The Eastern Missouri Conference titles continue to pile up for Olivia Shaw.

The Montgomery County senior became a member of her 13th EMO championship team after helping her girls basketball squad clinch its fifth straight league championship with a 28-22 win over Elsberry on Feb. 12 at Ballew & Snell Court.

With just three months left in her senior year, Shaw has played on four conference championship basketball teams, four EMO championship volleyball teams, three league championship cross country squads and two conference championship track teams.

“It’s kind of crazy,” Shaw said. “I never really think about it until I do think about it. I’m like, ‘Wow.’ We have a pretty solid group wherever I go. I love to help out.”

With the victory over Elsberry on Monday, the Wildcats finished 10-0 in conference play and extended their conference winning streak to 51 games. They haven’t lost an EMO contest since 2019.

Defense has been a key factor in MCHS’ EMO championship run. The Wildcats cruised past their competition in conference play, beating all of their opponents by almost 30 points per game. The Wildcats held Elsberry to its season-low point total en route to the victory in their conference finale.

“(Defense) has kind of been a legacy thing for us the past few years,” MCHS junior Aliviah Fischer said. “That’s one thing that you can carry into other games. Defense travels, even though shooting does sometimes. It’s a great thing that we rely on. Most teams don’t.”

Senior Malia Rodgers scored eight points to lead the Wildcats and made some key plays down the stretch. With MCHS leading 26-22, Rodgers made a steal with 14.5 seconds left, then hit two free throws to seal the victory.

The only downpoint in the win was the Wildcats finished with their season-low point total. It’s just the eighth time since Joe Basinger took over the program in 2016 that they scored less than 30 points.

“It’s great that we won another one and I’m happy for the seniors because they won every year when they were in high school,” Fischer said. “But it doesn’t feel good winning like this.”

After the game, the players posed for a picture with numerous players from the fourth and fifth-grade youth basketball teams.

“It’s so sweet for them to come out and support,” Shaw said. “It’s fun to see that we’re impacting others.”

The Wildcats won their ninth conference title in program history. They also won titles from 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Shaw, Rodgers, Maddy Queathem, Madi Polston and Claire Cobb became the second senior class to win conference titles all four years. Last year, Bailey Fischer, Carson Flake, Maddie Wisdom and Carissa Doyle became the first MCHS senior class to win league championships in all four years.

“We officially got conference all four years of high school,” Shaw said. “Each year we played, we all have been part of one. It’s kind of crazy to think about. (MCHS coach Joe) Basinger talked about it before the game (against Elsberry). He was like, ‘At this point, we’re making a tradition of it.’”

After a loss to St. James in their regular season finale on Feb. 13, the Wildcats finished their regular season at 21-5, guaranteeing them their seventh straight winning season. MCHS will play Hermann in a Class 3, District 7 semifinal game at 6 p.m. on Feb. 21 at North Callaway.

The Wildcats are the top seed in the seven-team district tournament. They will look to win their third straight district title, which is something that has never been done in program history.

“We can definitely do it,” Shaw said. “If we put our minds to it, we’ll get it.”