After the Wright City girls’ basketball team concluded its season with a 47-35 loss to Hallsville on March 4 in a Class 4, District 8 quarterfinal game at Mexico, Head Coach Dustin Elledge reflected on the growth the team experienced throughout the year.

“We definitely saw some growth and some shifts in mindsets,” Elledge said. “They realized that we do have to get other people involved in the game and have to make different sacrifices, whether that’s passing up on points or other things.”

Elledge said the Wildcats showed improvement from the beginning to the end of the season as they focused more on team basketball.

“I think we can pick up on that going into the summer and the next season with these underclassmen,” he said.

Wright City ended its season with a 7-19 record. The Wildcats had five seniors on their squad– Paige Rees, Alyvia Mikus, Bailey Love, Zoe Mitchell and Danika
Graham.

“They’ve been playing together in the program since seventh grade. They have definitely had a big impact and they’ve shown great leadership these last two
years,” Elledge said.

Elledge returned as the head coach this season after a one-year hiatus. He said watching the seniors improve from their sophomore seasons to now has been special.

“To see them grow into the players and leaders they’ve become was good to see. It’s going to be a hard spot to fill as we go forward,” he said.

Elledge specified his team’s first matchup against Hallsville as a highlight of the season. The Wildcats defeated the Indians 52-43 in January.

“It was a game we picked up due to the snow days we missed and we had lost some games that should have been a lot closer, so that win was definitely a turning point,” Elledge said. “It showed us that we are able to compete with teams and it helped build some confidence for us.”

In its second matchup against Hallsville, the Wildcats trailed 31-30 at the end of the third quarter.

“About halfway through the (final) quarter, they took about a five-point lead and they made three free throws and we went down by eight,” Elledge said.
“That kind of took some of the wind out of our sails.” 

As the Wildcats’ season has come to an end, Elledge has high hopes for the future as he wants to help build the program through youth feeder teams.

“Most schools have youth programs coming up. I think part of our success in the future is going to be dependent on getting some of these youth programs established, so these younger girls have more experience going into varsity basketball,” Elledge said.