The Meridian girls basketball team didn’t need Glenda’s luck, but they sure needed some clutch free throws at the end to hold off Mount Baker in a Northwest Conference doubleheader, 56-48, on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 4.
In the boys game, Meridian didn’t need luck or free throws and instead used a fourth-quarter blitz to pull away from Mount Baker, 58-38.
Saturday’s results somehow left the two schools’ boys and girls teams with identical records. Both the Meridian girls and boys improved to 4-1 in NWC play and 8-2 overall, while both Mount Baker squads fell to 1-4 in league and 5-4 overall.
The Trojans tried their best to stop Mount Baker’s Rebeca Soares.
Trojans Withstand Baker Girls’ Comeback, 56-48
It started as a fun joke when Meridian senior Brooklyn Fuller brought her doll to a game. Now, for every game, “Glenda” has a seat on the Trojans’ bench. “She’s our good-luck charm,” said freshman Melanie Short, who left Glenda and the bench to lead Meridian with 13 points.
Not that the Trojans needed any of Glenda’s magic as they used their tenacious defense from the opening tip to thwart the Mounties. Meridian forced five turnovers before Mount Baker even got off a shot and eventually the Trojans stretched their lead to a seemingly comfortable 17 points with just over five minutes left in the game.
That’s when Meridian coach Bree Joy sent out her second team. “That’s why we have 12 (players); we believe in all of them,” said Joy, who stuck with the reserves until the last minute. “There’s no better time than with four minutes left in a close game,” she said with a grin.
And thanks to a revived Mount Baker offense, it got really close. Behind 6-foot-2 sophomore post Rebeca Soares, the Mounties outscored Meridian 15-3 and suddenly the Trojans’ lead was down to five with a minute to go.
But the Mounties were forced to foul and, in the last 60 seconds, Fuller hit a pair of free throws, junior Kinsley Neal made two more, sophomore Eden Bernardy sank three, and sophomore Maddy Swanson added one more as the Trojans hung on for the win.
“It’s a different game if we’d turn three of those 10 first-quarter turnovers turn into points,” said Mount Baker coach Tiffany Ramirez. “Then we don’t have to foul at the end. We did turn it up, but you can’t decide at the end of the game to turn it on. But things are starting to click, and we ended on a good note.”
Soares once again showed why she was a member of the Brazilian national junior team. With the Mount Baker backcourt struggling against the Meridian press, she was called on to bring up the ball in addition to leading the team with 29 points, 13 of them coming in the fourth-quarter comeback. She also had 13 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 assists and even hit a pair of 3-pointers.
“She’s a great athlete,” said Short, who was about five inches shorter. “We did really well boxing out and jumping as high as we could. But we stuck together (at the end).”
While Mount Baker struggled to find additional scoring — junior Reace Brown with 7 points was the only other Mountie with more than four points — Meridian countered with a balanced attack.
In addition to Short’s 13 points, Bernardy had 12, Fuller had 11, and senior Sophia Brooks added 8 points. Fuller also had 5 steals, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists, and Bernardy had 4 rebounds.
Joy praised all of the team’s effort but especially recognized junior Taya Benson and freshman Madyn Cline-Malarz for their defense against Soares.
“You can’t take any possessions off; you’ve got to be selfless and that’s why this group is so tight,” she said. “Taya did really well before she got into foul trouble, and Madyn was very physical.”
Meridian will be tested again on Monday, when the Trojans travel to Lynden Christian. Mount Baker is in action again on Wednesday, when the Mounties visit Blaine.
Meridian 56, Mount Baker 48
Meridian 15 18 10 13—56
Mount Baker 12 13 3 20—48
Meridian: Fuller 11, Neal 5, Koning 3, Bernardy 12, Martin, Storgaard 2, Swanson 1, Brooks 8, Short 13, James 1, Cline-Malarz, Benson.
Mount Baker: Reeves, Brown 7, Soares 29, Wilson, Powell 3, Abitia 3, Harkness 2, George 4, Frierott.
The Trojans celebrate one of their six 3-pointers.
