With several returning contributors and seven seniors on the roster this season, Wright City is looking to take positive steps on the hardwood this season. 

Wright City boys basketball coach Ken Brown said early season practices were “going great.” He touted the Wildcats’ energy level early in practices as they look to build on last season’s four-win campaign. 

“They like being out here. They’re working really hard, which is always a plus,” Brown said. “I see strides. I see us getting better on a day-to-day basis. So that’s really encouraging.” 

The Wildcats bring an experienced team to the hardwood this season, with seven seniors and four juniors on the roster. Junior point guard Duan McRoberts said the roster stability can help the Wildcats on the court this season. 

“It definitely helps because you’ve been playing with each other for a while so they’re just used to playing with each other,” McRoberts said. “You know each other’s play style, you know what they need help with, what they don’t, what you expect them to do.”

Brown stressed they did not need to do many introductions early on in practice. He added many of the players already knew the offense and what his expectations were on defense. They just implemented a couple of wrinkles to solidify who they are, Brown said. With a veteran team this season, Brown thinks “it’s going to be a good year for us.” 

Brown hopes to see the Wildcats improve their turnover numbers and rebounding. 

“If you look at any box score from a basketball game, turnovers and rebounding are the reason why a team wins or loses,” Brown said. “So if we can limit teams to one shot per possession and try to get extra possessions for my offensive rebounders and just try to turn them over and not get as many turnovers as we have in the past.”

McRoberts said one of the Wildcats’ focuses this season is to get better from previous years. He also stressed the need to reduce turnovers and play smarter. 

Brown said with their experience, the Wildcats should know what to expect with teams they play throughout the season. Brown thinks it will “very forthcoming to see them perform in the game.” 

He is looking for progress day to day but also how they handle situations during competition. 

I think for us, I think, can we handle it when things go wrong,” Brown asked. “What can we do? Can we stop the bleeding and, and get back to where we were? I think we struggled with that last year. When things went south, we kind of never got out of it. I think this bunch we can, I think we can get out of it. I think we got some seniors and we’ve got some leadership to push us through.”

Wright City will open their season with a home game against North County Christian at 7 p.m. Nov. 20.