Disappointed with his limited contributions on offense during the first semester, Wright City senior Luke Bruning set out to be a difference-maker.His opportunity came with 53 seconds remaining in Saturday’s third-place contest at the Clopton Tournament, as the Wright City senior splashed home a three-pointer from the wing.It would be the knockout punch the Wildcats needed to secure a 58-54 win over Monroe City to finish two spots above their original seed of fifth.Coach Rick Halteman says his team had to overcome the disappointment of narrowly missing the title game after losing a down-to-the-wire semifinal against No. 1 seed Louisiana.Wright City found itself in an early 16-9 hole.“I think we were frustrated about not making the championship, and we came out flat,” said Halteman. “We found our legs after that first quarter and got back on track.”One area that has fueled the Wildcats since returning from semester break is outside shooting — an element that was nearly nonexistent the first five weeks. But just as it had in the previous two tournament games, Wright City knocked down eight three-pointers on Saturday night.“We have to get points from out there to make defenses extend,” said Halteman.Another reason for the improvement has been the accelerated play of senior guard Bret Noble, who has topped the 20-point mark in four of his past five games.With Monroe City having an advantage inside, the Wildcats turned to the perimeter to claw their way back into the game.“They played a lot of zone so we moved the all inside out and hit some outside shots to present some opportunities,” said Halteman.Wright City worked to take control of the tempo as the game unwinded.“They had a high-low game early on, and we made a few switches and that seemed to slow them down,” said Halteman.As the final minute ticked away, Bruning spotted up for a rare three-point attempt that found the bottom of the net.“Luke has hit some huge shots at some big moments and made some key contributions,” said Halteman. “I think his confidence is definitely improving.”It would take more than Bruning’s trey to solidify the win for Wright City, though, as Monroe City reclaimed the lead once more before Christian Thompson had an offensive putback to put the Wildcats ahead for good.Wright City improved to 3-5, winning more games in the first week of the second semester than it did the entire first semester stretch.“They’re getting used to what I wanted out of them,” said Halteman. “We definitely had some growing pains early on. We’re really executing the gameplan and getting more confident as the season goes along.”BRUNING STEPS UP ON OFFENSEDerrick Forsythe photo.