The Wright City girls basketball team has returned nine key players, while adding some talented additions. Overall, the Wildcats welcomed seven new freshmen and a few of them will be playing at the …
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The Wright City girls basketball team has returned nine key players, while adding some talented additions. Overall, the Wildcats welcomed seven new freshmen and a few of them will be playing at the varsity level this season.
Wright City will have a senior-heavy team with five seniors and also three juniors. Head Coach Dustin Elledge is hoping the upperclassmen’s leadership will help the younger girls.
“Our senior leadership is definitely one of our biggest strengths. They help the younger girls get in the right areas and get in the right mindset,” Elledge said.
Elledge also touted the team’s quickness, which they will use to their advantage when it comes to transitioning on the court.
Wright City ended its 2023-24 season with a 7-20 record and a first round district loss to Mexico. For years, the Wildcats have struggled to achieve or exceed 10 season wins. The last time they won 10 games in a season was 2012.
This year, the Wildcats are hoping to not only hit that number, but surpass it. Elledge believes he has the girls that can do just that.
“The first game is one of ours that we kind of highlighted to start our 10-win goal, so we’re feeling confident going into that,” Elledge said. “I think hopefully with that team, we can continue to build.”
The Wildcats will play the St. Louis Christian Knights for their season opener on Nov. 25. Tipoff will start at 6 p.m. The team beat them last season in a 42-28 win.
“We start getting tougher competition pretty quick, so hopefully we can build our confidence as a whole going into that,” Elledge said.
Elledge was tabbed to lead the Wright City girls basketball team earlier this year. He has made his return after he had previously coached the girls two years ago.
“Most of the girls know me, know my expectations, know a lot of the drills and plays that I run, so it’s been nice to kind of come in and jump right into things without having to take a lot of time to explain or break it down,” Elledge said.
With their first game coming up, the team has been focusing on three things: intentionality, discipline and communication.
Danika Graham and Shiriah McRoberts, who both return to the team, noted the squad is doing better when it comes to working together and communicating.
“We were horrible at communicating, but we’re getting way better at it,” Graham said.
“I want to work better as a team because normally we’ve been more dependent on just one person,” McRoberts added.
As a sophomore, McRoberts led the team offensively with an average of 8.6 points per game and was selected to the Eastern Missouri Conference second team. Graham averaged 7.8 points per game and had 12 blocks. Wright City also returns Pagie Rees who averaged 7.3 points per game and Zoe Mitchell who averaged 6.5 rebounds per game.
