Coming off a 31-23 victory over archrival Richland four days earlier, the Cornersville Middle School Bulldogs (9-5) had their five-game winning streak snapped on Monday night when they were defeated 53-45 by the Riverside Christian Academy Knights at home.

Having lost 51-32 to the Knights in their previous encounter on Nov. 7, the Bulldogs put up a tougher fight this time around and trailed just 26-24 at the end of the first half.

RCA pulls away

The game began to get away from Cornersville in the second half, as RCA pushed their lead to 43-28 early in the fourth quarter before taking home the eight-point victory.

Although the Bulldogs forced 28 Knight turnovers, RCA shot a blistering 52 percent (23-of-44) from the floor overall, which included a 3-of-13 effort from three-point range, while outrebounding CMS 26-17 overall.

Taylor Gleghorn paced three Knight players in double figures with 14 points, while Will Elridge tallied 12 points. Eli Wright added 11 points as well, and Logan Crabtree notched eight points. Jacob Anderson and Trey Dollar rounded out the scoring for RCA with six and two points respectively.

Cornersville also made 3-of-13 attempts from beyond the arc, but shot just 38 percent (13-of-34) from the floor overall and hit only 16-of-29 free throws.

'Played hard'

"I'm much prouder of the effort we gave tonight, but we still made some mental mistakes and missed too many free throws," said CMS coach Gerard Randolph. "I don't believe in moral victories, but tonight could be one. I told the guys to play big and overall I thought we played hard."

Forwards Kolbe McMahon and Darien Bush shouldered much of the offensive load for the Bulldogs. McMahon poured in a game high 23 points to go along with seven rebounds and five steals, while Bush finished with 13 points, six steals, and four rebounds. Cameron Whitaker tallied five points for Cornersville as well, and Eli Woodard and Brock Powers chipped in two points apiece.

"Kolbe and Darien both played their hearts out and I was very pleased with their effort," said Randolph.

The Knights jumped out to an early 6-0 lead before CMS cut the deficit to 6-5 thanks to three points from Bush and a McMahon layup.

RCA notched the next five points to open up an 11-5 advantage late in the first quarter, but the Bulldogs put together a 10-0 run behind seven points from McMahon and a Bush trey to pull ahead 15-11 early in the second period.

Close action

After the Knights outscored Cornersville 10-4 over the next two minutes to seize a 21-19 lead, Bush drained another three to put CMS up 22-21 late in the second quarter.

RCA rattled off five straight points to grab a 26-22 lead, before Whitaker scored on a layup in the waning moments of the half to narrow the gap to 26-24 at the break.

The Knights then began to take control of the game at the start of the second half and went on a 17-4 run to forge a 43-28 lead advantage early in the fourth quarter.

McMahon notched four straight points on layup and two free throws to trim the deficit to 43-32, but RCA outscored the Bulldogs 10-6 over the next 3:30 to stretch their lead to 53-38.

Cornersville then tallied the final seven points of the game on Bush trey, two foul shots from McMahon, and a Woodard layup for the 53-45 final.