Mallory Singleton poured in 14 points and teammate Laura McCoy added 10, but neither was enough to keep the Flower Mound girls’ basketball team from losing to Irving MacArthur, 64-52.

    The loss gives the Jaguars (8-8 overall) three straight losses since they won three in a row to get above .500 in the early going of the non-district schedule.

    “I told the girls that this year’s preseason schedule is one of the hardest I think I’ve ever put together,” Flower Mound head coach Sherika Nelson said. “We are playing teams that will make us better when it matters most, and that’s the district schedule.”

    The Jaguars have certainly had an up and down preseason as a result. Since starting the season 5-1, the team has gone 3-7 heading into Friday’s home game against Mesquite Horn. During the total 16-game stretch, they’ve faced top-flight programs like Desoto, Duncanville, Cedar Hill, Mansfield Timberview and Waxahachie to name a few.

    “And I can honestly see us getting better,” Nelson said. “As long as we take something good from all these games, regardless of whether we win or lose, it’s a bonus for us. It’s not a loss when you are looking at the big picture. And that’s what we are trying to do.”

    The Jaguars will have to be ready to go when the District 6-5A schedule gets underway. This year’s slate of games includes all the usual suspects, namely Marcus, Coppell and Southlake Carroll. And, of course, no one is counting out Hebron or Lewisville.

    “It’s going to come down to who peaks at the right time,” Nelson added.

    The Jaguars finished last season 21-14 overall, but making playoffs proved to be interesting.

    After starting league play 2-4, the girls rattled off two wins in a row against Coppell and Hebron that put them in good position for at least sole possession of fourth place with two games left in the regular season. In fact, a win over Lewisville that next week would have guaranteed a playoff berth.

    But they lost that game by three, and then lost 73-60 to Southlake Carroll that dropped them into a tie with Lewisville for the final playoff spot. The two rivals were forced to play a one-game playoff to determine fourth place just four days before the start of the first round. Flower Mound won 53-40 and advanced to the second round of playoffs before losing to Cedar Hill.

    On Tuesday, the Jags led 28-24 at halftime before being outscored 21-6 in the third quarter. Melody Criswell added nine points while Amy Freet knocked down seven more to round out the top four scoring leaders for Flower Mound.

    Alexis Jones scored 31 points for Irving MacArthur while Odyssey Simms added 25.