The Mount Pleasant Tigers were forced to move their Friday matchup to Saturday due to adverse weather conditions, but the Tigers showed no ill effects from the delay as they handled Marshall with ease. With the win, Mount Pleasant improved their district mark to 7-2 and are poised to take their third consecutive district championship with three games remaining.

The Tigers opened the game with momentum as a technical foul assessed to Marshall during warmups put the Tigers on the line. Kelcey Morris connected on 1 of 2 shots to give the Tigers the lead before the clock even started. Marshall would come out with fight scoring the next 4 points to start the game but that would be about all they could muster as the Tigers played the rest of the quarter on a 21-4 run. The Mavericks closed the gap to as little as nine points early in the second quarter, but the Tigers matched them bucket for bucket and the score stood at 34-22 at the break. It was all Tigers in the second half as they increased the lead to 51-30 in the third quarter before holding Marshall scoreless in the fourth quarter to blow the game wide open. The 30-0 run to close the game set the final score at 74-30.

All Tigers got in the books with Payton Chism pouring in a game-high 21 points to go along with three three-pointers, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. Will Hills and Kyler Smith both added 11 points with Hills tallying 4 rebounds and 4 assists and Smith pulling down 8 rebounds. Elijah Morris joined them in double figures with 10 points connecting on two shots from deep and reeling in 6 rebounds. Other scorers were Kelcey Morris with 5 points and team-high 6 assists, Edward Wilder and Johnny Smith with 4 points each, Kai Price and Reggie Webster with 3 points apiece, and Ervin Mickens with 2 points.

The Mount Pleasant win coupled with Sulphur Springs’ defeat of Hallsville knots all three teams in first place with each team having two losses. The final three games on the Tigers’ schedule pits them against Pine Tree and Sulphur Springs on the road and the season finale at home versus Hallsville. If the Tigers win all three, they will be crowned district champions at home on February 15.

Mount Pleasant (19-8, 7-2) will travel to Pine Tree (8-18, 1-8) on Tuesday to take on the Pirates with tipoff set for 7:30 PM. Pine Tree is coming off a 69-46 defeat at the hands of Longview.

Photos by John Whitten, Malori Chism, and Naomi Rivera
Write up by Drew Barkley