(Front row) Deidra Shoemate McKay, Dewella Holliday Shuck, Erica Drebes Barnes, Shayla Adams Roop, Alicia Murphy Jepsen, Jessica Gass Hess and Claire McClintic Owen; (middle row) Kelsey Kendrick, Amelia Gander Gerke, Megan Shoemaker Thomas, Jaymee Wisdom Quinn, Kelsey Thompson Lyskowski, Ashley Hays Moore and Craig Zeiger; (back) Coach Bob Plourde, Amber Yager Hays, Nancy Quinn Shively, Melanie Shoemaker Ruiz and Coach Amy Dyer.
Led by seven seniors — Dewella Holliday Shuck, Amelia Gander Gerke, Alicia Murphy Jepsen, Megan Shoemaker Thomas, Jaymee Wisdom Quinn, Jessica Gass Hess, and Amber Yager Hays — the Lady Panthers were fired up for their state run in 2000. In a memorable pep rally, Coach Plourde and Coach Amy Dyer made a grand entrance on a Harley Davidson motorcycle, setting the tone for a successful postseason.
The team began their state tournament journey with a 67-53 win over St. Pius X, followed by a 59-44 victory over John Burroughs — their third straight win against them in as many years. John Burroughs’ coach joked afterward that he wished Monroe City were located in Illinois. Coach Plourde, in his own post-game interview, noted that each year brings a new hand of cards, but that season he felt he had been “dealt a royal flush.” The team ended the year with a remarkable 30-2 record.
Few families can put their claim to Monroe City Basketball Tournament fame more than the “Jackson 5.”
Each child of the late Mike and Judy Jackson played for MHS all four years. Their success stories on and off the court are impressive.
“We all appreciate our humble, close-knit upbringing and the lifelong connections made in Monroe City and the surrounding areas through the many sports we played. The Monroe City Tournament was always such a fun experience,” says Norma Jackson, the youngest of the Fab Five. “Our parents were our biggest cheerleaders in all that we did and we are forever grateful. Their champion spirits drove us all to be the parents we are today!”
Mike Jackson, 1986 grad, was a 6-foot guard on the Panthers team that took third place in state competition, He went on to play college ball at Central Methodist University and Central Missouri State University. He is a certified orthotist at HiTek in Columbia. (An orthotist is a healthcare professional who specializes in designing, fitting and customizing braces and splints for patients in need of support or stabilization of specific body parts due to injury, disease or disability.)
Deanna Jackson Brown, a 1987 grad, was a 5-11 forward and center. She was a member of the 1986-1987 team that placed second in the state finals. She played college basketball at Southeast Missouri state University, graduated from Culver Stockton College, holds a MBA and is an engineering manager. She lives in LaGrange, Georgia.
Teresa Jackson Williams, a 1989 graduate, was a 6-1 forward. She played on the 1986-1987 team that took second in the state. She also was a member of the 1987-1988 team that was a third-place finisher in state. She holds the scoring record for Monroe City girls’ basketball. She played college basketball for the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, where she graduated in 1993. She lives in Suwannee, Georgia. She is vice president and a portfolio management officer at Bank of America.
Tommy Jackson, a 1990 graduate, was a 6-4 forward, who went on to play football and baseball at William Jewell University and Central Missouri State University. He died in December 2002.
Norma Jackson, a 1991 graduate, was a 5-6 forward. She earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Missouri at Columbia. She holds dual masters degrees from Webster University in St. Louis and went on to receive a law degree from MU. She lives in Chesterfield.
She is Chief Diversity & Attorney Development Officer at Thompson Coburn.
Michael (team photo), Deana (posting up), Teresa (shooting), Tommy (head shot), Norma (head shot)
MU PreETS visited MCHS today. Students learned how to appropriately fold silverware.
Final Score!
12/2/24
#MCPRIDE
The 100th Monroe City Basketball Tournament Committee providing many of the social media posts includes two members of the MHS Class of 1973-Linda Whelan Geist and Joyce Gares Adams. The two also started college at the University of Missouri at Columbia that same fall; living on separate floors of Gillett Hall on campus. In high school, Joyce played basketball for the Lady Panthers and was the 1973 Basketball Homecoming Queen. Linda was editor of the Panther Growl student newspaper, and used those skills as founder and former owner of The Lake Gazette. She now writes for MU Extension.
Behind the scenes, J.R. Chisham provided valuable research for many of the social media posts you see. Part of the celebrated 1961 team, Chisham went on to serve his country in the U.S. Army from 1966-1968 with a one-year tour in Vietnam where he served as a combat photographer. A faithful MHS sports fan, he also has been a long-time scorekeeper and referee.
The champions of champions.
