03-02-10
BY JACK BULLOCK
ELDORADO - Winning ugly took on a whole new meaning Tuesday night at the Eldorado Class 1A Sectional.

Meridian and Trico put on a clinic on how not to shoot free throws and the defenses forced more mistakes than can be fathomed.

But in the end the Meridian Bobcats – who played by far their worst contest of the season – played just well enough at the end to live another day on the state basketball tournament trail.

Coach Jeff Mandrell’s team made a big second quarter run that carried over to a 14-point second half lead and then held off the Pioneers, 55-52 to advance to the sectional title game on Friday night.

Zach Mitchell and Jerry Johnson shared scoring honors for Meridian with 11-points each while Trico’s Logan Thies led all scorers with 18.

“They (Trico) had a good game plan which was no surprise with Shane Hawkins coaching them. They were sagging with their man-to-man and I told the kids to get some movement offensively - get some screens and penetration,” said Meridian head coach Mandrell. “We were just ‘bombing it’ from outside – taking bad shots. I just thought from the second quarter on we just played a lot harder.”

After trailing at the end of the first quarter 19-8 – a combination of hot shooting and strong pressure defense by Meridian and turnovers and missed free throws by Trico turned the tide in favor of the Bobcats.

Meridian outscored Trico 26-5 in the second quarter and led 34-24 at intermission.

Part of the turnaround was a 3-of-13 free throw shooting by the Pioneers in the second quarter that allowed Meridian to overcome a sluggish first quarter.

That opening frame was all Trico as the Pioneers exploded with a quick burst in the first two and a half minutes with senior Clint Young nailing a 3-pointer and a steal and a fast break score by junior guard Jesse Smith to make it 7-0 at the 5:28 mark.

Trico sophomore guard Dylan Witthoft nailed a pair of 3-pointers in the first quarter – his second one from the right wing closed the quarter at 19-8.

But as well as the Pioneers played in the first quarter – they did an “about-face” in the second frame that allowed Meridian to take control and eventually build up enough of a lead to survive.

Meridian forced four turnovers in the second quarter and went on a 14-2 run to get the lead for the first time.

Edreco Amos scored twice in the opening moments on a fast break and a drive in the lane to get the Bobcats going and Mitchell also scored a couple of times with his transition basket on a pass from McClung giving Meridian its first lead a 22-21 with 3:45 left in the half.

All of this happened while Trico was laying bricks at the foul line.

Coach Shane Hawkins saw his club miss seven consecutive charities to begin the quarter and it didn’t get much better the rest of the way.

McClung scored twice late in the second quarter and Tim Hackney followed his own missed shot for a tip in that beat the buzzer for a 34-24 halftime lead.

But if you thought that this game seemed a bit bizarre – it got stranger in the second half.

Meridian’s Brent Kennedy and Hackney opened the scoring in the third quarter with 3-pointers to push the Bobcats to their largest lead at 42-28.

Then Meridian held the ball out to try and force Trico into coming out of its sagging defense.

The normally fast break, run-and-gun, offensive juggernaut Bobcats held the ball nearly two minutes but didn’t score.

‘I thought maybe we were a bit too deliberate too early in the third quarter and if that’s a Curt Reed team maybe we could get away with that but we’re not really that kind of team that can run clock,” Mandrell explained. “I would rather just keep playing and execute – if you get a good shot, take it. I thought we slowed it too much.”

Trico’s Witthoft was credited with a 3-pointer as there was a Meridian foul away from the ball.

It appeared that Trico’s Chase Heins tipped in the ball but it was ruled a 3-pointer.

“I was stunned. It was “bang-bang” and I’m not out there calling it so it’s a tough thing,” said Coach Mandrell.

Trico didn’t score off of its subsequent possession and trailed 42-31 heading into the final countdown.

“This was not an easy game to officiate. There could have been a whistle on every trip down the floor and they (the officials) did a good job,” added Coach Hawkins.

The Bobcats – the ABV top-ranked club in 1A – appeared to have the game wrapped up after taking a 50-37 lead with 5:36 remaining on another 3-pointer from Mitchell.

