Royse City has always been a tough place to play for the Tigers dating back to when the Bulldogs were a part of the same district. With Royse City moving up to 6A and gaining an influx of new players each season, the same was even more true on Tuesday night.

Both teams struggled to put the ball in the hoop early as neither team scored for the first two minutes until Royse City knocked down a three to go up 3-0. The Tigers would finally get on the board a minute later as Kelcey Morris missed short on a runner but gathered his rebound for the putback. The tone for the rest of the game would be set on the very next possession as sophomore sensation Reggie Webster ripped a baseline drive and threw down a one-handed slam to give the Tigers the lead. Royse City would answer to go up 5-4 but Mount Pleasant rallied to take the first quarter 9-5.

The Tigers finally strung together some positive possessions in the second quarter to increase their lead to 25-15 at intermission. Webster stayed hot pouring in 10 of his game high 19 points, tying a career high, and knocking down a couple of shots from deep in the quarter. Mount Pleasant would push the lead to as many 14 points but the Bulldogs continued to keep things close until the buzzer sounded with the Tigers taking the victory 49-41.

Reggie Webster shot 8 of 13 from the field to lead the Tigers with 19 points. Kelcey Morris followed up with 9 points and a team high 4 assists. Payton Chism stuffed the stat sheet with 7 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists. Other scorers were Xavier Hills and Kyler Smith with 4 points each, Kai Price 3 points, De’Keivous Heath 2 points, and Carter Chism 1 point.

On Wednesday, TABC Class 5A rankings were released with the Tigers ranked at #25, their first appearance in the rankings this season. Mount Pleasant will travel to Texarkana on Saturday to participate in the Red River Hoopfest held at Texas High School. A tough matchup with 6A Putnam City West out of Oklahoma City will challenge the Tigers as they look to keep their perfect record intact. Game time is set for 9:30 AM and tickets can be purchased online at https://www.hoopfestbasketball.com/red-river-hoopfest/red-river-tickets/

Mount Pleasant (7-0) will host a slew of games next week including their home debut on Tuesday, Dec 6 versus Bullard (6-2). The following weekend the TRMC Tiger Town Tournament will take place beginning on Thursday, Dec 8 and running through Saturday, Dec 10. Games will be held at Mount Pleasant and Chapel Hill High School gymnasiums.

By Drew Barkley
Photo by John Whitten