By Kelly Bowen, Staff Writer

First conference win of the season eludes Wildcats

Posted 1/17/25

After a game that had fans on the edge of their seats, the Wright City boys basketball team eventually fell to Louisiana 51-46 on Jan. 14. The Wildcats are now 0-3 in EMO conference play. 

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By Kelly Bowen, Staff Writer

First conference win of the season eludes Wildcats

Posted

After a game that had fans on the edge of their seats, the Wright City boys basketball team eventually fell to Louisiana 51-46 on Jan. 14. The Wildcats are now 0-3 in EMO conference play. 

Wright City led the Bulldogs for the majority of the first half, but lost its lead with less than three minutes left in the second quarter. Then, in the third quarter, Louisiana was able to take a marginal lead. 

The Wildcats were able to tie the score back up 35-35 in the fourth quarter with four minutes left, but Head Coach Ken Brown noted rebounds and missed layups were what hurt his squad down the stretch.

“I think that third quarter was one of the things that killed us. They got to a seven point lead and in a game like this, a seven point lead is almost like 20 so it was kind of hard for us to come back,” Brown said. 

Brown added the energy, effort and communication were present throughout the game, but they ultimately could not finish. He specifically named the defensive end as a strength. 

“I think the defense was great. We just got to put the ball in the hoop when they’re not scoring. It was our opportunity to get some points, get some distance from them,” Brown said. “That’s probably what killed us.”  

Brown also named the weather and missing players, such as Kaiden Pilcher, as factors into their loss. However, he also mentioned they can only control what they are given. 

“We had the Clopton Tournament that got canceled, so that kind of made us out of whack,” Brown said. “[Pilcher] would have definitely helped but it is what it is and you can only coach the people that are here, so the kids played hard. We just got to play more efficient on offense without fouling and without turning the ball over. ” 

Overall, Jersiah Higgins led the team in scoring with 17 points, while Duan McRoberts tallied 12 and Dayton Humphreys had eight. Wright City will play next at Winfield on Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. 

“We’ll get better next time we play…get our legs under us, get back to playing basketball again,” Brown said. “We’re just trying to work and see if we can get better each and every day.” 


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