By Derrick Forsythe, Record Sports Editor
Coach Ken Brown had certainly anticipated winning more than one game this season. But it was all the Wright City boys basketball team could manage during a frustrating, injury-riddled three months. “The season didn’t turn out as well as I’d imagine,” said Brown. “I couldn’t predict that I’d lose three guards.” The Wildcats finished 1-23, ending the year with a lineup that looked nothing like its preseason roster. Brown lost his starting point guard to a series of injuries and was also without two other guards. “In retrospect, I think our team did perform well at times and played as hard as they could,” said Brown. Wright City’s leading scorer was slated to be a sixth man heading into the season. Cody Klemp, who averaged 8.2 points, promptly moved into the starting point guard position. “I did think he or I predicted that he would be our leading scorer,” said Brown. “He did a tremendous job. He got frustrated at times, having to make all the decisions on the floor for us.” Brown called up several junior varsity players, including sophomore Ty Davis, who adapted quickly to the varsity level. He and Klemp were instrumental in the Wildcats’ only triumph, a 61-44 win at Wellsville. “Ty did a tremendous job,” said Brown. “He went from a starter on JV to a starter on varsity overnight. It took him maybe a week to get adjusted to the varsity level.” Davis averaged 6.2 points and provided a long-armed defensive threat for the Wildcats. With those injuries, Wright City was forced to adjust. Brown turned to his veterans inside. “We had to change our offense from a guard-scoring team to trying to get the ball down low,” said Brown. He also found that his team’s inexperience made it difficult to match up with teams on a one-on-one basis. “We started out playing a lot of man, but I found out quickly that if we wanted to be successful, we were going to have to play more zone,” said Brown. The Wildcats’ guards matured throughout the season, reducing a turnover margin that was excruciatingly lopsided early in the season. “In the beginning of the year we were averaging about 25 turnovers a game,” said Brown. “Toward the end of the year we had that cut down to 15, which is great.” Wright City also had to ask more out of junior Austin Marsh than originally expected. Brown says he passed the test exceptionally well. “Austin improved a lot throughout the year,” said Brown. “He did a tremendous job of filling a void.” Brown also called Brett Noble up to assist with the guard positions, and he proved to be an accurate outside weapon. The inside game relied strongly on senior Austin Meine, who averaged 6.5 points and three rebounds per game. He missed several games during late January, though, prompting sophomore Jensen Elrod to play increased minutes. “Jensen did a good job of filling in for us,” said Brown. The Wildcats also had height in Justin Wade and strength in Christian Thompson down low. “The big thing about Christian is consistency,” said Brown. “He has a wide body, and he’s quicker than he appears.” Wade averaged four points per contest. “Justin is starting to get a lot better,” said Brown. “He started to get stronger as the year went on.”
