With loss to Iredell Dragons, defending champion Meridian Yellowjackets sees District 20-1A race turning into a six-team battle as first round wraps this week
After hitting a speed bump on the road to defending their first boys basketball district title in 20 years, the Meridian Yellowjacket face a crucial week as the first round of District 20-1A competition wraps up.
Coming off an open date last Tuesday, the Jackets started fast but stumbled to a disappointing 67-58 road loss to the Iredell Dragons last Friday night.
Heading into the final week of the first round in district, Meridian (2-2 in district, 11-7 overall) travel to Blum for a crucial game against the Bobcats (1-3, 1-16) at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday before taking on the undefeated district-leading Morgan Eagles (4-0, 15-1) at 7:15 p.m. Friday in Yellowjacket Gymnasium.
“We need to finish the first round of district strong this week,” Meridian boys basketball head coach Grant Schur said. “It is going to be a tough week going to Blum, and then against Morgan on Friday. Our district this year is extremely competitive, where anything can happen on any night.”
Last Friday night, Morgan slipped past the Covington Owls (4-1, 14-10) to take over sole possession of first place in District 20-1A, while Blum knocked off Kopperl (0-4, 6-10) to snap a 16-game losing streak and Walnut Springs (2-2, 7-5) enjoyed an open date as Meridian dropped into a third place tie with the Hornets.
“I definitely think right now you can’t argue against Covington and Morgan being at the top of the district race, but anything can happen,” Schur said. “Walnut Springs is very good, Blum is always going to play tough, Iredell is going to play people closely. And I feel like if we play four quarters the way we are capable of playing, that we can beat anyone as well. So, the second round of district should be very interesting.”
Against Iredell, Meridian jumped out an 11-point first quarter lead, but the Dragons stormed back in the second period, outscoring the Jackets, 23-5, to take a 31-24 advantage into halftime. Iredell kept pouring in the shots in the third, putting up 24 points, to build a comfortable 55-38 lead before Meridian rallied in the fourth. But it proved to be too little, too late for the Jackets.
Junior Matty Jones led the Jackets with 25 points, five rebounds and four steals, followed by freshman Guillermo Ortiz with 10 points, four assists and five steals. Freshman Josh Nunez tossed in seven points, four assists and a team-high eight rebounds, sophomore Garrett Pope scored five points and junior Ben Beaudin grabbed five rebounds.
“Things definitely didn’t go the way we wanted them to go against Iredell,” Schur said. “There were definitely some things that were questionable throughout the game. But at the end of the day, we shot 27 percent from the field, and you aren’t going to win many games doing that.
“We have to get out of the second quarter slumps we have gotten in here lately. We were up 19-8 after one, and then got outscored 23-5 in the second quarter. We had a similar second quarter against Covington. We have to get that fixed.”
Photos by WENDY OROZCO
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