Monroe City girls went to state three years in a row. They were state champions in 1998, third place in 1999, and state champions in 2000.
2000 State Champions (front row) Manager Deidra Shoemate McKay, Dewella Holliday Shuck, Erica Drebes Barnes, Shayla Adams Roop, Alicia Murphy Jepsen, Jessica Gass Hess and Manager Claire McClintic Owen; (middle row) Manager Kelsey Kendrick, Amelia Gander, Megan Shoemaker Thomas, Jaymee Wisdom Quinn, Kelsey Thompson, Ashley Hays Moore and Manager Craig Zeiger; (back row) Coach Bob Plourde, Amber Yager Hays, Nancy Quinn Shively, Melanie Shoemaker Ruiz and Coach Amy Dyer.
Your 2024-25 Monroe City R-1 Basketball Tournament Teams GO PANTHERS!
MS Final Score
#MCPRIDE
100th Monroe City Tournament
Celebration Nights!
#MCPRIDE
1967 was the second time that a boys’ and a girls’ team from the same school won the MHS Tournament championship. Again, it was Monroe City, which won it for the first time in 1962.
These athletes played before the 1968 forming of the Monroe City Sheltered Workshop and the 1976 groundbreaking for the Monroe City Manor Care Center.
1966 also was a historic year for the MHS tournament. Holy Rosary School decided to close its high school. During the school’s 65 years, 680 students had received diplomas. Holy Rosary High School’s closing meant that MHS and Holy Rosary athletes would come together on the court.
The year 1965 marked a turning point in American history. In Selma, Alabama, Martin Luther King Jr. led civil rights demonstrators on a march pushing the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In Vietnam, the war escalated, as President Johnson instituted continuous air strikes. Many of the young men of the 1960s would leave Monroe City to serve in the military during the Vietnam War.
Game Day!
#MCPRIDE
MS Girls & Boys
Game Day!
@ South Shelby Tournament (HS Gym)
#MCPRIDE
1955 was a historic year for the nation. Things were changing.
Just a year after Brown vs. Board of Education was set into motion to allow desegregation of schools, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Birmingham, Ala., bus. For the first time, Monroe City boys’ team had a black basketball player, Donald L. Scott.
1955 was historic locally, too, for Monroe City sports. Holy Rosary School’s new gymnasium, known as the “Holy Dome,” opened for the 1955-56 season. The Father Connolly Gymnasium was the place where much of Monroe City’s rich basketball history was made. Attached are some photos of some Holy Dome players including the 1926 Holy Rosary girls that earned the MC trophy for the second time in the first two years of the tournament.
1954-55 girls’ co-captain Carroll Gosney Hood was a sharpshooter for the MHS Lady Panthers. In a news account of Monroe City defeating Paris, Hood racked up 31 points. In another newspaper article, it shows she sunk 44 of Monroe City’s total 49 points in “a brilliant individual performance” in a game with LaPlata.
Carroll worked for Strothers Jewelry in Monroe City after graduation in 1955. She also worked for Mel’s Variety Store until she took time off to raise her two children, Kathryn Lynell O’Bryan and Kelly (Ron) Williams.
She began working at the Monroe City Public Library in 1963 and became head librarian beginning in 1966. She was only the third librarian in the library since it opened in 1918 and she served in that post for 50 years, retiring in 2016. Her husband, Weldon, is a retired mechanic and has kept many a car in Monroe City running through the years.
Others on her team coached by Goldie Burkhart and Robbie Harris were Wilma Sullivan Kastner, Shirley Woolfolk, Barbara Massey, Carol Darling, Phylliss Welch, Ruth Eaton Tadlock, Alice Jo Harper, and Doris Murray Farrell.
See this link for a nice piece about Carroll’s retirement: https://khqa.com/news/local/a-tale-of-50-years-a-tri-state-librarians-story.
On a side note, Carroll and Weldon’s great-grandson celebrated his first win as a high school basketball coach at Mark Twain High this past week.
Coach Kaelin Kendrick O’Bryan’s team took a 49-46 win over Paris Tuesday night.
A greeting from former MHS girls' Coach Bob Ploude of Columbia who had a remarkable coaching record at MHS.
"The Monroe City Tournament was always the signal of the start of the basketball season. All the preseason work will now be put into play against some of the best Northeast Missouri teams. Looking back, it was not only about basketball but also showing off the community. As a coach and athletic Director, I recall how the other coaches, administrators, officials, and fans of other communities would compliment how this tournament was run, and the excitement it provided. Several tournaments in the area have come and gone, yet the MC tournament has always been a staple for Northeast Missouri basketball. Congratulations on 100 years!"
