The Mustangs began their regional tournament run hoping to become the first group in school history to make the state tournament in three consecutive years. They accomplished this goal by steamrolling Maggie Walker 78-40, and winning a nailbiter against the Warren County Wildcats, 51-46. While they weren’t able to net a regional title, falling to the Skyline Hawks 44-37, they did enough for a shot in the state tournament.
After seeing their dominant win against Maggie Walker in the first round, it would’ve been easy to assume that the Mustangs wouldn’t encounter much competition. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth. The Wildcats played incredibly aggressive defense from the get-go, putting hands on the ball on almost every defensive possession. Head coach Jim Smith explained the team’s mentality for competing against Warren County’s defense.
“We have to match their intensity. If the ref isn’t gonna call fouls then you gotta be willing to play through that,” coach Smith said. “We felt like they were hurting us on the glass the first two times [we played each other], so it wasn’t a real surprise. Just gotta play through it, be a basketball player.”
In the first half of the contest against Warren County, it admittedly seemed as if Meridian was going to ride off into the sunset with another easy victory. As the second half progressed, however, the Wildcats began to chip away at the Mustang’s lead, and their defense was stifling Meridian’s offense. The Mustangs responded by executing a perfect backdoor play to senior Will Davis.
“It feels good when [a play] works just like you draw it up. That was a big bucket for us,” coach Smith commented. “It’s basically a pressure release. When teams really overplay on defense, and they start to get in your passing lanes, and try to take you out of your offense, you back cut them. Even if you don’t make it, they start worrying about the back cut, and then it just makes it easier to make the first pass and get the ball moving.”
This crucial score ultimately led to the Mustangs pulling out their third win of the season against Warren County, a perfect 3-0. After the hotly contested victory that also got the team to their third consecutive state tournament, coach Smith expressed his pride in the team.
“It’s a heck of an accomplishment for these guys. A few of them, Will, Marques [Myles], Jesper [Pender], have been on all three teams, so it’s pretty special,” coach Smith beamed.
Despite their gritty loss to Skyline in the regional finals, the Mustangs still put together an excellent regional performance, and hope to perform even better in states, which they will start by facing off against the Petersburg Crimson Wave on Mar. 3.
