BUSY BUILDING BACK

Coming off their first district title in 20 years, Meridian Yellowjackets headed in right direction after slow start in preparation to defend District 20-1A championship

Coming off their first district championship in 20 years and advancing three round deep in the playoffs, the Meridian Yellowjackets opened the 2023-24 Texas high school basketball season with high hopes and expectations to build of what they accomplished last season.

After getting off to a slow start, the Jackets have utilized two tournaments and a busy non-district schedule to get up to speed and back on track after losing six seniors to graduation following last season.

“We talked a lot last year that we wanted to build a foundation to grow on, so obviously our goal this year is to repeat as district champions,” Meridian boys basketball’s second-year head coach Grant Schur said. “Losing six seniors has been very difficult to replace, but we are trying to build on the foundation of success that those seniors put in place last year.

“We only have one senior on the team this year, so there are going to be some growing pains early in the season. The biggest thing for us is going to be the younger guys maturing fast, and playing at the pace we expect to play at. We are going to need some guys to step into more of a leadership role this year, and I think the biggest thing is going to be having belief that we can continue to build off of last year.”

After losing their first three games of the season to Frost, 49-29, Riesel, 59-45, and Granbury Cornerstone Christian Academy, 64-52, the Jackets (6-5) were still looking for answers.

In the opener against Frost, junior Matty Jones scored 24 points while junior Ben Beaudin pulled down 10 rebounds. Jones led the Jackets in scoring once again against Riesel with 17 points, followed by freshman Josh Nunez with 11 points and nine rebounds, before Nunez led with 16 points against Cornerstone, followed by Jones with 14.

With basically a new group of starters learning to play together, the Jackets were still trying to find their groove before playing in the first tournament of the season in Bluff Dale.

“Non district and tournament season is going to be huge for us to accomplish these things,” Schur said. “That is going to be the time that we need to gel as a team, kind of find rotations that work for us, and then getting everyone on the same page going into district.

“You always want to win every game you play, and that is always going to be our expectation. But during the preseason, our main focus is going to be getting ready for district play.”

Snapping a three-game skid, the Jackets won four straight in the Bluff Dale Tournament to capture the tourney championship with Jones named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

“Overall, I am very proud of our guys, winning a tournament and having Matty Jones selected as the Tournament MVP is awesome,” Schur said. “I for sure think we got a lot better over the weekend, but we still have work to do to get where we want to be.”

Opening the tournament against Santo, the Jacket rallied from a 15-point deficit to run away with a convincing 71-48 victory. Spreading the ball around effectively, freshman Wayln Sheppard led Meridian with 13 points, followed by Jones and Nunez with 12 each, Beaudin with 10 and junior Jesus Martinez with nine.

“Santo plays a similar style to what we played last year, press you, try to get steals, and really run the floor,” Schur said. “We really let that get to us to start that game. I think this game was a huge step for us as a team. I was really proud of our guys in that game, I thought we did a good job responding to being down, and finishing in the end.”

Getting revenge in a rematch with Cornerstone, the Jacket earned a hard-fought 39-36 win as Jones scored a team-high 15 points and Nunez pulled down 15 rebounds.

“In a rematch against Cornerstone, it was our second game of the day,” Schur said. “I don’t know if it was that, or if it was nerves from a rematch, but we didn’t play as well offensively as we should have. I was very proud of our defensive effort in that game. It was a tough game from start to finish.”

Coming out of pool play into bracket competition, the Jacket faced another rematch, taking down Santo, 52-38, for the second time in two days as Jones scored 19 points and Nunez tossed in 11.

“Beating someone twice is tough, but especially on back-to-back days,” Schur said. “Our guys did a very good job of handling that, once we got going. A lot like the first time we played them, we let the press and speed of the game affect how we were playing and we fell behind early. It wasn’t the performance any of us would want, and kind of one those you could just tell from the start we weren’t all there. But we found a way to win. “

Then in the championship game against Iredell, Meridian rallied from a first half deficit to take control in the second half to pull off a satisfying 35-30 victory for the tournament title as Nunez led the Jackets with 15 points, followed by Jones with 13.

“The Championship game against Iredell was a tight one,” Schur said. “I give the kids from Iredell and Coach Gallagher a lot of credit. Those kids played their tails off, especially coming right out of football. They have done a good job of getting as much in as they have in with a week of work. They came out and really out played us for a lot of the first half, just with hustle and how hard they played.

“Like we did against Santo and Cornerstone, we settled in and played a little better. Defensively, I am extremely proud of how we played. Offensively, we have to start being more aggressive, and seeing things a little better. They did some really good things defensively, but we didn’t do a great job of attacking what they were giving us. That comes with the youth we have though, we look at that and continue to get better.”

After winning two of three games for another strong showing at the Santo Tournament Dec. 7-9, the Jackets will enjoy a day off on Tuesday, Dec. 12 before hosting Cranfills Gap at 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 15 in Jacket Gymnasium.

Although the Santo Tournament basically fell apart when five teams dropped out late for a variety of reasons, the weekend became a three-way round robin between the Jackets, Lingleville and Santo with each team playing the other twice. Meridian opened with a solid 47-38 victory over Lingleville after taking a 17-point lead into the final three minutes of the game, followed by another dominating 64-41 win over Santo.

“I thought we did some really good things, and definitely some things we need to continue to improve on in the Santo Tournament,” Schur said. “I was really proud and impressed with how we played. Against Lingleville, I thought we played really well defensively, we did a good job playing at the pace we want to play at.

“I felt like it was the best Santo has played against us, but it was also our largest margin of victory against them. We did a good job of pushing the ball down the floor, moving the ball in transition, and really spreading the offense around.”

After the Jackets struggled through a 43-36 loss against Lingleville on Saturday, Meridian and Santo decided against playing for the fourth time in a week.

“Playing Lingleville again, we just kind of looked like we were sleepwalking,” Schur said. “I was proud of our effort. The kids played really hard, we just couldn’t get a shot to fall. Lingleville played really well, it was probably the best I had seen them shoot on film and in the tournament.

“Sometimes you are going to have days like that, but we need to find a way to limit those days, and still find ways to score when shots we normally make aren’t falling.”

Photos by WENDY OROZCO