The Wright City Wildcats took a lead into the fourth quarter but were unable to close out Friday night’s home matchup against North Point. 

Wright City (1-4) fell to North Point 44-38. Wright City carried a 27-25 lead into the fourth quarter and led 32-21 early in the quarter before falling behind later in the quarter. They pulled within three points with 39 seconds left on Jerry Stanford’s three-pointer. North Point made three free throws down the stretch to clinch the win. 

“I never question the team’s effort. We play hard,” Wright City boys basketball coach Ken Brown said. “I just think a lot of times, we don’t play smart. And that has to go with me teaching them the game and going through film sessions and telling them what’s a good shot and what’s not a good shot. And eventually, we’ll get going. But it’s going to take some time.” 

About two minutes into the fourth quarter, the Wildcats switched to a press defense after playing halfcourt man-to-man defense the majority of the game. Brown was looking to use the pressure defense to jump start the Wildcat offense. 

“We’re just struggling to score,” Brown said. “So I was just trying to see if we can get some defensive stops and turnovers and maybe get in transition and get some easy buckets. Anything to get us going.”

Wright City battled foul trouble early on and throughout the whole game. Starters Trey Brakensiek and Carleon Jones both registered multiple first half fouls. Jones was in foul trouble most of the game and fouled out in the fourth quarter. 

The foul trouble impacted Wright City throughout the game, Brown said. 

“It’s huge because we depend on certain players to get us rebounds and be there defensively and score for us,” Brown said. “When they get in early foul trouble, I have to get them out of the game quickly. It turns into guys not getting a certain amount of minutes. Not getting the minutes they need to.” 

The Wildcats and Grizzlies remained close throughout the game. The Wildcats jumped out to an early 6-1 lead before North Point went on an 8-0 run in the first quarter to take a 9-6 lead. The Grizzlies led 11-9 after one quarter. Wright City went on a 6-0 run in the second quarter to erase a 15-10 deficit. The Grizzlies led 21-20 at halftime. North Point led or was tied most of the third quarter before Tim Sheff hit a three-pointer late in the third quarter to give the Wildcats a two-point lead heading into the final quarter. 

Sheff led the Wildcats with 11 points. Stanford added seven points for Wright City. Will Bohannan and Justin Jones each scored five points in the loss. 

Wright City earned their first win of the season earlier last week with a 51-29 win over Missouri Military Academy. 

“I’ve seen some growth out of different players,” Brown said, “It’s just not consistent. I see some things out of some players sometimes. I see some things out of some players, I’m just questioning what’s going on. So we’ve just got to continue to be more consistent.”

Wright City is scheduled to play at New Haven Dec. 9 and at Montgomery County Dec. 13.