The Community R-6 girls have made winning a tradition.

This season is the 14th straight winning season for the Lady Trojans, and they returned to another tradition by playing for a district championship on Feb. 27. Community lost 73-39 to No. 1 seed and state No. 7 Cairo (23-5) in the Class 1 District 10 title game in Madison.

Community hadn’t played for a district championship in three years after regularly making it to that round. Head coach Bob Curtis said he was proud of the girls for making it back there, but they faced a talented team from Cairo, who won its fifth straight district title.

Community R-6 vs Cairo Photo Gallery

“We knew what we were getting into with Cairo,” Curtis said. “They graduated some great pieces, but they have some of the best freshmen in Mid-Missouri, or really in Missouri. They’re going to be really good for a long time.”

Community scored more points than in its first two meetings with Cairo. It couldn’t counter Cairo’s aggressive defense again as the Lady Bearcats finished with 17 steals and had four girls score in double figures. 

Peyton Beamer led with 14 points, four 3-pointers and four assists, Chloe Johnson had six points and six rebounds, and Kat Meyer finished with six points. 

Curtis said this season’s array of opponents hasn’t been the easiest. In the Central Activities Conference, there is Cairo and also a 22-6 district champion New Franklin and a 21-8 Glasgow, who lost to a 21-8 Westran that Community also played. The Lady Trojans also played 20-win district finalists Jamestown (24-4) and Paris (22-7).

“It’s one of the tougher schedules we’ve ever played,” Curtis said. “The top four teams in our conference are playing for a district championship tonight. The list goes on. Every night, it seemed like we were playing somebody that’s 15-plus wins and a 1 or 2 seed in our district.”

Community just couldn’t get going against Cairo, who can “make everything hard.” However, Curtis said the Lady Trojans were rewarded for facing tough competition by knocking off Higbee, who received votes in the latest state poll, after losing to the Lady Tigers in the semifinal each of the past two years. 

The Lady Trojans had everything working in that game, including Beamer facilitating the offense with 10 points and eight assists, Meyer hitting from the perimeter with 14 points, Jocelyn Curtis leading with a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds and holding Ava Welch from a 23.6 scoring average to seven points. Johnson added nine points and nine rebounds, and freshman Kaytlynn Arens had eight points.

“They’ve held our seniors down as sophomores and juniors,” Curtis said. “For them to beat Higbee and get to this game was huge. I was so proud of them for that. They needed that in their senior year. That’s a game I won’t forget for a long time.”

Curtis said he will miss coaching his daughter, Jocelyn, but looks forward to still being her father. He said he is also glad she will continue to play softball at Missouri Valley College.

Beamer, Meyer, Johnson, Jocelyn Curtis and Adriana Woodson account for 70 wins in this streak of 14 straight winning seasons. Bob Curtis said the girls remember watching the Lady Trojans before them and wanted to play while wearing the uniform that was given so much meaning by past players. They made an impact early in their careers with a district championship as freshmen, and Curtis will miss coaching all of them.

“The girls have made it a priority,” Curtis said. “They don’t want to be the group that it ends with. We’ve had a lot of talks about what that uniform does, how we act on the court and the instinct to win. This group represented that really well.”