Immediately after his Montgomery County boys basketball team knocked off the Columbia (Ill.) Eagles 55-40 on Dec. 12 at Mizzou Arena, coach Scott Kroeger went to the Wildcats’ cheering section and gave hi-fives.

MCHS students made the one-hour trip to Columbia to cheer on the Wildcats at an event that featured high school basketball teams from around the state and the country.

“We had 30 kids sign up for a dang bus on a school night right before finals,” Kroeger said. “That’s so cool.”

MCHS was one of 34 teams in the boys division that played in the Norm Stewart Classic, which is named after the legendary University of Missouri coach. It is the first time the Wildcats played at the event.

“It was a really awesome experience,” Kroeger said. “It was awesome for the kids and obviously for the community.”

The Wildcats were also thrilled to return to Mizzou Arena just nine months after playing there at the Class 3 Show-Me Showdown. MCHS played two games there and finished fourth.

“It’s just a fun environment to play on a court like that,” MCHS senior Sean Rodgers said.

The Wildcats improved to 6-0 with the win over Columbia, which is located south of St. Louis. They beat a team that is ranked second in the Illinois Class 2A poll and finished with over 20 wins in each of the last three seasons.

“I thought it was great coming to Mizzou and getting a win against a state ranked team from another state,” Rodgers said. “It’s a big-time win for us. There is a lot of competition in our schedule this year. If we can play with them the way we played against Columbia, we’ll get way better than what we are and get ready for a Final Four run.”

Senior Clayton Parker earned the game’s Most Valuable Player honors after scoring a game-high 21 points – including 16 in the first half – and grabbing 11 rebounds.

With the game tied at 7-7 in the first quarter, Parker scored seven straight points to give the Wildcats a 14-7 lead they never relinquished.

Also, senior Andrew Moore – a transfer from Troy Buchanan – finished with 18 points, including 10 in the first half. Senior Isaiah Thomas scored six points before going out with an ankle injury with 7:12 left in the third quarter, Sean Rodgers and senior Tyler Erwin each had four points and senior Jay Rodgers added two.

“We had a lot of kids playing special basketball tonight,” Kroeger said. “Clayton and Andrew were dynamite offensively. We made a lot of really tough plays around the basket. Tyler and Sean made some awesome cuts. Defensively, I think we really put the hammer on them. That’s a good offensive team. We made it tough on them.”

The Wildcats’ cheering section is known as the Cheer Block. In the contest against Columbia, most of the students wore black.

“We have a giant Cheer Block in every game so far this season,” Sean Rodgers said. “A bunch of students love coming out and supporting us. It definitely helped us play a lot better. We play hard because they’re all there to support us and it’s good motivation.”

The Wildcats will return to Mid-Missouri on Dec. 27, when they play in the Joe Machens Great 8 Classic. They will also play University City at the Midwest Showdown at Ritenour High School on Dec. 21 and Chadwick at the Tipton Lathem Bank Shootout on Jan. 3.

Kroeger said the team’s schedule was strengthened this year to help prepare the players for the postseason. Hopefully, the Wildcats will make another trip to Mizzou Arena in March.

“Win or lose, we’re trying to get as good as we can when February rolls around because the record doesn’t matter,” Kroeger said. “It’s what you got in the tank whenever the end of the season rolls around.”