Lady Wildcats use strong first quarter to beat Eagles

John Rohlf, Sports Editor
Posted 12/28/22

Wright City used an early balanced offensive attack to take a lead they would not relinquish in their win over O’Fallon Christian last week. 

Wright City (7-4) beat O’Fallon …

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Lady Wildcats use strong first quarter to beat Eagles

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Wright City used an early balanced offensive attack to take a lead they would not relinquish in their win over O’Fallon Christian last week. 

Wright City (7-4) beat O’Fallon Christian (2-7) 34-24. After falling behind 3-0 in the first quarter, Wright City used a 15-0 run to lead 15-6 after one quarter. Multiple Wildcats scored in the opening quarter. 

“We were doing well moving the ball around,” Wright City girls basketball coach Dustin Elledge said. “That’s something we’ve been preaching for awhile. Good ball movement. Make shots more open. And I think we did a good job finding our open shots and taking care of the ball.” 

The Lady Wildcats started the second quarter on a 6-0 run to claim a 21-6 lead. Wright City led 23-13 at halftime. 

The Lady Eagles outscored Wright City 5-3 over five minutes into the third quarter to cut the Lady Wildcat lead to 26-18. Wright City scored six consecutive points to take a 32-18 lead.

Jasmin Simpson connected on one free throw. After she missed her second free throw, Danika Graham knocked down a three-pointer to give Wright City a 30-18 lead. Simpson added a basket to give the Lady Wildcats a 14-point lead. Wright City led 32-20 after three quarters. 

“That was pretty big to kind of try to get some more momentum,” Elledge said.”It didn’t really help us much on offense after that but we did execute on defense well enough to kind of hold our position there.”

Wright City and O’Fallon Christian combined for six points in the final quarter. The Lady Eagles outscored Wright City 4-2 in the final quarter. 

“The second half, we didn’t have shots falling,” Elledge said. “I think we still put up the same number of attempts roughly in that first half. The rims weren’t friendly.”

Simpson registered a double-double in the win. She scored 18 points and hauled in 14 rebounds. She also led Wright City with eight steals. Graham finished with seven points for Wright City. Kaedyn Johnson, Katie Schanuel and Alyvia Mikus scored a combined nine points for Wright City. Mikus led Wright City with four assists. 

“Here recently, we’re getting a lot more involvement from other players,” Elledge said. “It’s starting to open up Jasmin more. Open up some other players to get shots off. It really helps our offense kind of fold into something better.”

Wright City is scheduled to compete in the Clopton Hawk Invitational starting Jan. 2.


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