The Texas High Tigers fell to the Mt. Pleasant Tigers on Feb. 1, 2022, setting their district record to 4-5.

The opening moments of the quarter were fast-paced with high intensity on both sides of the court. 

While playing physical defense, Texas High was able to hold the visiting Tigers to zero points until midway through the quarter. The score through the back half of the first quarter remained tight, tied at 8-8 for a solid minute of the quarter. 

The score remained tied until senior Jayden Godwin banked in two three-point shots, giving the Texas High Tigers the lead 16-11. 

Junior Damon Augustus came out strong to start the second quarter, with a steal and a drained three-pointer. Texas housed all of the momentum in the second quarter and continued to play with the same high energy from the first quarter. 

Defensive rebounds for Texas High opened up the floor for their offensive success. The game remained fast pace, however, both teams became sloppy offensively and defensively. 

Texas High continued managing to put points on the board, getting steals on defense and forcing turnovers, while Mt. Pleasant fought to close the point gap in the closing moments of the half. At half time, Texas High held onto their lead, 25-20.

A hopeful Texas High crowd kept the energy in the gym high and the momentum on the side of Texas going into the third quarter. 

Texas continued moving through their offense at a fast pace to keep Mt. Pleasant off balance on defense. 

Junior CJ Brown played strong defense, keeping Mt. Pleasant’s athletic offense at bay. 

To contribute to the heated atmosphere of the Tiger Center, a technical foul called on head coach Jacob Skinner further amped up not only the crowd but Texas High’s players as well. 

As the third quarter winded down, Mt. Pleasant started pressing a strong defensive front, however, despite their efforts, Texas High continued drilling through the paint for easy buckets. Texas held the lead at the end of the quarter, 36-32. In the opening moments of the fourth quarter, neither team was seeing much success offensively. The first half of the quarter passed quietly. 

Mt. Pleasant took their first lead of the game with 4:30 remaining in the quarter. Mt. Pleasant came out with good ball movement as they ran the clock in the closing four minutes of the quarter. 

Mt. Pleasant junior Payton Chism put up five quick points to put MP up by six with two minutes remaining. Texas High began rushing their offensive moves, which resulted in Mt. Pleasant furthering their lead to nine points off of steals. 

In an attempt to slow their momentum, Texas High set up a full-court press hoping to force a turnover. 

With 20 seconds left, Texas began fouling, sending two Mt. Pleasant shooters to the free-throw line. Mt. Pleasant would go on to be the superior Tigers and take the victory 54-43.

Texas High plays Marshall at Marshall on Feb. 8, 2022.