In the second game of the doubleheader Friday night at Mt. Pleasant, the Cornersville Bulldogs were looking for redemption after being handily defeated by the Tigers in their last meeting at Cornersville.

It wasn’t to be as the Tigers (6-1) got double figures scoring from four players and a string of Cornersville turnovers in the third quarter easily handed the winless Bulldogs (0-6) a 69-38 loss.

“We talked at halftime about keeping up our intensity and aggression with our man-to-man defense, but it seemed as if we lacked the very things we talked about,” Cornersville coach Peyton Newton said. “The turnovers just killed us.”

“They (Mt. Pleasant) did nothing they hadn’t done in the first half. We have our work cut out for us.”

Statistically the game was a mirror image of the first game with Cornersville staying close in the first half only to see the Bulldogs wilt as Mt. Pleasant upped the defensive pressure in the second half.

Mt. Pleasant controlled the tip and Keshawn Hudson sank a 3-pointer from the top of the key to put the Tigers up 3-0.

After a Bulldogs’ miss, Hudson scored again on a jumper from the right side and another Cornersville miss led to a Kayne Forest jumper to put the Tigers up 7-0.

Cornersville came back with baskets by Bryce Woodard and an inside bank off the backboard by Eli Welch, making the score 7-4.

Mt. Pleasant’s Daniel James came off the bench and promptly scored before Welch banged in a low post bucket to make the score 9-6.

Daniel James canned two straight 3-pointers for the Tigers and Welch added a basket for Cornersville as Mt. Pleasant led 15-8 at the end of the first quarter.

Cornersville got a 3-point basket by Michael Ashley and Welch hit on a jumper to open the second quarter, cutting the Tigers’ lead to two points at 15-13.

Forest converted two free throws after being fouled to make the score 17-13 and Welch came back with a short jumper.

James nailed a 3-pointer and Ashley canned a jumper and a free throw to make it 20-18 with 2:40 left in the first half.

James added three free throws as time wound down and Kentra Frierson came up with a jumper to give the Tigers a 25-18 lead at the half.

Cornersville was down by only seven points and was still very much in the game as the second half began.

The Tigers moved their defense out to the mid-court line and started to trap, forcing errant passes by the Bulldogs.

The Tigers used their athletic skills to pick off passes and run the floor with Hudson, Frierson, and Jacob Smith repeatedly snagging passes as they stepped in front of Bulldogs players to grab the ball and race off to the hoop.

At the five-minute mark of the third quarter, Mt. Pleasant had built its lead to 35-18 and were still pressing the Bulldogs.

By the time Ashley and Santini made 3-pointers, the Tigers were in control and the game was no longer in doubt as the Tigers scored 29 points in the third quarter to turn a close game into a rout.

The score at the end of the third quarter was Mt. Pleasant 54, Cornersville 28.

The fourth quarter was better for the Bulldogs with Ashley and Santini again nailing 3-pointers and Welch scoring inside.

The benches emptied midway in the quarter and time ticked away on the Bulldogs even though their fans numbered more than the home team.

Cornersville 8 10 10 10-38

Mt Pleasant 10 15 29 15-69

Cornersville (38): Eli Welch 14, Michael Ashley 12, Andrew Santini 6, Bryce Woodard 2, Tanner Reese 2, Mason Callahan 1, Wallace Francis 1.

Three-point goals (3): Ashley 3, Santini 2.

Free Throws (3-for-7): Ashley 1-for-1, Francis 1-for-1, M. Callahan 1-for-2, Woodard 0-for-1, B. Calahan 0-for-1, Mitchell 0-for-1.

Mt. Pleasant (69) Kentra Frierson 14, Daniel James 14, Keyshaun Hudson 13, Jacob Smith 12, Kayne Forest 8, DeMarcus Brown 6, Collyn Fosher 2.

Three-point goals (8): James 3, Frierson 2, Hudson 2, Smith.

Free Throws (12-for-16): Brown 4-for-4, Forest 3-for-3, Frierson 2-for-2, Hudson 1-for-2, Smith 1-for-2, James 1-for-1, Fosher 0-for-1, Alderson 0-for-1.

Halftime Score: Mt. Pleasant 25, Cornersville 18.