Matters were complicated for the Wright City girls basketball team during the first round of the Class 3 District 6 Tournament on Monday.Already facing the daunting task of being a No. 7 seed battling a second seed, the Wildcats were also without leading scorer Orlanda Hill, who sat out after a missed practice.Coach Fred Ross says her presence would have made the 53-24 defeat against North Callaway more manageable but would not have been enough to help extend Wright City’s season.“We’ve been having good success running our motion offense, but not having Orlanda today put a kink in things,” said Ross. “When you take away your leading scorer and rebounder, it makes a difference.”The Wildcats were able to hang around early, keeping the game notched at 4-4 until midway through the first quarter. Once North Callaway got out in transition it closed the period on an 8-0 run.The Thunderbirds led 12-4 after one quarter and 25-7 by halftime.“The first quarter we came out playing pretty well,” said Ross. “We missed a couple of easy shots, which has kind of been our Achilles’ heel all year. Once those don’t fall, you start to see the air go out of us, and we get down.”With Hill out, much of the responsibility fell on lone senior Brittany McPike, who netted six points. She guided Wright City to increased success during the second half before fouling out in the fourth quarter.“In the first quarter we played pretty good defense, but as the game went on we got tired and went back to our old ways,” said Ross. “We just don’t have the depth to match their bench.”Kayla Jefferson and Savannah Bridges each scored eight points, while Abbie Ogborn added a bucket.Ross says the Wildcats took plenty of time to reflect on McPike’s career and the overall season following the game.“We focused on the positives,” said Ross. “The girls will each evaluate what they need to work on individually so we’ll focus on those this summer.”He says McPike’s presence will be missed, both in terms of numbers and leadership.“She’s been a leader for the last two years in both sports,” said Ross. “She’s not the most gifted athlete, but she really works hard to achieve what she has.”With the majority of the team returning, he is confident they will improve on a 2-21 finish.“I would have been happy with six or seven wins,” said Ross. “If we had everybody healthy in some of those close ones, we probably could have won ... We’ve got a good group of athletes coming up from the eighth grade.”

Wright City guard Kayla Jefferson shoots over a pair of North Callaway defenders on Monday.

Derrick Forsythe photo.