Meridian High School’s girls and boys basketball teams, coming off wins in their last games, took on Raymond at home on Tuesday. Meridian’s girls (3-4) moved one step closer to evening their record with a 45-26 win on Tuesday after starting their season 1-4, but Meridian’s boys team (4-3) could not outlast a strong Raymond squad, led by former Meridian assistant coach Tony Tadlock, in the final minutes of a 53-48 loss.
After a slow start to the season, Meridian girls coach Tre Collins said the win over Raymond showed his team what they can be this season. He said his team dropped some games that he feels they should have won, but his team is heading in the right direction ahead of region play.
“I think we played well,” Collins said on Tuesday’s game. “We didn’t truly put together four quarters of offense, we had a sluggish second quarter, but I told my girls, ‘As long as you put together four quarters defensively, we’re always going to be right there in games.”
Collins, who was introduced as interim girls basketball coach in May, has the benefit of leading a team with five seniors on its 16-person roster. He said his seniors have really stepped up the last couple games by being vocal leaders and making sure everyone is doing their job. Taleah Anderson, Meridian’s senior center, is a key cog on this Meridian team as a force in the post who is averaging a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds per game.
“That’s something I’ve got to have on the court,” Collins said of Anderson’s performance this season. “Outside of that right there, she’s a vocal leader, she likes to speak up, she’s the first one to say positive things whenever we’re circled up and huddled up at the end of practice or the end of games. I’m proud of her in that aspect as well, and I think she’s really starting to blossom into who she’s going to be offensively. I think she hasn’t even reached her full potential yet.”
Collins said the end goal is to always win the last game of the season and raise a state championship trophy. Beyond that, he just wants to see his girls play hard, compete and play for each other with energy and effort so that they have a chance to win every night.
Tied 43-43 with Raymond with 4:24 left in the fourth quarter, Meridian’s boys team had a chance to secure a second varsity victory for Meridian on Tuesday, but the Wildcats struggled to create open shots and layups in the final minutes of the game. Meridian boys coach Ron Norman said his team played a really excellent ball game, but Raymond’s size got to the Wildcats in the fourth quarter.
“They made some timely 3’s, and still with two minutes left it was a one-point game,” Norman said. “I’m really proud of my team, and this schedule gets us ready for the bigger picture down the road.”
Norman said his team is gradually getting back into the flow of basketball, as four of his starters play football in the fall. Javion Yarbrough, a senior guard and one of the aforementioned football players, hit a 3-pointer with 1:09 remaining in the game to narrow Raymond’s lead to 47-46 and give his team a chance to go ahead late. The Wildcats failed to capitalize on the opportunity, but the big shot showed why Yarbrough is trusted with the ball late in close games.
“He’s the straw that stirs the drink,” Norman said of Yarbrough. “He’s got the keys to the Cadillac, and when he’s driving it, it runs pretty smoothly.”
Norman said his team will be fine when it is all said and done, and the Wildcats will be a tough out in January. He said his team’s goal is to win the state championship every year, and that remains true for this season.
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