Riding a ten-game winning streak, the Meridian High School girls’ basketball team was home on Friday night to host the Brentsville Tigers as they looked to complete the season sweep of their heated rivals. The Mustangs beat Brentsville 52-35 on the road back on January 10th, but the Tigers are a formidable opponent and figured to be out for revenge.
Both teams struggled to score in the early going, with a Charlotte Lieu layup getting Meridian on the board after a few empty possessions and then a Bridget Creed basket doubling the advantage. Brentsville didn’t score until more than halfway through the opening period, but the Mustangs encountered a drought of their own, and it was 4-4 after a quarter. A three-pointer gave the Tigers their first lead early in the second before Meridian bounced back to lead 15-10, but Brentsville scored the last five points of the half to knot the score again at the intermission.
The game was tied at the conclusion of both the first and second quarters, and that would be the case again in the third, as the Mustangs fell behind 20-17 before Nora Stufft brought them back even at 23 late in the period. Lieu gave Meridian the lead with the first points of the final frame, but Brentsville then went on a 10-0 run, capped off by a four-point possession after head coach Chris Carrico was assessed a technical foul during a heated moment. Down by eight with under two minutes remaining, the Mustangs battled back as Creed converted a three-point play and then a Brentsville turnover led to two Lieu free throws. Another turnover and an ensuing basket by Creed got Meridian within one, and then after the Tigers were unable to put things away at the foul line, Stufft tied the game at 34 in the final seconds to send it to overtime.
Sadly, the comeback would prove to be for naught, as despite the lead changing hands on a few different occasions in overtime, the Mustangs found themselves unable to score while trailing 38-39 and then waited too long to foul once Brentsville regained possession with time ticking down. The Tigers split a pair of free throws and Meridian, with only four seconds to work with, couldn’t get a shot off as the 38-40 loss was sealed.
“It’s just a product of two very evenly matched teams,” said Carrico postgame, noting his team’s struggles to hit shots and the fact that Brentsville played Ellie Friesen, Meridian’s best shooter, extremely aggressively.
Creed had 13 points to lead the Mustangs, while Stufft added 10. Meridian will play two more at home next week, against Skyline on Tuesday and Warren County on Thursday, before wrapping up the regular season on the road against Warren County again on Friday.