Marjorie Lee Smith O’Donel is one of MHS’ oldest living female players. Born in June of 1932, Marge played basketball her junior and senior years of high school and graduated in 1950.
In the 1948-1949 season, Marge’s team had a perfect tournament record.
One of Marge’s great joys now is watching her great-granddaughter, Aiyana Addison, an eighth grader, play this year for the Monroe City Middle School. A great-grandson, Aidan Addison, also graduates from MHS this year.
The love of basketball is tradition in Marge’s family. Her mother, Cora Harris Smith, graduated in 1930 and played for MHS (as shown in the tournament book photo here). Her mother stayed at Manona Sherman’s boarding house so she could attend school at MHS and play ball. Margie’s daughter, Toni Addison, was a cheerleader and 1977 MHS graduate.
Marge came to Monroe City her freshman year from Pee Dee School. Her dad, Cecil, farmed at Clapper and seven of the 11 living children, 1 was stillborn, were born in the three-room house there. They then moved to the Pee Dee community where her dad farmed and had a sawmill. REA didn’t run electricity to their house until she was in high school but her mother did have a gas-powered washing machine.
The girls’ team held their team practices during the hour-long lunch break. Boys practiced after school. Marge had relatives that lived in Monroe City, so she stayed with them on game nights. Her uncle, Jess, owned the blacksmith shop and she had another aunt who lived in town. There were no buses to transport them to the games so parents and coaches did most of the transportation. Only the “first team of 12” traveled – no cheerleaders or managers. Their coach, Mr. Gottman, also was their superintendent.
Marge and her late husband, Harold, owned the Monroe Dairy where players, their families and fans often gathered for burgers, fries and shakes before and after games. Pinball machines and the jukebox entertained many a MC athlete. The dairy was a stopping off point after games for students who didn’t have a car. They would call their parents from the dairy’s payphone and wait for a ride home. The dairy was at the corner of South Main and East Dover Street.
The restaurant opened at 6 a.m. and would close at 10 p.m. to midnight - “whenever people quit coming in,” says Marge. “That place would be packed after ball games.” As part of their business, they delivered milk to Monroe City homes three mornings a week.
The O’Donels bought the dairy in 1966 from Lester and Beverly Greeves and sold it to Jim and Connie Bower in 1976. At that time, they began buying school buses.
Marge and Harold were avid MHS sports supporters and operated the school bus line for many years, taking players to and from games.
Marge drove buses for about 30 years also with three routes sometimes. She drove before and after school and drove half-day kindergarteners home. She and Harold also transported Holy Rosary athletes to games.
Among the many things we have to be thankful for are conveniences such as washing machines and good roads. The Roaring 20s – Early to Rise, Late to Bed Let’s take a look back to the early tournaments in the 1920s. There were as many as 30 teams entered in the tournament. Games began at 7 a.m. and the final game of the night began at 9 p.m. Can you imagine the logistical nightmare of keeping everyone fed and uniforms washed during this time? In the 1920s, washing machines were just being invented, and most clothes were still washed on a washboard or in a basin of water with a plunger-like device. It wasn’t until 1961 when tournament officials limited participation to eight boys’ teams and eight girls’ teams. As we give thanks, let us be mindful of the commitment of sports parents who wash uniforms, help get their children to practices before they can drive and juggle meals. One such mother was Clara Holliday, mother of one of the school's first black ball players. Things could not have been easy for her. The late Michael Holliday was one of the first black players to hit the MC basketball hardwood. Son of Delbert and Clara Topp Holliday, he was born in 1939 and died 2000. He was one of 14 children. Holliday appears on the 1956 team roster and it appears to be the only year that he played. The Holliday name would become synonymous with great moments in all Monroe City sports in years to come.
Today we give thanks for faithful fans like Joe Morris
While St. Stephen’s school at Indian Creek never participated in the Monroe City Basketball Tournament, this 1957 photo of their boys’ team contains one of the Panthers’ most dedicated fans today-Joe Morris. You’ll likely find him in the stands at most home games.
In 1957, the team had new uniforms. Members are (front row) Bob Yager, Fred O’Conner, Jim Adam and Larry Spalding; (back row) Joe Morris, Dick Mudd, Pat Hays, Joe Hagan, Kenny and Nick Quinn. Morris, Joe Hagan and Nick Quinn are the only surviving members of the team. Photo from the 1957 yearbook.
Who are some of our other faithful fans through the years? Among those we express our gratitude for today are Bob and Debby Quinn, Greg and Sue Seward, Russell and Rose Harrison, the Monroe City Sheltered Workshop fans including Eddie and Larry, Pat Elliott, Dan Mudd, and of course, Jack Jones, our oldest living male basketball player.
Add your “MHS fans in the stand.” How many years have you attended?
