Darren Kinnard/River Radio Sports Central
CHARLESTON – Eastern Illinois University hosted a boys high school basketball supersectional for the first time since 2007 Monday night. For the Meridian Bobcats, it felt more like 2015.
The Bobcats overcame a slow start to beat Christ Our Rock Lutheran 60-53 to win the EIU Supersectional, earning a spot in the 1A State Semifinals.
It’s Meridian’s first trip to state since finishing second in 2015 under head coach Erik Griffin. The leading scorer on that Bobcat team–David Davis, who is now the team’s head coach.
Meridian got off to a bit of a rocky start. Christ Our Rock Lutheran used a 12-0 run to turn a 6-2 deficit into a 14-6 lead at the end of one quarter.
The Bobcats opened the second with a 9-0 run to regain the lead, then closed the half with a 9-1 spurt to take a 21-18 lead into the break.
Meridian quickly extended the lead to eight in the third quarter, but the Silver Stallions continued to hang tough, closing within one twice, before the Bobcats pushed their lead to 41-35 after three.
Meridian kept CORL at arm’s length the rest of the way, never letting the Silver Stallions get closer than two possessions.
Bobcats’ sophomore Javionne Ranson led all scorers with 23 points. Senior Will Thurston and freshman AJ Flenoid Jr. added 15 apiece for Meridian. Jayden Bazile led CORL with 18 points with Damari Dabney adding 15.
Meridian advances to Thursday morning’s first 1A semifinal against Chicago Hope Academy. Tip time is set for 9:30 at the State Farm Center in Champaign. The winner will advance to Saturday morning’s championship game, while the loser must come back Thursday night to play for third place.
