Kara Rogers coaches her twin first graders, Ava and Charlotte, in Olathe, Kan., trying every day to give her players what her own high school coach once gave her.

So when Paul Muchmore took the sideline for his final regular‑season home game Tuesday night, Rogers (formerly Boston) made the trip back to Indian Creek.

She joined about two dozen former players celebrating his 33 years in the program on Paul Muchmore Night, which ended with his 395th career win, a 53–22 victory over Rosary.

“I want to take what was done for me and give that to other kids,” said Rogers, who graduated in 2004. ”I try to take a lot of what I learned and emulate how I was treated and give that to my players. He believed in me so much and I want my players to know I believe in them so much. As long as they believe themselves, that’s what matters."

The night started with Muchmore being honored with a small speech by athletic director Ehren Mertz. Then Mertz led the crowd in singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Muchmore, as Tuesday was also his 58th birthday.

And when the Timberwolves took to the floor for warmups, they revealed matching black T-shirts with a pink-tinged photo of Muchmore, surprising the coach.

“I thought it was really fun just to show up for him,” said junior Gretta Oziah, who finished with eight points, eight rebounds and six steals for the Timberwolves. We were all excited before the game just to wear the shirts and just to celebrate him."

Indian Creek (14-11) also provided Muchmore with another birthday present - a stifling defense and a strong rebounding effort.

The Timberwolves finished with a 37-15 edge on the boards. They also held the Royals without a field goal until the final 15 seconds of the first quarter.

“We’ve been working on moving and we’ve been working on going out helping because we’ve been kind of stagnating on defense, not rotating and kind of rotating through it,” Muchmore said. “Plus we really limited them to one shot. We did a nice job of rebounding tonight.”

Madison Boehne had a game-high nine rebounds to go with 12 points. Elsie Betz had 13 points, eight rebounds and four steals. Ally Keilman finished with 12 points and four steals.

With the win, the Timberwolves are going to finish with their first winning record since going 32-2 in 2015-16 and taking third in Class 1A. They didn’t field a varsity team in 2023-24 and went 7-13 last year.

“We’re now 14-11, finished second in the conference, finished second in the conference tournament,” Muchmore said. “It’s been a surprise to me. But like I told the girls, it’s a credit to them and putting us in a place where we had a successful season. It’s kind of nice. The last few years have been kind of rough. ... I think the program is going in the right direction.”

Rogers said she’s come back to the school on multiple occasions, including last year for a hall of fame induction ceremony. She said Muchmore would also go out of his way to seek her out.

Josie Diehl, a member of the third-place team and two-time Daily Chronicle Female Athlete of the Year, said she was happy to see Muchmore honored.

“I was joking over here with my teammates just now,” Diehl said. “There’s a lot of great memories of that season. It was a really great time and it’s great to see him recognized tonight.”

Muchmore said the most meaningful part of Tuesday was the former players coming back, saying it is nice to be appreciated.

It’s also potentially Muchmore’s last game in The Wolves’ Den. The Timberwolves host the sectional but there’s no guarantee they make it.

“The gym has gone through a lot of different changes, I have gone through a lot of different changes,” Muchmore said. “It’s been fun. We’ve had a lot of big games here. Won some big games. We’ve lost some big games. But it’s just about the girls who put in the work and were able to be pushed and accepted being pushed. And you know that when they come back and they are happy to see you.”