Meridian sweeps Murrah

By By Tony Krausz/assistant sports editor
January 17, 2004
Meridian High School guard Brittany Davidson slowly hobbled to the free-throw line in the waning seconds in overtime Friday night.
With the score knotted at 56 and five ticks left on the clock, Davidson needed at least one of two possible free throws for the Lady Wildcats to score a 5A division win over the No. 2-ranked Murrah High School Lady Mustangs.
The 5-foot-6 Lady Wildcat guard, who was feeling the effects of a twisted ankle and a cramp, sank the first of two free throws, and that proved to be enough for Meridian High to claim a 57-56 win over Murrah (16-5). The Meridian High boys (17-4) picked up a 76-69 win over Murrah (13-7) in the nightcap.
Davidson's game winning free throw was set up by the guard picking off a Murrah pass at midcourt.
Lady Mustangs guard Danielle Baldwin crashed into Davidson after the steal, which shook up the Meridian High guard. It was a play Lady Wildcats coach Donald Shirley said the team has come to expect from Davidson.
Shirley was unable to see his guard knock down the game winning shot.
The Lady Wildcats coach was ejected from the game with 3:06 left to play in overtime. Shirley received two technical fouls for arguing a flagrant foul called against Meridian High's Whitney Hood, who scored 10 points.
Hood had gone up for a rebound with a Lady Mustangs forward, and Hood had tried to rip the ball from the opposing players hands. The Murrah forward ended up on the ground at the end of the play, prompting the flagrant-foul call.
Murrah sank three of the six free shots the team received with the flagrant foul and two technicals to take a 56-53 lead.
But Meridian High didn't stay down long. Lady Wildcats guard Marissa Mendiola nailed a three-pointer from the left corner to tie the game at 56.
While Davidson performed heroics at the foul line in overtime, Lady Wildcats center Courtney Wade did the dirty work to keep Meridian High in the game all night.
Wade scored 26 points and pulled down eight rebounds in the win.
Meridian High needed every point from its senior center, just as much as it need the defensive adjustment the team made in the fourth quarter.
The Lady Wildcats fell behind the Lady Mustangs 43-33 just seven seconds into the fourth quarter. The 10-point deficit prompted Shirley to insert three guards into the game and begin to pressure every Murrah possession.
Meridian High's defensive maneuvering worked, as the Lady Wildcats tallied 20 points in the fourth to tie the game at 43 at the end of regulation.
Murrah's Diamond Rogers scored a team-high 21 points, 19 of which came in the second half, and Patrica Cox and Danielle Baldwin added 12 and 11, respectively.
Meridian 76
Murrah 69
Meridian High jumped out to a 14-4 lead in the opening four minutes of the first quarter, but Murrah's Dexter Morris made sure the Wildcats learned that no lead is safe.
After the Mustangs cut the Wildcats' lead to 14-5, Morris hit four shots from behind the three-point line in four consecutive trips down to take a 17-14 lead.
Morris' marksmanship from behind the arc woke up Meridian High by the end of the opening quarter.
The Wildcats entered the second quarter trailing the Mustangs 20-16, but Meridian High tallied 19 points to close out the first half to grab a 49-34 lead at the break.
Meridian High was reminded how easy a lead can be lost in the second half, as the Wildcats were held to just eight points in the third quarter and clung to a 57-48 lead entering the break.
The Wildcats scored just enough to hold off the Mustangs in the fourth quarter, despite being out scored 21-19.
Meridian High's Jocoby Davis led all scorers with 23 points, and Chris Leggett added 13. Cyrus McGowan scored 11 for the Wildcats, and Bryant Washington notched 10.
Kevin Gaines scored 19 points to pace Murrah's offense, and Morris and Jeremy Wise added 16 and 17, respectively.
Both the Meridian High boys' and girls' teams return to action on Friday in home games against Northwest Rankin. The game was originally slated as a road game but had to be changed for scheduling reasons. The girls will tip off the night at 6 p.m.