For the second time in five days, Meridian High School hosted a basketball doubleheader on Tuesday night as both its boys and girls played in the Regional Semifinals. The girls hosted Culpeper County at 6 P.M. while the boys played Kettle Run shortly afterwards, and both games served as opportunities for the Mustangs to not only advance to the Finals, but to clinch a spot in the ensuing State Tournament.
The girls, who entered the contest as winners of 16 of their past 17 games, fell behind early on but didn’t stay down for long. After giving up the game’s first basket, they got on the board courtesy of Ellie Friesen and then went ahead 8-2 following six straight points from Nora Stufft. Culpeper drew back within 11-7 after a quarter and then 11-9 following the first points of the next period, but Charlotte Lieu got another Meridian run going and the Mustangs slowly expanded their lead from there. The home team led 24-16 at halftime, and then after Culpepper got back within four, a 9-0 run gave Meridian some breathing room as the girls took their first double-digit lead on a Maureen Tremblay three-point play. It was 40-24 with a quarter to go, and Chris Carrico’s squad held on for the 51-33 win to advance in the postseason.
Friesen’s 20 points led all scorers, while each of the other starters had at least six in a balanced team effort. Marin Baroody missed the game with an injury, but Carrico is hopeful that she could return when the girls play on Friday against Brentsville, the same team that eliminated Meridian from last season’s playoffs.
The boys, whose 21-2 record doesn’t even do justice to the job done by Jim Smith and his staff this season while battling injuries to key contributors all year long, are now fully healthy and firing on all cylinders – as their opponents from Kettle Run would be quick to find out. John Lyman scored the game’s first points with a pair of free throws and then Will Davis hit a three, as the Mustangs were up 6-0 before Kettle Run finally scored. Davis caught on absolute fire as he scored 29 – count ‘em, 29 – points in the first half, 21 of which were from behind the arc as Meridian led 17-6 after the first frame and then 40-16 after the second. The second half turned into more of a team effort, and if there was still any doubt about who’d be winning this one, the third quarter erased it as the Mustangs went ahead 62-27 with eight minutes left to play. Kettle Run narrowed the deficit in garbage time, but only to 25 as the home team held serve with a 66-41 victory.
Davis’ scoring output is the highest for any Meridian player all season long, and while unselfish basketball has been a staple of the Mustangs’ identity, sometimes it’s just your night.
“Once I hit those first couple shots, I was just unconscious,” Davis said postgame. Davis was inserted into the starting lineup a few weeks ago while Isaac Rosenberger was out hurt, but even with Rosenberger now back on the court, it doesn’t seem like he’ll be going back to the bench anytime soon.
Meridian will now welcome Fredericksburg’s James Monroe to town on Friday in a game that Smith believes will be a tough challenge for his Mustangs. But win or lose, both the boys and the girls will be State Tournament-bound.
