The Mt. Vernon Tigers presented the Quitman Bulldogs with some classic basketball challenges. They fielded a tall, physical center, two large wingers, and two exceptionally-quick guards. That line-up (with innate basketball skill) combined with a palatable home-court advantage to put Quitman away early. 

Mt. Vernon carried the game, 64-42, giving up over half of those 42 Quitman points in the final stanza. 

An inside basket by Klayton Meadows put the Bulldogs on the board late in the first quarter. Mt. Vernon stole the inbound pass opening the second quarter and scored, prompting a time-out from the Quitman bench. 

After a brief recalibration, the Bulldogs began to find some shots. Carter Smith ranged in for 6 points and Payton Sapp recorded a 3-pointer to draw the score to 35-11 at the half. 

Despite the Bulldogs beginning to find the basket, the second quarter belonged to Mt. Vernon’s big post, Shane Stanley, and point guard Kam Doss. 

In the second half, Quitman endeavored to push the ball hard up court, and that tactic was somewhat successful. The rub, however, was that Mt. Vernon was more than comfortable playing with tempo. Mt. Vernon outscored Quitman by 10 points in a high-tempo third quarter. 

Led by the shooting of Smith, the Bulldogs outscored the Tigers by a dozen points in the final quarter. It had taken 24 minutes, but the whole Bulldog squad finally relaxed and began to play ball. In that quarter, Carter contributed 7 points, Bryson Hobbs 8, Sapp 3, and Daniel Kernes and Meadows 2 apiece.