The Wright City boys basketball team took a break from conference play and was able to hold off a third-quarter Owensville surge en route to a 53-44 victory Friday.

After going in the second half up 27-21, Wright City began to struggle in taking care of the ball, committing seven third-quarter turnovers — six of which came in just the first three minutes of the half. That small window helped Owensville crawl back into the game and take a 30-29 lead off an inbound play with 4:30 left in the third quarter. Besides an early 2-0 lead to start the game, the lead was the only one they had in the game. 

And Devon Holmes quickly erased it. 

The senior knocked down a 3-pointer on the next trip down the floor to steal back the lead for Wright City. From that point in the third quarter to the middle of the fourth, the Wildcats outscored the Dutchmen 23-6 to seal the game. In that run, Holmes scored nine of his game-high 19 points. 

Wright City Head Coach David Evans said he was proud that the Wildcats were able to hold off Owensville down the stretch.

“Basketball is a game of runs. They came out and their goal was to get some stops and they were able to put about four or five transitions together where we either turned the ball over or didn’t score. When we do that, it can change the outcome pretty quick,” Evans said. “We brought that to light with the boys. We reflect that in a drill we do and the boys realized it, and they were able to transition out of it.”

After Owensville took its brief lead in the third quarter, the Wright City defense put the clamps down, forcing eight second-half turnovers and holding the Dutchmen to just 7-of-25 shooting after the Wildcats took the lead back. The defense did well in holding off Owensville’s presence inside and forcing the offense to take low-percentage shots.

Evans said Wright City has been working on rotations with different players — including younger players that also see playing time in junior varsity — to help in certain situations. Those players saw significant playing time in the second half. Freshman Brandon Contreras and sophomore Dillon Seabaugh each had buckets in the fourth quarter to help put the game away.

“We’ve developed a couple of different lineups depending on different threats,” Evans said. “We were able to run some of those tonight with some different kids in with some different roles. We’ve got some high hopes coming in for the rest of the season and some kids are going to have some playing time coming in the rest of the season that they hadn’t before.”

Wright City was able to grab a 14-10 lead after the first quarter after holding Owensville scoreless for three minutes in the middle of the quarter. 

For Wright City, senior David Liddell score 10 points, six of which came in the fourth quarter. Senior Sean McDonald came on strong in the second half as well, scoring nine points and grabbing eight rebounds.

For Owensville, senior Wyatt Ellis scored 11 points. Sophomore Carson Gray chipped in nine points.

The Wildcats improved to 7-6 on the year. They look to gain the team’s second conference win on the year when district foe Montgomery County pays a visit to Wright City on Thursday.