On Tuesday night in the opening game of the 45th annual Benton Invitational Tournament, his Bobcats got off of the bus ready to play.

Meridian, currently ranked third in the most recent ABV 1A Top Ten, blistered ABV fourth-ranked Sesser-Valier in the first half on their way to an easy 77-58 triumph.

The Bobcats broke away from the Red Devils with a 14-1 run to begin the second quarter and never looked in the rear view mirror the rest of the trip as they improved to a “very misleading” 10-8 on the season.

Having engaged in a scheduling competition upgrade in the past two seasons, Coach Griffin's club looked the part of a top contender for the tournament championship with the runaway win.

“It (the first half) is probably the best 16-minutes that we have had at both ends of the floor. We have had some games where we have played well offensively and pretty well defensively but tonight was the first time we put it together at both ends for a half,” said Coach Griffin. “We have been due one of those games, the kids have worked hard and we have gradually gotten better. Tonight was just a brief glimpse of how good they can be and I hope it gives them a lot of confidence as we head into the latter part of the season. If we come out and play hard, good things are going to happen.”

Seven different Meridian players scored and five Bobcats reached double-digits in the victory over S-V.

Five-foot-eleven senior guard Ja'Quan Jones led the way with 18-points while 17-points came from 6-foot-3 senior Demareon Nicholson.

Eddie Robertson, a 6-foot-1 junior, and 6-foot-4 senior Demond Vasser added 13 and 12.

Six-foot-six senior forward Darnell Jones added 10-points for Coach Griffin as his club played a nearly flawless first three quarters of the game.

When they weren't making shots, they were grabbing offensive rebounds early and often.

After leading just 15-10 at the end of the first quarter, Meridian outscored S-V in the first four minutes of the second quarter 21-6 to lead 36-16.

The Bobcats were so efficient in the opening half they committed just one turnover as they held a 16-point spread at the break.

“This group has done a really good job of limiting turnovers and we have been patient offensively. At times we have been more patient than I have wanted them to be,” said Coach Griffin. “But as a coach I can't really complain about them being patient because we have guys that score. We had five guys in double-figures and so it works when we are patient; everybody gets a touch. The kids are going to play harder on defense when they are able to score on offense.”

Coach Shane Garner's Devils never got going as they were unable to handle anything the Bobcats threw at them.

The Red Devils committed 19-turnovers in the ball game, nine in the first two quarters, as they fell behind in the middle of the first and never recovered.

Playing without play-making junior guard Tyler Winchester, who is out with the flu, didn't help matters for Sesser-Valier.

Only one Red Devil player, senior Peyton Rock, hit double-digits in scoring as Sesser-Valier saw its mark slip to 11-6 overall.

Senior Preston Launius and Seth Boles added nine-points apiece while classmates Lukas Gunter and Joshua Gunter will held to just eight each.

While those numbers weren't good, none of the other stats on the night for S-V were either.

The Devils allowed Mounds Meridian to crashed the boards, as the 'Cats collected 18 offensive rebounds on their way to a 37-28 edge on the glass.

“We gave up way too many lay ups, we had them marked down with 10 lay ups in the first half and giving up that many offensive rebounds, you can't win,” said Coach Garner. “Those were our main emphasis coming in the game, we just didn't execute. The weather and other things, those are just excuses.”

They did themselves no favors offensively, as they were as cold as the air outside of Rich Herrin Gym.

Coach Garner saw his crew connect on just 18-of-49 overall from the floor (36.7 percent) and without their top long range shooter, the Devils were only 6-of-15 from the arc.

Five early points from Rock and basket by Launius gave Sesser-Valier its final lead at 7-6 with 3:17 left in the first quarter.

Meridian took over from that point on.

Nicholson, Robertson and Lowe combined to put a 9-2 run on the Devils, with Lowe converting on a drive to the basket for a three-point play and a 15-9 lead.

All four of the baskets, along with the previous two buckets by Meridian, were on drives to the basket.

Jones, who hadn't scored in the first quarter, took the baton in the second quarter.

The senior guard converted a turnover into a fast break score and then he hit three shots from long range.

One was a 3-pointer from the left wing and two others were just inside the line.

When he hit the the third shot, Meridian led 26-12 with 6:19 left which forced a S-V timeout.

Joshua Gunter scored six of his points in the second quarter, hitting a pair of free throws and two close range shots.

However the Bobcats added another run before the second quarter ended.

Five-points in a row by Robertson on yet another offense rebound and a 3-pointer was followed by a conventional three-point play by reserve senior guard Jalill Amerson.

The Amerson conversion pushed the lead to 36-16.

The Red Devils did get a 3-pointer from Boles and score near the basket by Rock but Jones closed the half with yet another drive for a 16-point lead at the half.

A 10-2 start of the third quarter by Meridian was basically the end for the Devils.

Jones added his second 3-pointer of the game while Lowe also drilled home a trey from the right corner and Robertson added another drive to the goal.

When Jones scored on a rebound basket with 6:19 left, Meridian doubled up the Devils 48-24.

Vasser scored eight of his points in the third quarter, which included a fast break two-handed dunk.

A 6-0 run, which could have been 10-0 had the Bobcats not missed four-consecutive free throws, sent the lead to its peak.

Two of the scores were from Vasser, one of which epitomized Meridian's dominance.

Vasser grabbed a long defensive rebound and raced to the other end for a lay up and a 58-31 lead.

To the Red Devils credit, they got some shots to fall in the final frame but they never made much of a dent in the Bobcats' armor.

Lukas Gunter, Launius and junior reserve Reid Basso all connected from the 3-point line.

An 8-2 run to close the game by the Red Devils got the margin down under 20.

“We just weren't ready to play and I'll take the blame for that one,” said Coach Garner. “We were slow, we were sluggish, we didn't have a whole lot of effort out there. So we will chalk it up as that.”

The Bobcats shot 51.5 percent from the field (34-of-66) but their percentage from the foul line was just 38.4 percent (5-of-13).

The rebounding edge, especially on the offensive end, was a major factor in the win.

“I'd much rather make those first shots but offense rebounding is a strength of ours and our guys are aggressive. It's something that they are good at,” said Coach Griffin. “We aren't the greatest shooters but we got guys who can get it off of the backboard. If teams don't box us out we will get extra points.”

Meridian will head right back out Wednesday night with a game against Hamilton County at 5:30 pm while Sesser-Valier will tangle with 17-1 Pinckneyville, who dispatched Carlyle in the second game Tuesday night.

“We talked after the game, we either get better or we get sour (about it). We will come back tomorrow and play the Panthers,” said Coach Garner. “Our effort, our defensive effort, our intensity, should have been a lot better than what it was. I don't know? It was just one of those nights.”

Ten different Panthers inked the book in the lopsided victory over Carlyle with 11-points each coming from seniors J.C. Moll and Grant Jausel and sophomore Dawson Yates in the victory in Game 2 of opening night on Tuesday.

Coach Bob Waggoner's club jumped out to a 23-7 first quarter spread and didn't hold back as the lead ballooned to 44-19 at intermission.

Sophomore Devin Kitchen added nine-points for the Panthers while senior Tanner Spihlmann tossed in eight.

Carlyle (6-13) were led by junior Chase Taylor with 11-points.

The Indians will face Benton on Wednesday night at 8:30 pm while Pinckneyville will tangle with Sesser-Valier at 7 pm.