The progress was evident on Tuesday. The Wright City boys basketball team began the season 3-0, but Coach Ken Brown realized the level of competition had been limited. He recognized the first true …
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Wright City Boys Show Signs of Progress
Posted
By Derrick Forsythe, Record Sports Editor
The progress was evident on Tuesday.The Wright City boys basketball team began the season 3-0, but Coach Ken Brown realized the level of competition had been limited.He recognized the first true test awaited and would reveal how much his team has improved since a troubling finish last season."I felt like our schedule allowed us to build up to this game,” said Brown.And while it didn’t result in a win, Tuesday’s tilt with Hermann proved to be very telling. The Wildcats lost by a deceiving 64-52 score against the same team which had beaten them handily over the past several seasons.Wright City led late into the third quarter, before losing the battle at the free-throw line. The Wildcats knocked down eight of 13 tries, while Hermann hit 19 of a whopping 29 charity shots.“This was the first game we’ve played this year where we really had to work down the stretch to get points,” said Brown. “We need to work on getting more structure in our offense when games are tight.”When Wright City dictated the tempo, it took smart shots and controlled the scoreboard. And early on, the Wildcats were in full control, hitting their first five shots to go ahead 13-4.“It’s always good to get out to a hot start,” said Brown. “I thought we kind of caught Hermann off guard, because they didn’t think we were going to play.”When Hermann was finally able to slow the game down, the Bearcats began clawing away at the deficit.“When we got the ball down low, we were effective,” said Brown. “I thought we got away from that, because when we got down, everyone tried to go one-on-one instead of playing more within themselves. That’s something we need to work on.”Beyond its free-throw count, Hermann also had one other glaring advantage statistically, out-rebounding Wright City 30 to 14 in the first half.“The game turned when we started to struggle securing the defensive rebound,” said Brown. “In the second quarter they owned us on the offensive glass.”Still, solid outside shooting and confidence under pressure kept the Wildcats close at 31-28 at halftime.“The more uptempo the game was, the better it was for us,” said Brown. “We want to grab the rebound, push the ball and go score.”Hermann pulled ahead by seven in the third quarter, but Wright City rallied to take the lead again at 41-40. The Bearcats’ Collin Hart wreaked havoc on the Wildcats’ defense, putting the finishing touches on his 32 point-performance in the second half.“I give Hermann a lot of credit, because it’s hard to stop their dribble-drive into the lane,” said Brown.Brown says his team began to get sloppy under the basket, committing fouls that Hermann converted on.“We got into lulls where we weren’t scoring, and then we weren’t playing well defensively,” said Brown.Christian Thompson scored a team-high 22 points for the Wildcats, while Cody Klemp netted 13 points.Brown acknowledges the game was a good confidence builder for his team and should help them catapult into an increasingly challenging schedule.“We’ve got some tough games coming up, so we need to take advantage of next three days of practice, because they’ll be critical,” said Brown. “This group has done a wonderful job of working throughout the summer to get better.”
Wright City junior Christian Thompson led the Wildcats with 22 points a 64-52 loss to Hermann on Tuesday.
