11-22-11
BY JACK BULLOCK
CHRISTOPHER – The Meridian Bobcats never gave the Eldorado Eagles a chance to get warmed up on Tuesday night.

Applying pressure from the word “go” Coach Jeff Mandrell's club forced the Eagles into 11 first quarter turnovers and jumped out to a 20-4 first quarter lead as the ABV 1A Preaseason top-ranked squad drilled home a 71-49 win to go 2-0 on the season and in the Vienna “The Classic” Thanksgiving Tournament.

Senior Jerry Johnson and junior Joshua Jones picked up where they left off a year ago as this pair topped all scorers with 22-points each in the blowout victory.

Cameron Ballard and Justin McClellan added 12 and six points to the totals as six players scored for Meridian.

Turning up the heat in the early going, Meridian took a quick advantage of their quickness advantage in the opening minutes.

Using two different early scoring runs of 8-0 and 14-0, the Bobcats broke the only tie of the game (2-2) to put the Eagles away.

"They (Eldorado) had trouble with our pressure and we were able to convert some easy ones on them early in the game,” said Coach Mandrell. “We did some good things but we still have a lot to work on. We need to get back on defense better but we are playing real hard and we have a lot of kids who can score. I see a lot of good things it is just a matter of cleaning some things up.”

Eldorado's 6-foot-4 senior Lucas Weir, who finished with 10-points, followed his own missed shot to even the score at 2-all with 7:05 remaining in the first quarter.

But point guard Damarko Ransom got his teammates going with a pair of nice assists to Johnson and McClellan for a 4-2 lead.

Within what seemed like seconds, Meridian took off by scoring six consecutive points in transition.

Jones and Johnson both had dunks after Eldorado turnovers and when Jones threw his slam down, Eldorado mentor TJ Zurliene burned a timeout at the 5:10 mark.

The Eagles' 6-foot-3 senior forward Ryan Langley led his team with 16-points and his bucket stopped the Meridian run for a moment.

But the next 14 points belonged to the 'Cats.

McClellan got into the dunk parade with a two-handed slam and Ballard scored twice on fast break lay in's after Eagle miscues.

Another dunk, this time by Johnson, and baskets by Jones and Michael Schhoffer pushed the lead to 24-4 with 6:39 to go before halftime.

“They (Johnson and Jones) are tough to deal with. They are big and strong. Ballard, Johnson and Jones are our anchors, they have been there before,” Coach Mandrell added. “McClellan played last year in really his first season of basketball with us and he is pretty quick. He played with us this summer and has gotten better.'

Eldorado, to its credit, settled down and played a lot better after those first 10 minutes.

However the damage had been done.

“Between the unforced turnovers and the ones that they (Meridian) forced, that killed us tonight,” said Eldorado head coach TJ Zurliene. “In the second half we reduced it drastically as we calmed down a little bit more. Its early in the season and it is something that we will learn from. Hopefully we can get better and get us three more wins.”

The Eagles top quarter was the second as they went on a 9-2 run, their best of the game, to cut the lead down to just 26-13.

Langley, Weir, 5-foot-10 junior guard Joel Boulds and 6-foot-1 sophomore forward Justin Wiseman all scored in the run.

Weir hit one of his two 3-pointers and an inside basket by Langley cut into the lead.

However Meridian closed the half strong.

A 10-0 run, highlighted by four transition baskets, gave the Bobcats a 38-17 lead.

Weir hit his second trey to close the half with the Eagles down by 18 at intermission.

Every time the Eagles tried to mount a comeback, Meridian answered in the second half.

Johnson added another fast break dunk to the highlight reel while Ballard and Jones closed out the quarter with the final two scores.

Jones took a tip pass from Johnson and his lay up before the buzzer close out the frame at 56-35.

Jones followed up the strong end of the quarter by scoring seven consecutive points to open the final stanza for Meridian.

His wide-open 3-pointer from the right corner found the mark as the Bobcats found themselves with a 63-37 lead.

The lead reached it pinnacle at the 3:41 mark as Johnson scored on back-to-back trips on a fast break on a pass from Schoffer and then tipped in a missed shot to make it 71-42 with just under four minutes left.

Eldorado hit a couple of 3-pointers late in the quarter after the benches cleared to make the final score a bit more closer.

Despite hitting just 1-of-14 from behind the arc and connecting just 6-of-17 from the free throw line, the Bobcats looked like they are on their way to winning their fifth straight title in this event.

Coach Mandrell's team shot well when inside the arc and away from the free throw line, connecting on 31-of-50 2-point attempts, most of which came in the paint.

The Eagles finished 20-of-47 overall, 5-of-16 from long range as their record was evened at 1-1 overall and in the tourney.

After Weir and Langley, Wiseman came off the bench and added eight points.

Both teams head back into action on with Eldorado playing Century at 5:30 pm while Meridian and Carrier Mills play at 7:00 pm.

“Our big kids (Weir, Langley, Wiseman) played well tonight,” added Coach Zurliene. “But our guards got tested early and we got hurt by it (Meridian pressure) but they got better in the later part of the game.”

Meridian (71) – Ransom 2 0 0-0 4, Schoffner 2 0 0-0 4, Johnson 10 0 2-3 22, Ballard 6 0 0-2 12, Vasser 0 0 0-0 0, Davis 0 0 1-2 1, Jones 9 1 1-4 22, McClellan 2 0 2-6 6.
2FG-31, 3FG-1, FT-6-17, PF-9.
Eldorado (49) – Weir 2 2 0-0 10, Langley 7 0 2-3 16, Boulds 1 0 0-0 2, Aldridge 0 0 2-2 2, Unthank 1 0 0-0 2, Prather 0 0 0-0 0, singler 0 1 0-0 3, Lawrence 0 0 0-0 0, Wiseman 4 0 0-0 8, Deaton 0 1 0-0 3, Hargrove 0 1 0-0 3.
2FG-15, 3FG-5, FT-4-6, PF-13.
Fouled Out – None.
Technical Fouls – None.

Carrier Mills improved to 2-0 on the season with the win while Johnston City (0-2) has two losses by a combined five points to open its season.

Sophomore guard Hunter Zeigler paced the Indians with 12 points as eight different JC players scored.

Izzy Garrison and Austin Mcpheron added six points each.

Johnston City had chances to win the game in the final quarter but Coach Wade Thomas' club hit just 4-of-8 free throws in the final frame.

Cordon and Collin Hight highlighted the win for Century by leading the way with 17 and 13 points.

Century (1-1) also got seven points from Devontay Pullett, a 6-foot-2 sophomore.

Vienna saw its mark slip to 0-2 as Coach Cory Waters' club lost for the second consecutive night in a close contest.

Clayton Wright and Pat Gray led the Eagles with nine and eight points in the low scoring affair.

Century held on despite hitting just 11-of-22 free throws.