Texas High had the opportunity to hand Mount Pleasant its first District 16-5A loss.
The cold-shooting Tigers twice missed the front end of one-and-one situation, and came up scoreless over a 3:39 period in the fourth quarter. Mount Pleasant (22-6, 10-0) escaped the Tiger Center Friday night to retain first place with a 64-52 victory.
That final score was deceiving, because the visiting Tigers led 54-50 with 2:17 left, but they could only managed a layup at the final buzzer after that inside shot by Lavon Brown.
"We missed some easy shots that we shouldn't have missed in the fourth quarter, and we also missed some crucial free throws," THS coach Keith Jones said. "They got some buckets when we didn't get back on the fast break. That was pretty much the difference in the game.
"Mount Pleasant had us outsized, but we played them better on the boards. I was pleased with our rebounding. We've probably got to win our final three district games to get in the playoffs. If we do that, we might even tie for third place."
Texas High (14-9, 4-5) plays Pine Tree, Hallsville and Greenville in its final three district games.
Senior Quan Hampton provided a spark that rallied the hometown Tigers from a 13-point deficit to within four points. Hampton scored eight of his 11 points in the final 6:25. Tevailance Hunt also scored 11 points and pulled down eight rebounds.
Six-foot-5 James Moore only scored seven points for MP, but grabbed 12 rebounds as the black-clad Tigers won the battle on the glass, 42-36.
Dorian Glinton was the game's leading scorer with 20 points, while contributing 11 rebounds.
Buddy and Josh McGill scored a combined 23 points after pouring in 44 together in Texas High's loss at Mount Pleasant earlier this season.
Perhaps the most impressive numbers for THS were its 11 turnovers, compared to 14 for Mount Pleasant.
THS battled back from an early six-point deficit to capture the lead with 2:28 left in the first half on a trey by Brown.
The two teams swapped baskets, THS leading 25-24 with 50 seconds left on a 10-footer by Cole Drumm.
However, the visiting Tigers would score twice, K.J. Cannon scoring inside the paint with one second remaining to make it 28-25 in favor of Mount Pleasant at intermission.
Both teams had balanced attacks at the offensive end. All five of MP's starters scored in the first four minutes of the game. Six different players lit up the scoreboard for Texas High, Brown leading the way with seven, while Hunt contributed six.
Texas High rolled in the two sub-varsity games. The Tigers' junior varsity remained unbeaten in district routing MP, 85-55. Jacoby Johnson and Quechez Clark led the winners with 17 points each. Kyle Wright and Jonathan Blair scored 16 each, with Elias Thurman contributing 14. Antevious Beard led MP with a game-high 19.
THS won the freshmen game, 82-54. Cedric Kelly led the host team with 25 and Daveon Hawkins added 24, with Aaron Meeks scoring 10. Tyler Luck led MP with 17, and Jamel Hargrove added 15.
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Mount Pleasant 15 13 20 16 - 64
Texas High 12 13 14 13 - 52
MP (64): B. McGill 5 0-0 10; J. McGill 5 1-1 13; Savage 2 1-2 6; Davis 1 0-0 2; Glinton 8 3-3 20; Cannon 3 0-0 6; Moore 3 1-2 7, TOTALS 27 6-8 64.
THS (52): Coulter 1 0-1 2; Wilson 1 0-0 2; Reid 1 0-0 2; Brown 3 1-3 8; Hampton 3 3-4 11; Drumm 5 0-0 10; Crump 3 0-2 6; Hunt 5 1-3 11, TOTALS 22 5-13 52.
3-point goals: MP-J. McGill 2, Savage, Glinton. THS-Hampton 2, Brown. Team fouls: Mount Pleasant 14, Texas High 13.