New season, new hopes

Thomas Wotka, Staff Reporter
November 17, 2021

The team is in a huddle.
The 2019-2020 season was the last full season for the Mustangs’ boys’ basketball team, where games were held in “The Pit” of the old high school building. (Stella Turner)

The Meridian boys basketball season ended in a devastating defeat last school year after losing a tough playoff game to Independence.

The team finished 3-4 overall in the district-only COVID season last year, beating Manassas Park, Warren County, and Skyline all at home, while losing on the road to Brentsville, Skyline, and William Monroe.

The Mustangs missed seven scheduled games last year due to COVID-19 issues. The team went into the regional tournament with very little game experience and practice time. The Mustangs will certainly head into the 2021 season with a chip on their shoulders.

“Our first half of the season should prove to everyone that we are a good squad,” senior Garrett Benson said. “We have a lot of seniors who got lots of minutes last season, so we have a good amount of experience to go around.”

Unlike last year’s seven game COVID-shortened season, Meridian will get a full 17-game season in 2021-22, plus two scrimmages, a pre-season tournament, and a mid-season tournament. The Mustangs open the season at home against Trinity Christian in their first non-conference game since February 2020. The TCS Gryphons went 0-6 last year, and the Mustangs should look to start their season off strong at home against a non-conference opponent, especially a small private school.

Coach Jim Smith demonstrates form.
Varsity boys basketball coach Jim Smith demonstrates form at a practice. Smith came out of retirement to coach at Meridian this year. “When [former Athletic Director] Coach [Marvin] Wooten called me up, and said there was a coaching position open, I was immediately interested, having played and coached formally against the previously named high school, George Mason,” Smith said. (Mac Duross)
The biggest game of the season, however, comes just a few days later against Yorktown on December 10. Yorktown, a 6A school, went 7-3 last year, only losing to South Lakes once and Langley twice. Yorktown will be a huge opportunity for the Mustangs and new head coach Jim Smith.

Coach Smith has prior coaching experience at McLean, Sidwell Friends, and most recently, Chantilly High School. Smith was the head coach of Chantilly basketball for 29 years, from 1991-2019. Coach Smith is one of the winningest coaches in Northern Virginia public school basketball history, with 494 career victories. Coach Smith retired five games into the 2019 season, but is coming out of retirement to coach the Meridian team.

Looking back at last season, a strong group of seniors carried most of the weight, but current seniors Mac Duross and Ben Yimaj both have still-evolving large roles. In the short 2021 season, Duross averaged 8.3 points, 2.5 assists, and 3.3 rebounds per game. Duross was second on the team in scoring, third in steals, and second in assists in his junior season. Yimaj averaged 7.5 points per game, and was second in rebounding, averaging 5.5 per game. Yimaj was tied with then-sophomore Wyatt Trundle for the lead in blocks. 

The lone returning junior, Trundle, also happens to be the tallest player on the Mustangs, listed at 6’6. In his sophomore year, Trundle shot 44 percent from the field, averaging 4.5 points. Trundle also grabbed 3.5 rebounds per game, and as mentioned previously, was tied for the lead in blocks. Trundle had a strong sophomore season, especially since he was coming off the bench. 

Everyone in the Falls Church community should look forward to the return of boys’ basketball on December 8, the first Meridian boys’ basketball game to be open to fans since leaving “The Pit” of the old high school.