Meridian Boys Use Big Fourth Quarter To Win, 58-38
Like their female counterparts, the Meridian boys jumped out to an 8-0 lead and were up 22-10 after senior Jaeger Fyfe’s 3-pointer beat the buzzer to end the first quarter. They stretched it to a 17-point margin several times in the third quarter.
But a funny thing happened in the Deming Dome. In the final minutes of the third period, the Mounties finally got hot. Junior Jordan Bailey hit two buckets, sophomore Kell Reardon nailed a jumper, senior Chris Armbright sank a 3-pointer, and suddenly Meridian’s lead was eight. Mount Baker even had a chance to cut it to five to start the fourth period.
That would not happen, however, because the fourth period belonged to the Trojans.
Before the Mounties would score again, senior Talon Jenkins hit a 3-pointer, senior James Hedahl made two inside buckets, Jaeger hit a 3 and drove in for another contested layup, and — boom — a 12-0 run made it 55-35 with 3:30 left, ending the suspense.
“We try to hang our hats on our defense,” said Meridian coach Shane Stacy, whose team only surrendered three points in the fourth quarter. “It’s not as sexy as scoring. But Rob (Gray, assistant coach) had those guys really ready to go, especially early on capitalizing off their mistakes. There’s nobody who doesn’t want to play defense on this team.”
Mount Baker coach Tony Clark saw it much the same way. “Our shots weren’t falling early on,” he said. “We had a tough time hitting 3s. We turned it over too much and didn’t execute. But give credit to Meridian. They’re a good team. We battled back … but they stretched it out.”
Ironically, Clark was pleased with his own team’s defense especially against Meridian’s top two scorers — Jenkins and Fyfe — who average around 20 points each. Jenkins had a game-high 18 points plus 16 rebounds, and Fyfe had 17 points, 5 assists, and 3 steals, but the Trojans needed an extra boost from Hedahl, whose 11 points and 7 rebounds were key.
“James came out focused,” said Stacy, who also praised the hustling defense of senior Canyon James. “He (Hedahl) ran the floor hard and rebounded for us. I’m really proud of how he played.”
Hedahl said he was a little surprised at Meridian’s fast start but not so much at Meridian’s 8-2 start to the season.
“I didn’t think we’d get out that fast,” said the 6-foot-6 post of Saturday’s game. “We always come back to our defense and hustle. But it (Meridian’s success) doesn’t surprise me. We’ve put in a lot for work. We’re just taking it one game at a time.”
Stacy is, too, but said the victory over Class 1A rival Mount Baker was an important one.
“Anytime you beat a 1A team (in the NWC), it’s really worth two wins,” he said noting that the first tie-breaker in seeding is head-to-head results. “I thought with what we wanted to work on today, we took a step forward and continue to get better.”
For Mount Baker, senior Luke Smith led the way with 12 points and 6 rebounds, and Reardon had 9 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 blocks, but the other three starters only combined for six points. Junior Payten Abitia came off the bench to add 6 points.
While Mount Baker’s loss might sting now, with all five 1A teams automatically qualifying for the District 1 tournament, there’s a good chance the Mounties and Trojans might meet again in the playoffs.
“It didn’t go as we expected,” said Smith. “We shut down their two stars so we did defense pretty well. But we got outworked on rebounds and there were a lot of turnovers.”
As for the future, Smith added, “It would have been nice to win since we haven’t beaten Meridian in a while. But hopefully, we’ll play them again.”
First the Mounties will travel to South Whidbey for a non-league contest on Monday before continuing the NWC wars on Wednesday, when they host Blaine.
Next up for Meridian will be a home game against 1A favorite Lynden Christian on Monday.
Meridian 58, Mount Baker 38
Meridian 22 9 12 15—58
Mount Baker 10 12 13 3—38
Meridian: Jenkins 18, Hayes, Fyfe 17, James 3, Haugen, Blankenburg 3, Larsen 2, Alexander, Galbraith, Brzozowski 4, Hedahl 11.
Mount Baker: L. Smith 12, Gilstrap 2, Bailey 4, G. Smith, Lukes 2, Abitia 6, Hill, Armbright 3, Reardon 9, Ross, Cooper.
