Even though they didn’t have any classes due to the two-week holiday break, the Montgomery County basketball teams were still in action as they participated in two shootouts in a span of four days.

The MCHS boys and girls teams ended their 2025 schedule with a sweep over the Macon Tigers at the Peak/Sport and Spine Shootout at Moberly Area Community College on Dec. 29. They began the New Year on a down note as they were swept by the Miller Cardinals at the Tipton Lathem Bank Shootout at Tipton High School on Jan. 2.

Both teams entered this week with six victories. The boys were scheduled to play a road game at Duchesne on Jan. 5. The girls were scheduled to play an Eastern Missouri Conference contest on Jan. 6 at North Callaway.

At Moberly, the MCHS boys came from behind to beat Macon 50-40, while the MCHS girls squeaked past the Tigers 43-40. At Tipton, MCHS fell to Miller 51-39 in the boys game and 63-32 in the girls contest.

Aubrey Janes and Emma Rodgers were the only MCHS players to finish in double figures in both shootouts. Rodgers, a sophomore, had 20 against Macon and 11 against Miller. Janes, a junior, had 11 points against Macon and 14 against Miller.

The MCHS boys extended their winning streak to four games with the victory over Macon. Down 38-36 late in the fourth quarter, the Wildcats closed out the contest with a 14-2 run.

Senior Wyatt March, who is back on the team for the first time since his freshman year, finished with 19 points. He scored eight points during that 14-2 run. He was the only MCHS player in double figures.

Senior Colby Ellis gave the Wildcats a 41-38 lead by scoring a conventional 3-point play with 4:50 to go in the fourth. He finished with seven points.

The MCHS boys competed in the Moberly Shootout for the first time.

The MCHS girls picked up a win at the Moberly Shootout for the second year in a row after topping Macon. They led by as many as eight points in the fourth quarter before the Tigers rallied to tie the game at 40-40.

Janes gave the Wildcats a 42-40 lead with a basket with 1:13 remaining in the game. Rodgers added a free throw with seven seconds left to complete the scoring and got a steal and a rebound in the final minute of the contest.

It was the first time the MCHS girls played Macon since 2021, when they lost to the Tigers in a Class 4 district semifinal game at Macon High School.

Miller, located west of Springfield, held both MCHS teams to their season-low point total at the Tipton Shootout.

In the boys contest, the Wildcats trailed 17-4 in the first quarter before coming back to get within 19-18 midway in the second quarter. That’s as close as they would get for the rest of the game.

MCHS, which competed in the Tipton Shootout for the second year in a row, had a balanced scoring attack in the losing cause. Senior Adrian Combs scored nine points, including a basket with 3:25 left in the first quarter that cut Miller’s lead to 19-18. March and senior Chase Queathem each had eight points and senior Cooper Sellenriek added six. March and Queathem each had nine rebounds.

The Cardinals hit five of their 10 three-pointers in the first quarter to snap the Wildcats’ four-game winning streak. They also picked up a win at Tipton for the second year in a row.

In the girls game, MCHS led 1-0 before Miller went on to take an 18-8 lead in the first quarter it never relinquished. It’s the second year in a row the Wildcats lost to the Cardinals in the Tipton Shootout.