03/07/2024
BY JACK BULLOCK
CHAMPAIGN - Could the third time be the charm on Saturday night?

The Mounds Meridian Bobcats basketball program, with its win over Chicago Hope Academy Thursday morning, reached the state championship game for the third time in its history.

The previous two times the Bobcats came up short.

The third chance will come on Saturday.

Meridian out performed the Eagles in every phase and broke the game's final tie with a 9-1 run that finished the win and penciled in another trip to the title game.

Coach David Davis, who played in the 1A title game for Meridian back in 2015, will now be on the sidelines as his club has a chance to make history.

The impact of freshman Antonio “AJ” Flenoid, Jr. on this squad can't be measured with just numbers.

The 6-foot-3 power forward “powered” his way to 24-points and 12-rebounds and he individually hit 10-of-15 shots from the floor.

The freshman led everyone in scoring and rebounding in the Bobcats' 68-60 victory.

Eight of his rebounds were on the offensive end, which helped lead to 23-second chance points for Meridian.

The Bobcats will face Winchester West Central on Saturday as the Cougars beat Aurora Christian, 70-65 in the other 1A semifinal.

Six-two senior forward Jai'Deon Reed came off the bench and scored 15-points for the Bobcats and grabbed nine of the Meridian rebounds.

“Johnson, Reed (both Jai'Deon and Dionte) and Woodson come off of the bench and give us 110 percent each night,” said Coach Davis. “Anytime we ask those guys to run through a brick wall they do it. This guy here (Jai'Deon) came off the bench today. That's the sacrifice our team makes. Yes, he's a senior and yes we start sophomores and yes we start a freshman but age doesn't matter. It is about the best fit for this team.”

Sometimes numbers are difficult to fathom and the Bobcats can point to one stat column that helped secure their spot in the finale.

Meridian won the rebounding war 48-38 by crashing the offensive boards with 23 offensive second chance caroms.

Those boards led to 23 second chance points for Coach Davis' club, who now have a third opportunity for a state championship for the small school (131.5 enrollment) from deep southern Illinois.

Senior Will Thurston scored 11-points and led the Bobcats by finding his teammates with six-assists in the victory.

Sophomore guard Javionne Ranson added seven-points in the win and once again the Meridian reserves stepped up with big minutes.

Sophomore Dionte Reed came off of the pine in the second half and made his presence known.

Reed scored five-points and grabbed four-rebounds in just less than five minutes on the floor in the second half.

Chicago Hope Academy finished their season at 29-10 after losing to Meridian and then coming back later Thursday and defeating Aurora Christian in the third place game.

Coach Ronnie Fields' club couldn't make the Bobcats on the boards and in the other categories.

Five-foot-five sophomore guard Tyjuan Hunter scored a team-best 18-points for the Eagles and 5-foot-9 senior Josh Dillon scored 12.

Treyvon Price, a 6-4 senior, added nine-points and senior guard Cam'ron Centeno finished with eight.

“Missed opportunities. We had a chance to take the lead late. It happened in games like that during the season but we came back and overcame,” said Coach Fields, who played at the then Assembly Hall as a player for Chicago Farragut in the Class AA state tournament in 1995. “We knew they (Meridian) liked to hit the offensive glass. When the ball would go up they had three or four guys attacking the glass throughout the game.”

Another stat in which the Bobcats stood out was points in the paint.

With Flenoid, Jr. dominating, Meridian scored 48 of their points inside the lane.

With both teams struggling shooting the ball, the Bobcats did a better job overall and advanced to the state championship game.

Meridian finished 27-of-64 overall (42.2 percent) and 9-of-15 from the free throw line.

The Bobcats hit just 2-of-13 from the 3-point line with Thurston and senior Cole Kaufman (six-points) each hitting one from long range.

The Eagles weren't as productive (21-of-65 overall, 9-of-27 from the 3-point line) with just 32.3 percent overall.

Hope Academy led early behind points from Centeno (two 3-pointers) along with a basket from Dillon and a pair of early free throws by Prince for a 10-4 advantage.

However Jai'Deon Reed came off the bench and scored six first quarter points.

A rebound bucket from the senior reserve gave the lead back to the Bobcats 13-12 with 1:48 left.

However with Hope still firing away from outside, the Eagles took back the lead at the end of the first quarter.

Junior guard Andre Mabry and Hunter each hit 3-pointers which was countered by two big plays by Flenoid.