Nonetheless as Trico couldn’t make free throws in the second quarter – Meridian couldn’t connect in the fourth.

The Bobcats – normally a 65 percent free throw shooting squad – made just 4-of-17 from the stripe in the final frame.

The poor shooting and turnovers allowed Trico to make a run.

Thies scored eight of his points in the fourth quarter and his drive to the basket with 2:08 left cut the Bobcats advantage to 53-45.

Trico’s Tyler Coleman scored on drive in the lane and later hit a pair of free throws and suddenly it was 54-49 with 1:07 to go.

Meridian turned the ball over twice in the final minute while trying to get the ball inbounds while underneath its own basket - once on throwing the ball the length of the court which went out of bounds and then again on a five-second call.

“That’s not what we wanted at all,” said Coach Mandrell – talking about the length of the court pass inbounds that was a key turnover. “We just wanted to get the ball inbounds and get fouled.”

In between those two turnovers – Meridian found time to miss four more free throws.

But in the end Meridian survived as Trico’s Smith missed a 3-pointer that would have tied the game and Kennedy came down with the rebound.

Thies immediately fouled him :03.0 left. That was the fifth personal on Thies who left the game as the top scorer.

Of course – with the way things had been going for both teams – Kennedy missed both free throws.

But Trico turned the ball over with Kennedy getting his hand on an outlet pass as Meridian could then breath a sigh of relief as the buzzer sounded.

“We could have put it (the game) away and we are usually ok shooting free throws but tonight it was just terrible,” said Coach Mandrell while shaking his head in disbelief. “I don’t know how to explain it. We just stepped up to the line and missed time-after-time.”

The numbers for the teams were less than impressive – or downright horrible - to be honest.

The free throw shooting ended up 10-of-26 for Trico and 8-of-22 for Meridian.

“And then the free throw line – it’s a lost art. We’re like every other high school team in the country or college team in the country – we work on them everyday at practice,” said Trico mentor Shane Hawkins. “We’re a 60 percent team for the year and if we are 60 percent tonight it is a different outcome.”

Meridian’s overall shooting percentage from the field would have been great had they stayed away from the 3-point shot.

The Bobcats were 21-of-52 overall but an awful 5-of-27 from behind the arc.

Trico shot the ball pretty well – 19-of-43 overall and 4-of-10 from the 3-point line but 19 turnovers and the free throw shooting in the second quarter did them in.

“I’ve watched them (Meridian) 90 times on tape and you’re going to get lay ups and you are going to turn it over. You just hope that you can control your turnovers and hope that they don’t lead to baskets for them,” Hawkins explained. “On the other end you’re going to get lay ups and we missed a bunch of stuff going to the basket. We got into a position to convert.”

Trico finished its season 21-10 while Meridian has now won 18-straight games and sits at 29-1 heading into Friday night’s sectional title game against the winner of the Sesser-Valier-Carrier Mills game from Wednesday night.

“Maybe this (win) will get the monkey off our back because we’re going to get criticized no matter what we do,” joked Coach Mandrell - who's progam hadn't won a sectional game since 1972. “This is great that we are still playing because there are many good teams at home now and we know that we have at least three more days.”

Trico (52) – Thies 8 0 2-7 18, Smith 1 0 5-13 7, Coleman 1 0 2-3 4, Young 2 1 0-0 7, Heins 3 0 1-2 7, Froemling 0 0 0-0 0, Witthoft 0 3 0-1 9, Compton 0 0 0-0 0, Meyerhoff 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-15, 3FG-4, FT-10-26, PF-19.
Meridian (55) – Hackney 1 1 0-1 5, Kennedy 0 1 3-6 6, Amos 4 0 2-8 10, Johnson 4 1 0-0 11, McClung 2 1 1-5 8, Mitchell 4 1 0-0 11, Nesby 0 0 0-0 0, Engram 0 0 2-2 2, Dadison 1 0 0-0 2.
2FG-16, 3FG-5, FT-8-22, PF-23.
Fouled Out – Coleman, Thies - Trico.
Technical Fouls – None.