Wright City’s basketball team got some senior leadership in a big way Tuesday.

Forward Dakota Phillips came out of the 57-43 win against North County Christian with a double-double, scoring 20 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. The Wildcats also got a shot of confidence ahead of a big conference match-up against Montgomery County.

Phillips, at 6-foot-2, doesn’t seem like an intimidating presence down low, but Head Coach Ken Brown said he works hard to get open against defenders that are typically bigger.

“The thing about Dakota is that as long as he stays active in the post, good things happen,” Brown said. “He’s the type of guy who wants the ball and he wants to compete. He’s working hard and he’s getting better.  I think as a team we are getting better overall. We’re working hard and it’s starting to show.”

It looked as the game began that the Crusaders would give the Wildcats all they could handle defensively, aggressively jumping in front of Wright City passes. 

But the Wildcats adjusted with the help of Phillips. 

He scored eight of his game-leading 20 points in the first eight minutes.

The Wildcats were on point defensively, as well.  Devon Holmes led the charge with four steals, which he converted to points for Wright City. One of those steals that led to points for Holmes came with 3:42 to go in the first quarter to give the Wildcats a 12-5 lead.

Brown said the team works hard on the defensive side of the ball to create opportunities to score.

“One thing about us is that we’re not very good with the scoring, so I like to do a lot of things to help us score,” Brown said. “Whether it’s trapping all over the place or just playing good, hard, defense. I think we did a great job of that tonight.”

Though the Wildcats carried a 15-12 lead coming into the second quarter, the Crusaders battled back to tie the game at 15 off a 3-pointer by CJ Robinson. Wright City countered, though, with a three of its own by sophomore David Liddell to take the lead back. That was the only point in the contest where North County held a lead or tied the game. 

The defense came up big again for Wright City to give itself a little breathing room as Holmes intercepted a tipped ball and got the lay-in to fall to take a 27-21 lead with a little under two minutes to go in the half. Holmes scored 14 points on the night.

Wright City shot 50 percent from the field in the first half. The Crusaders converted on 9-of-20 opportunities from the floor.

The defense really revved up for Wright City to open the second half, forcing six turnovers in the third quarter that led to a 15-2 run. In that run, senior Niko Brown scored five of his eight points for Wright City. The Wildcats led by as much as 21 after the run and heading into the fourth quarter.

“We’ve worked really hard to find open looks,” Brown said. “That’s not just new for us. At the beginning of the year we were a little selfish. We talked about it and have worked on it and now we’re an unselfish team.”

Though the Crusaders tried to make a game of it in the final eight minutes with an 8-0 run, the Wildcats held strong with Phillips and center Nick Boland scoring six and five points down low in the quarter, respectively. 

For North County, sophomore guard Malakai Wilson scored ten points.

The win sets up a date with conference rival Montgomery County Thursday. The 10-2 Wildcats will pose a challenge for Wright City with their ability to run the floor, but Brown thinks the win against the Crusaders is a big step forward for his team.

“This win is going to help us tremendously because Montgomery is an up-tempo team and they are going to pressure you right away up and down the court,” he said. “We’ll have to work hard in practice and get ready for a team that is 10-2.”

He scored eight of his game-leading 20 points in the first eight minutes.

The Wildcats were on point defensively, as well.  Devon Holmes led the charge with four steals, which he converted to points for Wright City. One of those steals that led to points for Holmes came with 3:42 to go in the first quarter to give the Wildcats a 12-5 lead.

Brown said the team works hard on the defensive side of the ball to create opportunities to score.

“One thing about us is that we’re not very good with the scoring, so I like to do a lot of things to help us score,” Brown said. “Whether it’s trapping all over the place or just playing good, hard, defense. I think we did a great job of that tonight.”

Though the Wildcats carried a 15-12 lead coming into the second quarter, the Crusaders battled back to tie the game at 15 off a 3-pointer by CJ Robinson. Wright City countered, though, with a three of its own by sophomore David Liddell to take the lead back. That was the only point in the contest where North County held a lead or tied the game. 

The defense came up big again for Wright City to give itself a little breathing room as Holmes intercepted a tipped ball and got the lay-in to fall to take a 27-21 lead with a little under two minutes to go in the half. Holmes scored 14 points on the night.

Wright City shot 50 percent from the field in the first half. The Crusaders converted on 9-of-20 opportunities from the floor.

The defense really revved up for Wright City to open the second half, forcing six turnovers in the third quarter that led to a 15-2 run. In that run, senior Niko Brown scored five of his eight points for Wright City. The Wildcats led by as much as 21 after the run and heading into the fourth quarter.

“We’ve worked really hard to find open looks,” Brown said. “That’s not just new for us. At the beginning of the year we were a little selfish. We talked about it and have worked on it and now we’re an unselfish team.”

Though the Crusaders tried to make a game of it in the final eight minutes with an 8-0 run, the Wildcats held strong with Phillips and center Nick Boland scoring six and five points down low in the quarter, respectively. 

For North County, sophomore guard Malakai Wilson scored ten points.

The win sets up a date with conference rival Montgomery County Thursday. The 10-2 Wildcats will pose a challenge for Wright City with their ability to run the floor, but Brown thinks the win against the Crusaders is a big step forward for his team.

“This win is going to help us tremendously because Montgomery is an up-tempo team and they are going to pressure you right away up and down the court,” he said. “We’ll have to work hard in practice and get ready for a team that is 10-2.”