Mount Pleasant has not lost to Pine Tree since 2010 and nothing changed on Tuesday night as the Tigers took their 16th straight victory over the Pirates cruising to another double-digit victory. The Tigers, now ranked 8 by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches, improved their overall record to 23-0 on the season and 4-0 in district.

The Tigers opened the scoring on a pull up jumper by Kelcey Morris which would be an omen of things to come for the host Pirates. Pine Tree would get on the board with a free throw a possession later to make the score 2-1 but that would be as close as the Pirates would get. Mount Pleasant used a 10-2 run late in the quarter to pull away for a 21-9 lead after the first quarter. The Tiger defense kept the game in high gear in the second frame, outscoring the Pirates 19-5 to take control of the game with a 40-14 lead at the break.

The game would be fairly even the rest of the way as the Tigers would increase their lead to as many 33 points midway through the third quarter. Pine Tree tried to muster the troops in the waning minutes but it was too little too late.

Kelcey Morris continued his scoring spree matching his career-high of 23 points that he set in the previous game versus Texas High. Morris connected on 3 of 6 shots from behind the arc, his highest output from long range all season, and added 3 assists and a game high 5 steals for good measure. Payton Chism logged 15 points with three long range shots of his own to go with 7 assists and 5 steals. Carter Chism filled up the stat sheet with 12 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 steals and Xavier Hills nearly notched a double-double with 9 points and 12 rebounds. Kai Price added 7 points along with 7 rebounds while Reggie Webster and Luke Hampton each chipped in 2 points.

The Tigers continue to surge up the aforementioned rankings moving up to 15 overall in Texas and 4 in Class 5A according to MaxPreps. GASO has Mount Pleasant ranked at 8.

Mount Pleasant (23-0, 4-0) will return home this Friday as Longview (18-3, 2-2) comes to town to tangle with the Tigers. All three teams will play with freshmen beginning at 5:00 PM, followed by the JV at 6:15 PM, and the Varsity at 7:30 PM. All ticket sales are online at www.mpisd.net/athletic-tickets.