White House High senior guard Gavin Herrell shoots a 3-pointer during second-quarter action.

White House High junior forward Malik Morgan drives to the basket during second-quarter action. Morgan scored a team-high 12 points.

White House High senior point guard Luke Hopkins drives into the lane as Cheatham County’s Nate Goode defends. Hopkins scored five points.

WHITE HOUSE The White House High boys basketball team wasn’t surprised by how visiting Cheatham County attacked on Friday evening.

Even then, the Blue Devils were nearly powerless to stop the Cubs as Cheatham County pulled away in the early stages of the second quarter in handing White House a 68-50 loss.

The Cubs’ plan was simple – let senior forward Austin Douglas handle much of the leg work. Douglas did most of the Cubs’ heavy lifting, scoring 40 points.

“He’s a really good player,” White House head coach Gary Smith said. “He’s probably the best player in the league. We didn’t exactly do ourselves any favors. We knew what they were going to do.”

Douglas had 10 of the Cubs’ 15 first-quarter points as Cheatham County (7-3 overall, 2-1 in District 9-AA) led 15-9 after one period.

White House (6-6, 2-2) led once in the game, taking a 7-6 lead following two free throws from senior point guard Luke Hopkins with 4:28 left in the opening quarter.

However, after junior guard Bradley Cole’s field goal tied the game at 9-9 less than 90 seconds later, the Cubs took off, holding White House scoreless for the next 5:43. Cheatham County built a 22-9 advantage during the Blue Devil drought.

“I really didn’t see a whole lot on either end that I liked,” Smith said. “I just thought this would be a better game than that. We took a lot of bad shots early.”

Douglas had 18 points at halftime as the Cubs held a 31-19 edge at the intermission.

“We can’t simulate that,” Smith said. “We didn’t do some things that we could have to slow him down. We don’t have anybody to blame but ourselves.”

Junior forward Malik Morgan led the Blue Devils with 12 points, including two of White House’s six 3-pointers. White House cut the lead to eight (31-23) in the opening minute of the second half thanks to baskets by Morgan and senior forward Logan Trimmer, but Douglas scored 14 points in the third quarter to help Cheatham pull away.

“He took over the game,” Smith said. “They made us look pretty bad. They’re a good team.”

The Cubs hit nine 3-pointers in the contest, with four coming from Douglas.

“There were just little things that were indicators that we weren’t ready to play against them,” Smith said. “That was just a microcosm of the way they schooled us all night. They took us out behind the woodshed and took care of us. Maybe we’ll learn from it. I hope so.”

Freshman guard Jared Ward scored 11 points for the Blue Devils, and Cole provided 10. Ward made three of the Blue Devils’ six 3-pointers in the contest.

Cheatham County scored more than 65 points for the seventh time this season, and the Cubs have won in all of those contests.

The two teams will meet again on Feb. 2 at Cheatham County.

White House is off for three weeks until its next game, at Springfield on Jan. 9.

Reach Chris Brooks at cbrooks@tennessean.com or at 615-575-7118. Follow him on Twitter @CB_SumnerSports.

CHEATHAM COUNTY (68) – Austin Douglas 40, Nate Goode 11, Gage Lipscomb 8, Matthew Mayberry 6, Nate Saunders 2, Sterlin Jenkins 1.

WHITE HOUSE (50) – Malik Morgan 12, Jared Ward 11, Bradley Cole 10, Logan Trimmer 9, Luke Hopkins 5, Bryant Reynolds 3.

Half: 31-19, Cheatham County. 3-point goals: Cheatham County 9 (Douglas 4, Goode 3, Mayberry 2), White House 6 (Ward 3, Morgan 2, Trimmer 1). Records: Cheatham County 7-3 overall, 2-1 in District 9-AA; White House 6-6, 2-2.