The freshman scored in the lane while being fouled and then scored again in the lane for five total points as the Bobcats trailed just 19-18 at the end of the first.

Meridian trailed at the half as they went cold from the field in the second quarter, going just 5-of-17.

Hope used a 10-2 run and took advantage of some mistakes by the Bobcats to lead 35-31 at the break.

Hunter nailed down two more 3-pointers and Prince also hit a shot from far outside.

A technical foul on the Meridian bench led to a pair of free throws made by Hunter with :32.2 left in the half.

Flenoid scored his only points of the quarter to cut the deficit to just four at intermission.

The freshman forward got going in the third quarter.

Eleven of his points came during a stretch in which the Bobcats outscored Hope 23-12.

Meridian trailed 41-33 early in the third quarter when Coach Davis used a timeout at 6:39 left.

Whatever this mentor said during this stoppage worked.

The Bobcats closed the quarter out-gunning Hope 21-6.

Dionte Reed grabbed one of his four rebounds on the offensive end and his conventional three-point play made it 54-47 Meridian heading to the fourth quarter.

Reed also grabbed another offensive rebound for a score to open the final frame and Flenoid converted another three-point play.

The final run by Hope evened the score before the Bobcats finished off their win.

Trailing 59-49 with 5:29 remaining, the Eagles went on a 10-0 run to tie the game at 59-all.

Two 3-pointers from Dillon and fast break scores from Hunter and Centeno off of Meridian turnovers tied the game with just 1:43 left.

That was the last gasp for the Eagles as Coach Davis' club finished the game strong.

Meridian scored its final nine-points in just :47.2 seconds.

The Bobcats' defense forced three turnovers, converting all three into points.

A three-point play by Ranson on an inbound play and then a key steal by the sophomore added points.

The steal by Ranson came off a deflection by junior teammate Shamar Easley which turned into a fast break layup by Ranson to continue the final run.

Hunter committed his final of his five turnovers and Meridian closed out the game with a free throw each by Kaufman and Flenoid before another missed shot by Hope turned into a fast break one-handed dunk by Flenoid to close the scoring just before the final horn.

The Bobcats are now a victory away from the title that has eluded the program in its history.

Twice before Meridian played in state title games (1972, 2015) but came up short.

After reaching the super-sectional a year ago, the Bobcats are on the pinnacle of history for the program.

“I think I'm still in a dream right now,” said Coach Davis about now coaching in a championship game after playing in one back in 2015. “I just want to wake up just to see if it is real. It's unbelievable. If it wasn't for these guys, the guys on our bench, our staff and in our locker room we wouldn't be here. It's just crazy to get to coach in a championship game.”

Mounds Meridian (68) - Ranson 3 0 1-2 7, Easley 0 0 0-0 0, Thurston 4 1 0-0 11, Kaufman 1 1 1-2 6, Flenoid, Jr. 10 0 4-8 24, Johnson 0 0 0-0 0, Jai'Deon Reed 5 0 5-9 15, Woodson 0 0 0-0 0, Dionte Reed 2 0 0-0 4.
2FG-25/3FG-2/FT-12-22/PF-17.
Chicago Hope Academy (60) - Hunter 2 3 5-9 18, Dillon 3 2 0-0 12, Williams 0 0 0-0 0, Centeno 1 2 0-0 8, Prince 2 1 2-2 9, Jenkins 1 0 1-2 3, Mabry 1 1 0-0 3, Knapp 0 0 0-0 0, Fincher 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-123FG-9/FT-9-15/PF-21.
Fouled Out – Ranson - Mounds Meridian; Prince, Simmons - Chicago Hope Academy.
Technical Fouls – Mounds Meridian Bench.

Winchester West Central (70) - Berry 4 1 0-0 11, Ford 0 0 0-0 0, Evans 4 1 6-6 17, Little 9 0 15-20 33, Brown 2 0 0-2 4, Sievers 0 1 2-6 5, Meyer 0 0 0-0 0. 2FG-19/3FG-3/FT-23-34/PF-15.
Aurora Christian (65) - Morel 0 0 2-2 2, Cocroft 11 4 2-2 36, Carter 3 2 1-2 13, Baumann 0 0 2-4 2, Johnson 4 0 4-4 12, Zappia 0 0 0-0 0, Griffing 0 0 0-0 0.
2FG-18/3FG-6/FT-11-14/PF-24.
Fouled Out – Johnson - Aurora Christian.
Technical Fouls – None.