Panther boys drop home game.

MT. PLEASANT - The Mt. Pleasant basketball team had another fast start on Tuesday night, but the Panthers were once again unable to hold on to a double-digit first quarter lead.

One game after letting a 16-1 lead slip away against Keokuk, the Panthers led 11-1 in their game against Ottumwa. The Bulldogs stormed back in the first quarter and eventually walked out with a 57-45 victory.

Mt. Pleasant bursted out to an 8-0 lead and held a double-digit lead for a short time in the first quarter when they led 11-1. Ottumwa, however, closed the quarter on a 14-2 run and led 15-13 after one quarter.

'Just like against Keokuk, we came out with energy and effort, focused on our gameplan and ended up jumping out to a nice lead,” Panther head coach Caleb Akey said. 'Next thing you know, they score a couple baskets and all of the sudden it was panic mode.”

Mt. Pleasant trailed 31-24 at halftime and 46-35 after three quarters. The Panthers cut the lead down to single digits in the fourth quarter but couldn't mount a comeback, partially due to a huge game from Ottumwa star Trae Swartz, who scored 36 for the Bulldogs.

'I told the kids over and over, ‘this kid is good, but he is a high school basketball player, and he's human,'” Coach Akey said. 'There were spurts where we contained him by doing the things that we talked about, but when we went away from it, he just took over, and that was that.”

Keegan Kohorst led the Panthers with 19 points in the loss. Brevin Wilson scored 13. Clayton Lowery had seven and Jaxon Allen scored six.

The Mt. Pleasant boys are now 2-4 overall. They will attempt to improve on their 1-1 Southeast Conference record on Friday, Dec. 20, at Washington.