Headed into its game at Valley Park on Wednesday, the Wright City girls basketball team was seeking its first win.
Not only did the Wildcats earn the win, but they also played a nearly complete game in the 44-40 non-conference victory.
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Headed into its game at Valley Park on Wednesday, the Wright City girls basketball team was seeking its first win.
Not only did the Wildcats earn the win, but they also played a nearly complete game in the 44-40 non-conference victory.
Wright City (1-4) gave up a quick basket, proceeded to score five straight points and never trailed from that point.
Senior guard Shiriah McRoberts praised her teammates for working as a unit and, while a second-half double-digit lead dwindled to as few as two in the fourth quarter, the team never let up.
“This feels good because we worked as a team,” McRoberts said. “When we work as a team, it’s way better. When we come together, we show that we can score lots of points and play good defense, and that’s what we did.”
Wright City led 12-5 after the first quarter, 20-15 by halftime and 33-25 at the end of the third quarter.
As McRoberts said, Wright City coach Dustin Elledge praised the team for its defense-first efforts centered on a full-court press that, while mounting up the team’s fouls, gave the offense for Valley Park (0-3) fits.
“I was very happy with this because we got here, set the pace and (didn’t) hold back,” Elledge said. “It was nice to get the first win under our belt and, hopefully, we can build on that. Our defense has been decent all season, but we’ve had to stay out of foul trouble. I tell the girls to keep being the aggressor and to press and play defense like they did. If we get into foul trouble, we’ll cross the bridge when we get to it.”
In the end, McRoberts led the Wildcats in scoring with 17 points while fellow senior guard Kaitlyn Mikus added 13.
Junior guard Ada Farrell, who spearheaded the team’s press, added seven.
“We’ve been having tough luck to this point,” Farrell said. “We’ve played well, we just couldn’t get that win. A win like this is (a blueprint) to how we can play and it should show us how to win more like it in the future.”
Freshman guard Kennedy Steinkamp led Valley Park with 19 points in the loss.
The Wildcats will get a chance to put the newfound formula for success into action in short order. Wright City will return to the court at 6 p.m. Friday as the team plays host to Liberty (1-2).
