Montgomery County senior Olivia Shaw was in a state of shock after her team defeated the Southern Boone Eagles 45-34 at the Sophie Cunningham Classic on Jan. 6 at Columbia College.

Shaw found out she was selected the Wildcats’ Most Valuable Player after recording her first double-double of the season. She finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds to lead her team to the win in the second annual event, which is named after the former University of Missouri standout and current Phoenix Mercury guard.

“I’m not the main person,” Shaw said. “Normally, that goes to Maddy (Queathem) or Malia (Rodgers) because they’re just amazing. I’m a defensive person. I guess it got recognized tonight.”

For her honor, Shaw was awarded a new pair of speakers and posed with Cunningham and her sister Lindsay at halfcourt.

“I’m proud of her,” MCHS coach Joe Basinger said. “That girl works so hard. She plays extremely hard. She gets overshadowed by some because she doesn’t always score the most. But she’s so important to what we do defensively and rebounding wise. For her to come out on this stage, have the game that she had and be named MVP, I thought it was such a cool experience for her to pull that off.”

Shaw also helped the Wildcats bounce back from the 53-45 loss to Moberly in the Moberly Area Community College Shootout on Dec. 30, their first loss of the season. MCHS won its first 10 games before falling to the Spartans.

“That stung a little bit,” Basinger said. “We didn’t play our best. We came out on fire and we really did a lot of good things. Then, we got stagnant in the second quarter and didn’t score. The girls cut it to a two-point game with a minute to go. To show that kind of grit and not come out on top, those are the types of kids I know I have. They’re a gritty type. They’re going to fight until the end. They never gave up.”

The Wildcats never trailed against Southern Boone, which finished fourth in the Class 4 state tournament last year. MCHS raced to a 9-2 lead after Shaw got a steal with 13 seconds into the second quarter and scored a basket. The Wildcats led 28-11 at one point in the third quarter before the Eagles rallied to get within four points.

“Tonight was a little bit of redemption because we didn’t show ourselves at Moberly,” Shaw said. “We came out strong in the first half. We fell off a little bit in the third quarter, but we pulled through. It was a big game.”

Also for MCHS, Rodgers finished with 11 points and four steals and Queathem had nine points and six rebounds.

Chloe Bukowsky was selected as Southern Boone’s MVP after scoring a game-high 13 points. She reached the 1,000-point mark for her career.

The Sophie Cunningham Classic is a three-day event that has teams from five states. There were 17 games in the Sophie Classic. MCHS’ game against Southern Boone was the first meeting between both teams in almost eight years.

“This is something that I’m going to remember for a long time,” Basinger said. “The girls are never going to forget this. This was an experience of a lifetime for them to interact with Sophie Cunningham and take a picture with her. It’s just an awesome experience. It was a great environment. A lot of people came over here. It was a really cool day. I’m glad that these kids got to experience that.”

Basinger said his team got selected to play in the Sophie Classic after contacting Brad Hayes, who is the main person who picks the teams to compete in the event.

“I told him our backstory that we won back-to-back district championships and we returned four seniors, so we should have a good squad,” Basinger said. “He was like, ‘Come on over.’”

Shaw has been one of the key players in the Wildcats’ success. During her career, she helped her team win three Eastern Missouri Conference and two district titles and was named to the all-conference team twice.

This year, Shaw is leading the Wildcats in rebounds and blocked shots. She’s part of an all-senior lineup that includes Rodgers, Queathem, Claire Cobb and Madi Polston.

“We all know each other,” Shaw said. “We all get along so well and I think it shows on the court. Off the court, we all get together and have some fun and get along without any drama or stuff.”

Shaw, who plans to play volleyball at Mineral Area College next year, said she hopes her last high school basketball season will be a special one.

“I want to give it all I got,” Shaw said. “It’s my last year, so I might as well try my hardest.”