad to have finally done it with teammates since second grade.

“It was just settling into the environment,” Parker said. “We had a huge showing from our crowd, which helped us out a lot. Once you think of one of us, you think of all of us. That’s our saying. I can score a lot, but I can’t score without my teammates.”

Despite both teams encountering foul trouble after one quarter, MCHS was able to start putting Mexico away, partly due to 14 first-half points from Parker, but also due to stopping Mexico’s offense.

Mexico cut MCHS’ lead to seven points in the third quarter after taking a 36-24 lead at halftime when the guard-rich Bulldogs had those players earn some buckets.

Kroeger said the Bulldogs have had plenty of talented guards over the years and complimented his guards for stringing together stops so the deep offense could take over.

“We started getting stops. That’s always where it’s going to be beginning and ending in basketball,” Kroeger said. “If you can string two starts in a row, you have a chance to start a little run. If you can string three, four, five and especially obviously with some of the offensive talent that we have, you string those stops together and we’re going to happen into some buckets accidently because of that athleticism and size that we have on top of the skill.”

It certainly helps that the Wildcats could count on the Division I Morehead State commit Parker when they needed offense. From the second quarter on, it was a steady diet of Parker inside, from midrange and even from the perimeter when he knocked down a 3-pointer in the third quarter.

Kroeger said the senior brings much more to the floor than just simply being 6-foot-8 as he is the younger brother of Columbia College players Carson and Collin Parker.

“That dude would be an all-state basketball player if he was 5-foot-10,” Kroeger said. “He is so skilled. One, that’s a credit to his brothers. He had to learn how to score from the outside as a kid. Then he started growing and he could still score from the outside. Now you see the skill on top of the weight room work and on top of already being huge. That’s a lethal combination offensively.”

Andrew Moore is a new addition to Montgomery this season and played in his second game on Dec. 7 after being ineligible following his transfer from Class 6 Troy Buchanan.

The returning all-state performer and Division II McKendree University commit finished with 11 points and threw down a dunk that made the loud home crowd even louder and charged up an already charged up student section.

“He is a super composed kid, very skilled and strong,” Kroeger said. “He’s got a huge advantage of being long too. He shoots it so well, and I feel like that will start showing up. He’s most lethal where you just can’t stop him from getting to the bucket.”