Convinced that his team had finally turned the corner, Wright City Girls Basketball Coach Fred Ross watched as the Wildcats teased him with hopes of picking up an Eastern Missouri Conference upset on Monday.However, it was only a matter of time before they settled back into their old ways, falling victim to another lopsided 60-37 defeat to the hands of North Callaway.“In the first quarter we come out and played pretty well, and I thought we were starting to turn the tide,” said Ross. “But we get a little tired, and it’s back to the same old mistakes.”With the Thunderbirds hot from the field, the Wildcats faced an early deficit despite their patience on offense. Wright City passed the ball with unusual efficiency and even collected a handful of offensive rebounds.“We ran our offense, looked for good passes and were cutting hard when we were fresh,” said Ross. “As we get later in the game we have a hard time keeping our intensity up.”Defensively, the Wildcats ended the first quarter with an impressive defensive stand, trailing 13-8.“There were positives that we haven’t seen in a lot of earlier games,” added Ross.Behind 19-10 at the break, Wright City allowed its visitors to tear off on a 23-2 run during the third period.“We really worked hard in the first half, but we came out in the third quarter and started going back to the old habits,” said Ross. “I ask the girls, ‘hey, when what we’re doing it working, why do you want to change that?’ ”The Wildcats scored just one bucket during that frame, with Savannah Bridges dropping in a jumper with a minute remaining.Ross says his team’s passes began careless as the game unfolded, with the Wildcats launching skip passes that ended up intercepted.“Our kids are not looking ahead and at the speed the ball is being passed around,” said Ross.Offensively, Wright City put itself in predicaments Ross says the Wildcats weren’t prepared for, matching up against the wrong defenders.“A couple of times we’re trying to attack the wrong people,” said Ross. “We’re trying to go one-on-one with their all-conference guard, and we don’t have anybody capable of doing that right now.”Senior Orlanda Hill scored a team-high seven pointsWith Barat remaining the only win on the schedule, Ross is hopeful the Wildcats can add another when they travel to Maplewood for a makeup game on Wednesday.“We talk about winning quarters or the next two minutes and try to break it down into smaller segments just to see what we can accomplish,” said Ross.WRIGHT CITY GIRLS FOLDDerrick Forsythe photo.