For the second time in the past two weeks, Meridian High School hosted a basketball doubleheader with its boys and girls squaring off back-to-back. It was the Heritage Pride coming into town, and both games figured to be good ones.
The girls tipped off first, and it was a tight one right from the start. Heritage scored the first basket before Marin Baroody tied it up for the Mustangs, and neither team gained much of an advantage throughout the first quarter as the visitors led 11-9 after a frame. Meridian had a strong second quarter to break things open a bit, though, outscoring the opposition 14-6 with the highlight being an Ellie Friesen three that took a high bounce off the backboard. The Mustangs took a 23-17 advantage into the halftime break, but this one was far from over.
Meridian held the lead through the majority of the second half, leading by as many as nine and staving off a few different brief Mustang runs, but then the Pride finally tied things up at 42 with three minutes to go in the fourth. Baroody made a tough bucket to get the lead back but two Heritage free throws tied it again, and the game would then go scoreless until the final minute. A Mustang turnover on an inbounds pass gave Heritage the opportunity to take the lead, and two more free throws gave them just that. However, a flagrant foul was called on the next possession as Charlotte Lieu – who had already briefly exited the game earlier with an apparent injury – was tripped in the middle of the floor, and after going one of two at the line, Meridian got the ball back and Maureen Tremblay drew contact at the rim. She sank both foul shots for the lead, and then following an unsuccessful Heritage possession she got fouled again and split another pair with mere seconds left on the clock. Heritage’s shot at the buzzer was no good, giving the Mustangs a hard-fought 48-46 victory.
Friesen scored 14 to lead the way, while Tremblay had 13. It’s the seventh win in a row for coach Chris Carrico’s young team, which now sits at 14-4 on the year after a 3-3 start. Gaining experience in close games is key, Carrico emphasized after the game, as he hopes it will prepare the girls for another strong postseason run.
The boys took to the court shortly afterwards, and things got off to a fast-paced start as Grant Greiner made a layup on the opening possession, and then Daylen Martino hit a deep three on the next one. Heritage also came out firing, though, and the game was tied 7-7 after not even two minutes. A 9-0 Mustang run then gave the home team some breathing room, with the final five of those points coming courtesy of John Lyman, and Meridian went ahead by double digits shortly afterwards on a Billy Asel three to go up 19-9.
But Heritage came fighting back, cutting the deficit to 21-15 after a quarter, and then the pace slowed down considerably as each team scored only six points during a slog of a second period. Meridian came out of the halftime break ahead 27-21, and Will Davis wasted no time getting the offense back going by immediately hitting a corner three. Jarrett Jardine gave the Mustangs their biggest lead of the night at 35-23 before Heritage got back within five, but then a 6-0 surge to end the quarter put the home team back up by double digits.
Meridian continued to have an answer for every Heritage miniature run, and though the pesky Pride continued to hang around, they never seriously challenged again. A Jardine three-point play followed by a Martino floater to give the home team a 59-45 lead in the final two minutes was enough to put this one away, and although Heritage stayed aggressive until the bitter end, it only allowed the Mustangs to tack on some window dressing as they closed this one out with a 67-48 final score.
Coach Jim Smith noted his team’s versatility in the win, as Meridian’s biggest strength has traditionally been its aggressive full-court trapping defense. However, this time the Mustangs bent but didn’t break, routinely getting stops in the paint and dominating the boards. The win improves Meridian to 17-1, and if the team can win just one of its two matchups early next week – at Skyline on Monday and then Manassas Park on Tuesday – they will be regular season champions of the Northwestern District.
“It was a great dress rehearsal for the playoffs,” Smith said of Friday’s win. “The atmosphere, the level of competition… this is the type of team we’ll be seeing in the postseason.”
Martino and Greiner each had 16 to lead the boys, while Jardine chipped in with 13. Their next game, as mentioned, is next Monday at Skyline, while the girls will face the same opponent at home.
