MOUNT PLEASANT — Coach Chris Gravett and the Ottumwa boys basketball team knew going into this week that it was going to be a tough one.

Three games in four days — two of them on the road — all against ranked teams.

Now Gravett is hoping the Bulldogs can find a way to rise to the occasion.

The Bulldogs took a 58-41 loss at third-ranked (Class 3A) Mount Pleasant on Thursday, 48 hours after taking a loss to Ankeny — the second ranked team in Class 4A. Now tonight, the Bulldogs return home to face 13th-ranked Dowling Catholic.

“We didn’t come ready to play, and I’ll take responsibility for that,” said Gravett. “We had some guys play hard, but overall we didn’t play with the sense of urgency that we need. When you’re playing teams like this, you need to bring your A-game every night or you’re going to get it handed to you.”

Faith Pope was the only Bulldog in double figures, scoring 16 points. Ben Kramer added nine for Ottumwa (9-11). Mount Pleasant’s Jordan Ashton led all scorers with 24 points — 15 of those coming from beyond the 3-point arc. Nick Lyon added 13 for Mount Pleasant (20-1), who got off to a fast 11-0 lead and never looked back.

“We had to play catchup all night and didn’t play very well,” said Gravett.

It will be Senior Night tonight for the Bulldogs at Evans Middle School.

“Hopefully we can get the intensity up at home for Senior Night,” said Gravett.

Mount Pleasant 58, Ottumwa 41

Ott    6     15  10  10    —    41   

MtP    17     15  18  8    —    58   

Ottumwa (58) — Faith Pope 16, Ben Kramer 9, Adam Van Fleet 6, Austin Walker 5, Mitch Hardie 5. Totals 16 6-10 58.

3-point goals — 3 (Walker, Hardie, Pope). Fouled out — None.  Total fouls — 15.

Mount Pleasant (41) — Jordan Ashton 24, Nick Lyon 13, Cameron Frank 10, Dalton Conrad 4, Logan Mulford 3, Ryan Hanna 2, Blake Vandenberg 2. Totals 19 14-18 41.

3-point goals — 6 (Ashton 5, Mulford). Fouled out — None. Total fouls — 7.