The Xavier Saints will face a steady diet of  Class 4A powers in the Mississippi Valley Conference this season, but they’re not looking for any handouts.

For added punishment, Xavier opened the boys’ basketball season against one of the top Class 3A teams in the state on Nov. 29 to see how they stack up.

They came up short.

Mount Pleasant handled the Saints, 55-46, in the opener for both clubs at Xavier.

Mount Pleasant finished fourth in the Class 3A state tournament last season with a 22-3 record and returned all of its top players this year.

“The same group of kids,” Mount Pleasant Coach Paul Rundquist said. “Exactly.”

It showed.

Scott Hahn, a strong 6-foot-3 guard, scored 19 points and Austin Marshall added 14 for the Panthers.

Xavier Coach Matt Jenkins welcomed the challenge of facing a strong team in the opener.

“I think this was the perfect game for us. A perfect team (to play),” he said. “We want to put ourselves against the best competition. They’re one of the elite teams in 3A, and if they were in our league they’d be in the upper echelon of teams.”

The Saints held Mount Pleasant to five points in the second quarter and led, 25-23, at halftime. Xavier scored the first basket of the second half for a 27-23 edge, but that’s when things started to go wrong.

The Panthers applied strong defensive pressure, forced turnovers and took control with a 16-2 run. That made it 39-29 for the visitors and Xavier never got the lead again.

“We made a lot of mental mistakes,” Jenkins said.

Mount Pleasant has a string of good athletes on its team. Hahn will play basketball at Quincy University next year, Henry Krieger-Coble will play football at Iowa and Darian Cotton will play football at Iowa State.

The Saints actually caught a break, because Eric Hahn (Scott’s twin brother) and Justis Wellington did not play for the Panthers due to injuries.

“They’re a good team, and they’re a proven team,” Jenkins said. “They’re battled-tested, well-coached. They’ve got great players.”

Xavier looked good in spurts. Brian Ropp, a 6-foot-3 junior, led the Saints with 13 points. Mitch McLaughlin, a 5-11 senior, added nine points.

“It was a good test to see where we’re at,” Jenkins said.

The Saints visit Waverly-Shell Rock Saturday night.

MOUNT PLEASANT (55): Scott Hahn 5 6-7 19, Austin Marshall 6 0-0 14, Henry Krieger-Coble 3 1-5 7, Darian Cotton 1 0-0 2, Jordan Ashton 2 0-1 6, Blake Vandenberg 1 0-0 2, Nick Lyon 2 0-0 4, Tanner Courtney 0 1-2 1. Totals 20 8-15 55.

XAVIER (46): Mitch McLaughlin 2 5-6 9, Kevin Hosch 1 0-1 2, Nolan Dunkirk 2 0-0 5, Carter Valentine 2 0-0 4, Brian Ropp 5 1-2 13, Alec Clasen 3 0-0 6, Ryan Mains 3 0-0 6, Mack Mattke 0 1-2 1, Ben McDermott 0 0-0 0, Tanner Frazier 0 0-0 0, Peter Kokontis 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 7-11 46.

Halftime — Xavier 25, Mount Pleasant 23. 3-point goals: Mount Pleasant 7 (Hahn 3, Marshall 2, Ashton 2), Xavier 3 (Ropp 2, Dunkirk 1). Fouled out — Clasen. Technical foul — Mount Pleasant (illegal sub).