For the first time in 50 years, the Montgomery County Wildcats were back in the state semifinals as they took on the Summit Christian Academy Eagles in a Class 3 Show-Me Showdown semifinal game on March 8 at Mizzou Arena in Columbia.

Unfortunately, the Wildcats came up short of their goal of making it to the championship game as they lost 46-36. They had their 10-game winning streak snapped.

With six minutes left in the game, MCHS appeared to make its first state championship appearance since 1972 as it led 36-30. But the Eagles rallied with a 16-0 run to end the Wildcats’ championship hopes.

“They were well-coached,” MCHS coach Scott Kroeger said. “They had kids who played extremely hard.”

The Wildcats led 27-19 with 5:26 left in the third quarter, but scored just four field goals the rest of the way.

“It comes down to executing the best you can after that point,” Kroeger said. “You have to be well-coached. Timeouts have to be used consistently. Basketball is a game of centimeters and momentum can change in a stinking hurry. In football, you have a lot of down time to score a touchdown and feel good about it for five or six minutes. In basketball, you make a good play, the other team can score in eight seconds and all of the sudden, uh-oh. That’s kind of what happened there.”

Clayton Parker was the lone MCHS player in double figures with 15 points. He gave the Wildcats a 36-30 lead by scoring a basket with 6:13 to go in the fourth. But that was the last time MCHS would lead in the game.

Also for the Wildcats, senior Jake Stellwagen had nine points, junior Tyler Erwin scored seven points – including a breakaway dunk early in the second quarter – with 12 rebounds and junior Jay Rodgers hit a 3-pointer with 5:26 to go in the third that gave MCHS the 27-19 lead.

The Wildcats qualified for the state semifinals by beating Priory 42-40 in overtime in a Class 3 state quarterfinal game on March 2 at Fulton. They hadn’t lost a game since Jan. 27.

Kroeger said his players were anxious to play their semifinal contest. Game time was at 8 p.m.

“I really wanted to see these guys get on the court,” the MCHS coach said. “I thought they handled it extremely well. I think they were a bunch of nerves early. They defended their butts for 90 percent of the game until they had to start taking chances in gambling defensively.”

Senior Mason Leu, who was fouled out with nine seconds left in the game, said he was thrilled with the experience of playing in the Show-Me Showdown for the first time.

“It’s a lot more fun,” Leu said. “I’ve been to Disney World, but this is the funnest thing I have been a part of.”

Max Rieger scored 20 points, including a basket that broke a 36-36 tie with 3:27 to go in the game, and Michael Thomas added 13 to lead SCA, which edged East Buchanan 66-64 in a Class 3 state quarterfinal game on March 2.

Kroeger said he was impressed with SCA’s effort. The Eagles held MCHS to its lowest offensive output of the season.

“They’ve got three guards who can play fantastic defense,” Kroeger said. “They have athleticism at the rim, so they can afford the pressure because they have protection at the rim.”

SCA coach Tellus Truesdale said he was pleased with the team’s effort even though it didn’t make any 3-pointers.

“To me, it’s impressive to find a way to win when the shots aren’t falling,” he said. “Obviously, they had two really good players. The whole scouting report for us was to stop 33 (Parker) and 21 (Stellwagen). Both of those guys played great games tonight as well. They had their moments, but for us at the end of the day, we had multiple guys getting buckets and multiple guys making big plays. Ultimately, it came down to our defensive effort. You have to play tough on defense, especially when you’re not making shots.”

Truesdale said his team’s come-from-behind win reminded him of a time when he coached a team in Colorado.

“We were down 20 in our Final Four game and we made a comeback,” he said. “It was just defense. Literally, it came down to us getting stops.”