Albia no problem for Mt. Pleasant

MT. PLEASANT — Since entering 2023, Mt. Pleasant basketball has been rolling.

After back-to-back wins over New London and Fort Madison last week, the Panthers added another victory toward their season total on Monday night, thrashing Albia 56-32.

Mt. Pleasant put together a dominant first half and never let off the gas.

The Panthers played some tenacious defense throughout the game as well. Through the first six minutes of the game, Mt. Pleasant held Albia scoreless.

Over that span, Mt. Pleasant built up a 16-0 lead, capped off with a Nate Stroud two.

“We talked about bringing the energy and intensity right from the start,” Mt. Pleasant head coach Eric Rawson said. “We had a little bit of a chip on our shoulder after Friday, as we were unable to finish that one like we wanted to. We learned from that. The kids took it to heart and it was a great effort tonight.”

Albia’s first bucket came at the 1:50 mark and they would score just four points in the first period.

After one, the Panthers held a 19-4 advantage. In the second, it was more of the same.

Payton Hagans kicked off the scoring in the second period with a three ball to make it 22-4.

Out of the Panthers 12 second quarter points, Hagans ended with 10 of them, while the other two came from Carter Amos.

Once again the Panther defense was relentless, giving up just six points over the eight minute quarter.

“Our defense leads to our offense,” Rawson said. “We got a group of guys that are really passionate about the defensive end.”

At the break, the Panthers held a 31-10 lead.

In the third, Mt. Pleasant continued the narrative.

Mt. Pleasant started the period with a 9-0 run, holding the Blue Demons scoreless once again until the 2:28 mark.

Albia scored back-to-back buckets from two and three, which ended up being its sole baskets of the quarter.

After a 6-0 run to the end of the quarter by the Panthers, they led 46-15 heading into the final quarter of action.

In the fourth, Albia would outscore the Panthers 17-10, but it wouldn’t make a difference as the Panthers lead proved to be enough.

After the win, the Panther improve to 8-3 on the season. They currently hold the top spot in the Southeast Conference at 4-1.