After securing their first win of the season last week versus Hampshire, the Cornersville Bulldogs entertained Mt. Pleasant Friday in the second game of the year between the two longtime rivals.

The Bulldogs got off to a slow start and could never mount enough offense to catch up as the Tigers cruised to an easy 51-31 win to sweep the season series.

“It was a tough loss, we really felt good about our game plan and expected to come in and beat them the second time around,” Cornersville coach Peyton Newton said. “The first quarter momentum they got really set the tone for the game.”

“We knew they would make a couple of runs, but it happening early in the game was unfortunate because it was tough to gain it back until too late in the third.”

The Bulldogs have now lost 31 straight games to Mt. Pleasant, dating back to 2001.

The Tigers jumped out to an early 8-0 lead as the Bulldogs could not find the bottom of the net before finally scoring on a Kaden Allen bucket in the paint with 2:48 remaining in the first quarter.

The Tigers scored eight more points and another Allen basket was all the Bulldogs could manage as they trailed 16-4 at the end of the stanza.

Mason Calahan, who led the Bulldogs with 10 points, hit the first of his three 3-pointers in the game to start the second quarter.

After a Mt. Pleasant bucket by Hayden Holt, the Bulldogs scored four points in a row on back-to-back buckets in the paint by Eli Welch to make it an 18-11 contest.

From there, Cornersville went ice cold from the field and the free throw line as they did not score again in the second period while Mt. Pleasant continued to score, building its lead to 18-points at the half.

“We had a great couple of practices preparing for them and felt really good going in,” Newton said. “They did adjust their 1-3-1 defense a bit from last time and that affected our plan to attack, but you still have to find a way to score the ball. We did not play bad defense once again, but we were not good on the boards and missed too many early good shots.”

Newton kept subbing players in trying to find the right scoring combination and the Bulldogs began to find some rhythm in the third period as they fell behind by 19-points before making their best run of the night.

“We have to find out who our best defenders are, rebounding is key, and then we have to take care of the ball and score,” Newton said. “I know we have not played our best yet, and hopefully some guys step up and we get those best combinations figured out and everyone gets in there when their number is called and does their job.”

Cornersville trailed 32-13 with just over four minutes remaining in the stanza when a Khi Canty basket, followed by two Calahan 3’s from the top of the key sparked a 12-3 run to make it an 11-point game, entering the fourth quarter.

“We had a group get in there that picked up the defensive intensity, and honestly, making shots was the difference,” Newton said. “We have too many good shooters on this team and some good posts to not be scoring more points.”

Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, the Tigers wasted little time putting the game away as they began the final period with a backbreaking 9-0 run to increase the lead to 18 points.

Welch made a bucket and Michael Ashley canned four free throws down the stretch for the Bulldogs (1-5), who have three games remaining before the Christmas break.

“When a program loses as much as this one has over the years, it sometimes takes a while to change that culture and mentality,” Newton said. “I feel we have done a good job of holding these guys accountable in the classroom and on the court.”

“We are making games competitive for the most part, but once they start believing just being competitive is not good enough, that we can actually win a lot of games, and I think you'll see a better product on the floor. These guys are bought in and work their butts off. They are fun to coach. We all plan to go 3-0 in these next three and gain some momentum and confidence going into Christmas and the New Year.”

Mt. Pleasant 16 11 7 17-51

Cornersville 4 7 14 6-31

Mt. Pleasant (49): Demarkus Brown 12, Tip Marlow 10, Keevan Cooper 8, Chris Andrews 7, Kentra Frierson 6, Chandler Hughes 3, Hayden Holt 2, Bennet Hughes 2, Kyler Barker 1.

Three-Point Goals (3): Cooper 2, Brown.

Free Throws (14-for-26): Brown 5-for-6, Andrews 3-for-8, Marlow 2-for-4, Cooper 2-for-4, Chandler Hughes 1-for-2, Barker 1-for-2.

Cornersville (31): Mason Calahan 10, Eli Welch 8, Michael Ashley 7, Kaden Allen 4, Khi Canty 2.

Three-Point Goals (4): Calahan 3, Ashley.

Free Throws (5-for-10): Ashley 4-for-4, Calahan 1-for-2, Canty 0-for-2, Welch 0-for-2.

Halftime Score: Mt. Pleasant 27, Cornersville 11.