Winning their second straight -ða feat not achieved since the 2006-07 season - the Wildcats held off Montgomery County by splurging on transition buckets in the closing minutes. The 50-41 effort propelled Wright City to its fourth victory of the season, one shy of its win total from last year. It also earned them a consolation trophy in the Hermann Tournament. Saturday's tilt proved to be more challenging than a Dec. 22 contest when the Wildcats held their Eastern Missouri Conference rival in check with relative ease. Montgomery County took a 28-27 lead into the fourth quarter, so Coach Mark Scacewater reverted back to the scheme that had worked for Wright City team six weeks earlier. "I thought we played smarter tonight," said Scacewater. "We got back into our 2-2-1 press, because last time we played them that was very successful. We took a few charges and didn't get called for any." The Wildcats worked off the press designed to force the opponent make faulty decisions. While Montgomery County didn't toss the ball away with the frequency it had six weeks earlier, it did surrender the ball for a pair of breakaway buckets that put Wright City back in control. Shakar Butler dropped consecutive transition buckets and the Wildcats finished business by knocking down free throws. Scacewater could appreciate the improved 19 of 24 mark his team exhibited at the charity stripe. Butler scored a game-high 18 points and says it helped that Montgomery County employed the same game plan it had in their previous meeting. "Actually, they ran that same press - the 1-2-2 - as the last time," said Butler. "We just focused on that in practice more, because that's what we struggled with the first time, actually getting the ball past the halfcourt." The Wildcats responded differently, winning the numbers advantage. "They did the exact same thing," said Scacewater. "They were still doing a 1-2-2 halfcourt trap. The only thing better we did this time is we didn't run away from the ball. We'd actually come to the ball and have that 4-on-3 advantage." Wright City opened the game strong but witnessed its offense go stagnant in the second quarter. The Wildcats led 20-19 at halftime. The lead was traded on several instances in the third quarter. Montgomery County engineered an 8-0 run late in the period, going ahead 28-24. Wright City took the lead for good with 3:58 left, countering with its own 8-0 run to close out the game. Pressure on the perimeter at half court forced Montgomery County to cough up the ball. "I felt like the team stepped up more and seen more opportunities to get steals," said Butler. "The transition baskets would come as long as we boxed out and everybody gets up the floor," said Butler. Wright City was instructed to be patient on offense, knowing its opponent would eventually have to foul. "I just told them to pick their spots," said Scacewater. "We were running our stall offense, but at the same time, if we saw a chance to attack we'd do it. We didn't want to just hold the ball." Scacewater was concerned his team might get content with a one or two possession lead in the final minutes, so he encouraged them to continue to look for scoring windows. "When they started to kind of double with the trap, some of our guys would break open and we hit a few open lay ups," said Scacewater. "I told them not to let up and keep attacking -ðnot play passive, even though we had the lead."