By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
HATTIESBURG – There wasn’t much that LaRon Brumfield could say Tuesday night after watching Meridian bury his young team in its Region 6-6A boys high school basketball opener.
The more seasoned Wildcats led from start to finish, dominating Oak Grove 58-36 at Warrior Gymnasium. Meridian improved to 14-4 overall, 2-0 in region; the Warriors dropped to 10-6 and 0-1.
“They probably played the best of the games that I’ve seen them play this year,” said Brumfield, the veteran Oak Grove boys coach. “Hats off to them; they did a great job. We’ve just got to get better.”
The game was only ever in doubt in the first quarter, and only because the Warriors were able to rally from a quick five-point deficit at 5-0 and 7-2.
Junior Chase Pinkston swished a 3-point shot to get Oak Grove back in the game, and the Warriors used a 5-1 run to end the period trailing 13-11.
But Wildcat senior Jamire Clayton set the tone with the very first basket of the game, a putback tip-in on a missed 3-ball. Clayton finished with a game-high 18 points, and five of his nine field goals came on putbacks.
“I want to give a shout-out to my big man, Jamire Clayton; he played his butt off tonight,” said Meridian coach Ron Norman. “He was everywhere, doing whatever needed doing.”
Even with the late surge in the first period, the signs weren’t looking good for Oak Grove. The Warriors missed their first six shots of the game, and the pattern would be repeated at the start of each subsequent quarter.
Oak Grove missed its first six shots in the second and third quarters and missed its first four shots in the fourth quarter. For the game, the Warriors were 9 of-40 from the field.
“We really couldn’t get into a rhythm,” said Brumfield. “Shooting is really our thing, and when we can’t get in a consistent rhythm and make some shots, we start to loll around and get static, and we just never could find that tonight.”
By contrast, Meridian found the range in the second half, put the pedal to the metal and never looked back. After shooting just 4 of 13 from the floor in the first quarter, the Wildcats were good on 21 of 41 for the final three quarters.
“We are not overly big; we’re not like the teams I’ve brought in the past, with all the size,” said Norman. “We’ve got a lot of guys who are 6-2 to 5-11, and everybody can kind of do the same thing. And the one thing we do well is guard you.
“I thought we were phenomenal on defense in the second and third quarter, and that was the difference in the ball game.”
The Wildcats came off the bench for the second quarter smoking. After Meridian missed its first two shots of the period, the Wildcats converted on their next four possessions.
Junior Jordan Jones drove the lane for a layup, senior Tamarion Jones hit a 3-pointer, junior D.J. Johnson took a steal coast-to-coast for a fast-break layup, then Jordan Jones got another drive through the lane to cap a 9-2 run.
“I think we got into a little bit of a panic there early,” said Brumfield. “Only thing we could do was keep grinding it out, keep moving the ball and I thought we were going to get the shots we wanted.”
Sophomore Brooks Roberts converted a 3-point shot, then drew a foul and added a free throw to cut Meridian’s margin to 22-17. However, Johnson hit a trey from the left corner to spark the Wildcats on another 9-2 run to close the first half with a 31-19 lead.
It was more of the same after halftime. Clayton popped in an open 6-foot jumper in the lane on the opening possession of the second half to start an 8-0 run that quickly mounted to a rout.
Meridian outscored the Warriors 17-6 in the third quarter and led by as many as 29 points early in the fourth quarter before Norman reined in his troops.
Tamarion Jones was the only other player in double figures, scoring 10 points, but the Wildcats had two other players with 9 points and another with 8 points. Sophomore Ja’Rese bellows had 9 points to lead Oak Grove.
“We’re a very young team,” said Brumfield. “One senior, some juniors and the rest are sophomores. One thing with a young team, you’re going to experience some things that you normally wouldn’t get with a senior-heavy team.
“But that’s part of basketball, part of growing. We’ve got to learn from this, get in the gym tomorrow, start making some adjustments and work on getting better. There’s a long way to go.”
While Brumfield just wants to see his team grow and mature, Norman and the Wildcats are aiming higher. A perennial championship contender, Meridian will be a tough team to beat come playoff time.
“That’s what we want to be, what we aspire to be every time we come out to practice,” said Norman. “It’s about staying hot, staying consistent, and if we guard every night like we did tonight, we’re going to have a chance against anybody.”
In the girls game, Meridian pulled away in the second quarter to defeat Oak Grove 44-26. Senior Eboni Alford had 16 points for the Lady Wildcats (14-3, 2-0). Senior Lea Boddie had 12 points to lead Oak Grove (5-6, 0-1).
PREP BASKETBALL SUMMARIES
Tuesday at Oak Grove
GIRLS
Meridian 44, Oak Grove 26
Meridian 7 15 11 11 – 44
Oak Grove 7 4 8 7 – 26
MERIDIAN (14-3, 2-0 in 6-6A): Jamiya King 3, Raygan Faulkner 12, Syria Walker 2, Eboni Alford 16, Ke’mari Hardy 6, LaPrincess Powell 5.
OAK GROVE (5-6, 0-1 in 6-6A): Maryah Harvey 3, Kennedy Bush 1, McKinley Naquin 3, Akira Keys 3, Lea Boddie 12, Tyia Morris 5.
BOYS
Meridian 58, Oak Grove 36
Meridian 13 18 17 10 – 58
Oak Grove 11 8 6 11 – 36
MERIDIAN (14-4, 2-0 in 6-6A): Jordan Jones 9, Jorden Harbour 1, D.J. Johnson 9, Jamire Clayton 18, Devin Portis 3, J.R. Yarbrough 8, Tamarion Jones 10.
