03-07-15
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARBONDALE - For the Meridian Bobcats, when they all wake up on Wednesday morning, they can look in the mirror and see the glow of a supersectional champion.

It is fitting that it will be Wednesday because this program finally got over “the hump.”

On Tuesday night at SIU Arena, Coach Erik Griffin saw his team take a big lead over Casey-Westfield and they held off the cold-shooting Warriors to win the programs' second supersectional title with a 51-40 victory.

After losing to Woodlawn in two consecutive supersectional title games back in 2011 and 2012, the Bobcats got a third chance at reaching Peoria in the four-class era and they didn't waste any time getting a big lead in the opening game of the supersectional double-header.

Jumping out to a first half advantage, Meridian survived a brief scare in the third quarter and beginning of the fourth.

After Casey-Westfield got back to within 33-32 in the opening moments of the fourth quarter, Meridian went on a 13-0 run over the next five minutes to take care of the basketball business.

Led by yet another strong game by senior David Davis and a defensive effort that forced Casey-Westfield into an 18-of-55 night, the Bobcats secured their first trip to the state finals since the 1971-72 season.

Davis, a 5-foot-11 senior guard, netted 23-points in the game as he led his club with a 9-of-13 effort from the floor.

Davarae Edmonds added 13-points and 11-rebounds for a double-double as the 6-foot-2 senior forward stepped up on the inside for the Bobcats.

Mounds Meridian improved their mark to 26-7 on the season and will face Forreston, who won the DeKalb Supersectional with a 67-53 win over Chicago St. Francis de Sales.

That game will be at 12:15 pm on Friday at Carver Arena.

As for the Warriors, after shooting well in their first four games of the postseason, Coach Jason Hanson saw his club produce a miserable offensive performance, hitting just 32.7 percent overall and they went just 5-of-22 in the opening half.

In fact they didn't reach double-figures until 1:20 was left in the second quarter.

By the time they reached 10-points, they trailed 19-10 at intermission.

The Warriors, after struggling with injuries and problems all season long, finally tasted defeat after four-straight impressive wins in the postseason to close their campaign at 19-13.

Junior center Corey Carver led the Warriors with 16-points and 14-rebounds in the loss.

In fact he was the lone bright spot in a dismal offensive night.

If you took away Carver's shooting, Casey hit just 11-of-40 shots.

On this night, Meridian didn't light the scoreboard up but they hit the kind of shots that they need to make.

The Bobcats connected on 18-of-42 overall (42.9 percent) and Davis hit 3-of-4 3-pointers for his club.

The game began with the usually hot shooting Warriors, who had hit 63 percent, 61 percent and 58 percent in consecutive wins over Dieterich, Patoka and Nokomis, coming out of the gate ice cold on Tuesday night.

The Meridian quickness and athletic ability helped cause the shooting trouble.

Davis scored all seven of the Bobcats points in the first quarter, on a pair of drives to the basket and a 3-pointer from the right wing for a 7-4 advantage.

“Davis – he is a veteran, he's the guy we want to get the ball to, we want the ball in his hands,” said Coach Griffin. “If we need a basket or we just need things under control. Him and DJ, they do a good job of who to get the ball to. The guys are unselfish and they have put in so much time. They deserve this.”

This was at the 5:18 mark of the first frame and only one other basket was scored in the remaining time of the stanza.

Cody Hollensbe, a 6-foot senior forward, who scored 21-points in the sectional final win over Nokomis, was held in check by Meridian.

Hollensbe scored on a fast break with 3:04 left, his second basket of the contest.

He would only hit one other field goal the rest of the game as his night went as bad as everyone else, other than Carver.

The two teams combined for eight first quarter turnovers in the defensive struggle.

Nevertheless, it was Meridian who picked up the pace in the second quarter to get control of the game.

Casey-Westfield went over nine minutes without scoring, from the first quarter into the second, which allowed the Bobcats to get away.

Meridian scored 12-straight points with Davis and Edmonds scoring four-points each.

Although it wasn't a dominating run, the defensive end was where the contest shifted.

The Warriors committed three turnovers and missed nine-straight field goal attempts in the first 5:52 of the second quarter.

By the time Edmonds scored on a drive to the basket with 2:23 left, Meridian led 19-6.

Carver and teammate Payton Chism, who finished with 10-points, scored to cut the lead to just nine at intermission.

The Bobcats, behind back-to-back 3-point bombs by Davis, extended the lead to its pinnacle.

Those long shots along with a rebound basket by Edmonds and a pair of free throws by DJ Weldon, pushed the Bobcats out to a 31-16 lead.

Trailing 32-18, Casey-Westfield finally got something going offensively.

At least Carver got something going.

The junior, who was hurt playing football in the fall and missed all but 13 regular season games, muscled inside for 10-points, including a pair of conventional three-point plays.

Both of those conversions were part of a 14-1 run that went into the first 1:09 of the fourth quarter.

When Hollensbe scored on rebound basket with being fouled by Weldon early in the fourth, Hollensbe had a free throw that would have tied the score at 33-all.

But he missed the charity and Meridian proceeded to net a “Baker's Dozen” of points to take away the mystery.

Davis and Company forced Casey-Westfield into eight more turnovers in the fourth quarter, including a steal and fast break by Weldon, who finished with six-points on the night, for a 39-32 lead.

“They (Casey-Westfield) are a good team and we knew that they were going to make a run but I don't have to tell our guys very much. They know the mistakes that they made and they made the adjustments, that is how we ended up with a double-digit win,” said Coach Griffin.

Davis scored on a steal and assist by Edmonds as Davis beat everyone down the floor for a bucket.

The senior guard netted another drive in the lane and Edmonds made 2-of-4 free throws on back to back trips, pushing the advantage to 46-32 with just 2:05 remaining.

Chism nailed consecutive 3-pointers for C-W but they weren't much more than window dressing.

Another fast break score by the Bobcats, this time by reserve Ryan Moore, sealed a state-finals trip for Mounds Meridian for the first time since Richard Nixon was President.

“Down the stretch, we call it grown man defense. You find your guy, you lock him up and you keep him off the board,” said Coach Griffin. “We had to play like grown men tonight down the stretch.”

As if things couldn't get any worse for the Warriors, when they needed to close out its comeback, they were just 4-of-19 from the field in the final eight minutes.

For Davis, the lone senior who played as a freshman in the 2012 loss to Woodlawn in their last supersectional game, it was sweet redemption against the naysayers who believed this program couldn't win the big game.

“This (the win) just feels so good right now. I can't believe it, this was our dream. Its been 43-years since Meridian High School has went to state,” said Davis. “This is just unbelievable. It feels great!”