CHERRY TWP — Coaches at every level desire to see improvement from their team by the end of the season.

Moniteau boys basketball coach Jerry Day has watched his squad take a giant leap over the last two months.

The Warriors were coming off a 6-16 campaign and a 2-5 start this season didn't fill too many seats on the team's bandwagon.

But following Wednesday night's 51-43 home victory over Union, the Warriors are riding high and will carry a seven-game winning streak into the upcoming District 9 Class AAA playoffs.

“The guys have been working extremely hard since July and they are starting to believe in themselves,” Day said. “We have a ton of confidence right now.”

Union seemed to put Moniteau's streak in jeopardy, tying the game at 29 with Lucas Bowser's trey with 3:53 left in the third quarter.

The Warriors answered by scoring the final five points of the period on a trey from Ethan McDeavitt and a pair of free throws from Josh Adamson as the Warriors took a 34-29 edge into the final period.

Union pulled to within 42-40 with Hunter Johnston's conventional 3-point play with 4:16 left, but Moniteau countered with Lake Pry's five points over the next minute of play and was never threatened again.

Moniteau jumped out to an early 10-0 advantage as Union missed its first six attempts from the field.

“With it being Senior Night, all five of our starters were seniors,” said Day. “They gave us a nice lead and that was important.”

A big reason for the Warriors' early dominance was a 16-3 edge on the first-quarter boards.

“We're one of the smaller teams in the league,” added Day. “We've been working a lot on rebounding and it paid off tonight.”

Pry continued his stellar season with a game-high 29 points. Union was led by junior forward Lucas Bowser, who scored 16 points and reached 1,000 points for his career.

Bowser has been a bright spot for the Golden Knights (8-14), who will not compete in the postseason a year after playing in the district semifinals.

“We had two starters returning this year, but other than that, we were really young,” said first-year Union coach Eric Mortimer. “I've already begun to think about next year. We've told the boys what they need to do in the offseason to get better.”

Meanwhile, Moniteau (14-8) has already clinched its first winning record in five seasons.

Adamson, a senior guard, has been a member of Moniteau's varsity team since his freshman year. Day referred to him as Moniteau's best defensive player.

“We had a few down seasons, so this feels great,” Adamson said of contributing to a winning team. “We felt we had something to prove this year.”

UNION 43

Kolby Montgomery 3 0-0 8, Gavin Hawk 4 0-0 8, Nolan Cumberland 2 4-4 8, Hunter Johnston 1 1-1 3, Lucas Bowser 5 4-6 16, Luke Bowser 0 0-2 0, Reice Saylor 0 0-0 0, Coleman Buchanan 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 9-13 43.

MONITEAU 51

Lake Pry 12 4-4 29, Jake Jewart 1 0-0 2, Ethan McDeavitt 1 0-0 3, Josh Adamson 1 2-4 5, Jared Lominski 2 0-0 4, Brandon Anderson 1 0-0 2, Ross Tenney 2 0-0 4, Jamal Kimani 1 0-0 2. Totals: 21 6-8 51.

Union 7 12 10 14 — 43

Moniteau14 11 9 17 — 51

3-point goals: Union 4 (Montgomery 2, Luc. Bowser 2); Moniteau 3 (Pry, McDeavitt, Adamson).

Next: District 9 playoffs, TBD