The first quarter of Wednesday night’s game belonged to Hallsville. The second quarter – well, that was another matter.

“What did we hold them to, 3 points?” asked Bulldogs forward Drew Blevins. “They started hot, but we got the job done.”

The big reversal of fortune in the second quarter after the Indians jumped out to a 22-13 lead launched Mexico on their way to a commanding 81-56 win at The Sports Complex, taking the Bulldogs to 6-0 on the young season.

At first, however, about the only thing to go Mexico’s way was the opening tip.

“We had a scouting report, so we knew they could hit the three ball good,” said Bulldogs head coach Darren Pappas of the visiting Indians.

Hallsville dropped six shots from beyond the arc in the first eight minutes. And they rained down from all directions. Colton Hobbs, Matt Salas, Matt Faber, Faber again, Landon Hiebel and Cameron Lloyd all notched threes. The Bulldogs struggled to keep up.

But Pappas had a response. Mexico switched to a 1-3-1 formation and turned things over to their own long distance threat.

Peyton Willer drained his first three with less than 30 seconds remaining in the first. He opened the second quarter with another. Michael White followed with a stop and pop three-pointer on a fast break And then it was Willer again, peeling out of the key to sink his third in just over two minutes, this one knotting the game at 22-22.

“I was just following the ball, coming off screens,” he explained.

Willer’s scoring spree seemed to fire up his teammates – especially Raef Yager.

After Lloyd hit one of two from the line to put Hallsville back on top, Yager went on a tear. He slipped his man and found room for a jumper from inside the key. He then made the visitors pay for a turnover, driving in a lay up. And when Hallsville’s Jalen George brought his team back within 1 point, Yager responded by spinning through two defenders for another bucket.

“I knew I needed to be more aggressive,” the Mexico senior forward said. “We were slacking off.”

Blevins, Isaiah Reams and Daeye Miller joined the party and the Bulldogs were off on a 34-3 rout – 31 of those points coming in the second half.

The only basket they conceded was the finger roll by George with 5:07 to go.

“Our 3 defense is our bread and butter,” Yager pointed out. “It changed the momentum.”

Playing with renewed confidence in the 1-3-1 defense, the Bulldogs shut down Hallsville’s outside shooters. They would find the net from three point range only four more times in the game, with none falling in the second quarter.

“I felt like it was the difference,” coach Pappas observed. “But when Peyton was hot, they fed off his energy.”

The two squads sparred throughout the second half. When A.J. Austene rose from a scrum under the glass to put in two for the Indians, Reams answered with a three for Mexico. Faber sank a three for Hallsville, Miller forced his way into the paint for a lay up in the Bulldogs’ favor.

But Mexico began to pull away in the final eight minutes. Blevins, White and Reams kept up the pressure on offense, Willer drained another three and Tobias Chatman capped off the win on a fast break.

“It was a total team effort,” Pappas said.

Eight Bulldogs put points on the board, led by Yager and Reams, who both had 18. Willer and Blevins joined the double digit club with 12 each. Miller added 9 and White tacked on 7. Jordan Mitchell hit an early three and Chatman rolled in 2.

Mexico played at Fulton Monday night, after The Ledger’s deadline. They hit the road again on Thursday to take on Bowling Green at 7:30 pm.