The Tigers watched an early three-point deficit increase exponentially over the final three quarters of play as Meridian (Miss.) blasted Demopolis 69-34 Tuesday night.

“We’re not running our offense,” head coach Jesse Bell said.

The Tigers trailed 17-8 midway through the first quarter before mounting a run to cut the lead to 19-16.

“I loved the way we played in the first quarter,” Bell said.

On the final play of the opening quarter, Demopolis came up with a steal, drove the ball down the lane and forced a layup against a Meridian double-team. The play ignored a wide open Jeremy Wallace in the corner who could have potentially tied the game. It also proved indicative of the team’s shot selection throughout the game’s latter three quarters.

“We don’t share the basketball,” Bell said.

The Tigers chances began to fade early in the second quarter as the teams inefficiency on the glass began to surface.

“We’ve got to solve our rebounding problems,” Bell said. “Kids have got to step up.”

After its 16-point first quarter, Bell’s team managed only six points over each of the next three quarters en route to the 35-point loss.

“They were very aggressive on defense,” Bell said.

He pulled his starters early in the fourth quarter, relying on bench players down the stretch.

“We’re doing that trying to get ready for the area tournament,” Bell said. “We’ve got a lot of basketball in January.”

Bell said much of the remaining games will also be used to evaluate players.

Wallace led the Tigers with seven points. Anthony Hardy added six while Johnathan Wallace finished with five.

DHS travels to Livingston tonight.