Darren Kinnard/River Radio Sports Central
CHAMPAIGN — The Meridian Bobcats used a huge second half effort to rally past Chicago Hope Academy and earn a spot in the 1A State Championship game with a 68-60 semifinal win.
The Eagles led 35-31 at the half and extended that lead to 41-33 early in the third quarter. The Bobcats turned things around with a 21-6 run to close the third to grab a 54-47 lead after three quarters.
Meridian’s lead ballooned to 59-49 in the fourth, but Chicago Hope went on a 10-0 run to tie the game at 59-59 with 1:43 to play.
That’s when Javionne Ranson took over. Ranson tallied a conventional three-point play then had a runout layup to help Meridian regain control. Freshman AJ Flenoid Jr. then put an exclamation point on the win with a dunk in the final seconds. Flenoid Jr. had a monster game, finishing with 24 points and 12 rebounds.
Jai’Deon Reed provided the Bobcats with 15 points and nine rebounds off the bench. Will Thurston also reached double figures with 11. Tyjuan Hunter led Chicago Hope with 18 points.
Meridian improves to 26-8 and will face Winchester (West Central) Saturday at 11:00 in the championship game. West Central (35-3) beat Aurora Christian 70-65 in double overtime in the second semifinal.
This will be the Bobcats’ third state title game appearance, having finished second in both 1972 and 2015. Current Meridian head coach David Davis was the leading scorer on the 2015 team that ended as state runner up. Now he will try to guide his team to a state championship.
