With homecourt advantage throughout the VHSL state playoffs on the line, Meridian High School’s girls’ basketball team hosted the Brentsville Tigers in the Region 3B Finals on Friday night. The Mustangs swept Brentsville in both regular season matchups, dominating them 57-29 at home back on January 20th and then pulling out a tight one on the road on February 7th, winning 47-44.

The girls got off to a fast start in this one, with Maureen Tremblay scoring the first points as the Mustangs went up 6-0 before the visitors could find the bottom of the net. But then Brentsville fought back, cutting the deficit to only one after the first quarter while clearly frustrating Meridian defensively. It took a while for the Mustangs’ offense to find its rhythm, but they used a 7-0 run in the second quarter and took a 17-11 lead into the half in this low-scoring slugfest.

Brentsville came out of the break firing, scoring eight straight points to take their first lead. But the Mustangs regrouped, using a 5-0 run of their own late in the period and taking a 24-20 advantage into the fourth quarter, which quickly expanded to a 27-20 advantage on a massive three-pointer by Ellie Friesen. The Tigers hit a few big shots late but never got any closer than within four, and Meridian handled business at the free throw line to come away with the 37-31 win.

The Mustangs got a balanced scoring effort with all five starters chipping in at least five points, and Maureen Tremblay and Elizabeth Creed both had ten to lead the way. They’ll get a week’s worth of rest before beginning state playoff play next Friday, against an opponent to be determined.