After almost two weeks without a basketball game, No. 3 Dallas County (10-1) looked fresh, prepared and hungry against an overmatched Maplesville (0-2) team in a 76-36 win on Tuesday.

“I was very pleased with our effort tonight,” said Dallas County coach Willie Moore.

Dallas County forced the issue early, forcing Maplesville to work just to get the ball to midcourt, on each possession. The press forced several turnovers and easy Hornet baskets as Dallas County scored the first eight points during a 16-2 run.

“We were a lot more relentless with defensive pressure, and it led to transition baskets,” said Moore.

The press proved especially effective due to Maplesville’s youth and late start. Since most of the basketball players play on the football team, this was only the Red’ Devils’ second game. Losing four starters from last year’s team didn’t help, either.

“We’re young and have a lot of inexperience,” said Maplesville coach Eric Bailey. “We’re playing harder. If we play hard, good things are going to happen for us.”

The Hornets notched an 8-0 run triggered by two Jessie Reeves layups to start the second quarter. That extended the lead to 28-7. They built the lead to 37-13 on an Andrew Mahan layup with 3:30 left, but Maplesville answered.

A Cameron Morrow 3-pointer started a 7-0 run for the Red Devils to cut the deficit to 37-20 with a little more than two minutes left. But the Hornets ended the Red Devils’ comeback hopes with a 9-0 run sparked by a Henry Baker 3-pointer to extend the lead to 40-20 at the half.

Dallas County owned the third quarter with an 18-2 run to extend the lead to 64-32 after three.

Henry Baker led Dallas County with 21 points, and Harrell contributed 10. Josh Talley led the Red Devils with nine points.