by Nicholas F. Benton & Ryan McCafferty 

Having made it to the Virginia High School League’s Class 3 Final in Richmond, the girls basketball team from Falls Church’s Meridian High School will tip off Friday night against the Liberty Christian Academy from Lynchburg at the Siegel Center at 6 p.m.

Liberty Christian comes in as a powerhouse, the only private school that participates in the VHSL coming as the result of a lawsuit in 2015 by which they were granted entry.

The private school, founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell who later founded Liberty University in the same city, had sought $1.5 million damages in its antitrust lawsuit against the VHSL It was settled when an emergency meeting of representatives from almost 300 of the VHSL’s 314 member schools was held in May 2015 at the Piedmont Community College and agreed to terms of the settlement.

The agreement also allowed other private schools to apply for membership in the VHSL.

Liberty Christian’s website states that the school “has not adopted either the Virginia Standards of Learning or Common Core standards,” but is “committed to strong academic standards through a Biblical framework.”

After beating Lafayette on the road on Tuesday, the Meridian High School girls’ basketball team earned a semi-home game in the State Semifinals as they faced the Lake Taylor Titans in Alexandria. Taylor had just defeated Brentsville, who beat Meridian in the Regional Finals last week, but they also lost to the same Lafayette squad that the Mustangs up-ended, so this one was set to be a dogfight.

That it was, and it would be evident right from the opening tip. Meridian gave up the first two points before Ellie Friesen made a three, and then she hit another one moments later to put the Mustangs ahead 8-5. Taylor would go ahead 17-12 after a quarter, though, and stayed ahead 27-22 at the end of the half, as Friesen all but single handedly kept Meridian in the game with her 13 points at the intermission. But the Mustangs had been in this situation before, having also trailed Lafayette at halftime on Tuesday before taking over down the stretch, and head coach Chris Carrico was sure to adjust his team back into it.

Sure enough, the tide began to turn after the break as some other Mustangs got involved, with Nora Stufft hitting a few big shots at the rim and Charlotte Lieu making two free throws to tie the game at 32. Lieu then made a three-pointer to give Meridian the lead late in the third quarter, but a 7-0 Taylor run – highlighted by some unpopular officiating – put the Titans back ahead by four entering the final frame. Then, with their season on the line, the Mustangs responded with an 8-0 burst to take the upper hand for good, a lead that they’d extend to 48-41 with under three minutes to go. Shortly afterwards Meridian began to hold the ball while forcing Taylor to foul, and though the Titans drew back within five in the final minute after going down 54-44, they’d get no closer. The Mustangs executed at the foul line to close out the 59-53 victory, punching their ticket to Richmond for the third time in the past four seasons.

Friesen ended up with 21 — including six three-pointers — to lead the way for Meridian, while Lieu had 13. Lake Taylor’s Lamari Budd scored 28, but the Mustangs were able to make her more uncomfortable in the second half, which Carrico cited as a crucial development in the win.

“We put Ava Smith on her, that made the difference,” the coach said. He went on to note how similar the win was to Tuesday’s at Lafayette, in which Smith was instrumental defensively in the second half there as well.

The girls will face off against Liberty Christian in the VHSL Class 3 Finals, set to be played at 6:00 p.m. next Friday at VCU’s Stuart C. Siegel Center.

Tremblay and Martino lead a plethora of Mustangs in seasonal awards, including:

Girls Varsity Basketball:

• Maureen Tremblay: Northwestern District Player of the Year, 1st Team All District; Region 3B Player of the Year, 1st Team All Region
• Ellie Friesen: 1st Team All District; 1st Team All Region
• Nora Stufft: 2nd Team All District; 2nd Team All Region
• Charlotte Lieu: 2nd Team All District; 2nd Team All Region

Boys Varsity Baketball:

• Dylan Martino: Northwestern District Player of the Year, 1st Team All District; 1st Team All Region
• Grant Grenier: 1st Team All District; 1st Team All Region
• Jarrett Jardine: 1st Team All District; 1st Team All Region
• Will Davis: 2nd Team All District
• John Lyman: Honorable Mention
• Jim Smith: Coach of the Year