12/11/2025
BY JACK BULLOCK
TAMMS - Although they have a much different look than they did last year, the Meridian Bobcats are still the top dogs in the South Egyptian Conference.

Despite struggles in the early going of the 2025-26 season going into their conference opener on Thursday night, there is a quick way of getting well for this program.

Jumping into the SEC part of their schedule.

You would have to go back five years to the post-COVID 2020-21 season to find the last Bobcats' league defeat.

Physically Coach Malcolm Larry's club needs to get well, missing three key starters to severe injuries.

With all of that said, the Bobcats SEC opener turned into a rout by halftime as Meridian won its first game on the season with a convincing 66-41 triumph in a game that really wasn't close despite some lapses in the fourth quarter.

This win improved the clubs season mark to 1-4, and more importantly to 1-0 in the SEC.

The three Meridian players on the disabled list are starters senior Javionne Ranson (back injury) junior Jasarius Mabon-Ware (ankle) and sophomore Marcus Hines Jr. (wrist) were in street clothes on Thursday night.

This was the first game Ranson missed while Hines hasn't played since the second game of the year.

Mabon-Ware hasn't played this season and would have been a big help in the early going as they have losses to Massac County, Eldorado, Vienna and Lawrenceville on the resume.

But the good news is the ones who have stepped in to the lineup played well for this first season head coach in game number five.

Six-foot senior Cassius Woodson scored 22-points and 5-10 sophomore Ahmad Jackson added 14-points as the Bobcats' cruised to an easy win.

Freshman Jeremiah Glover really helped out on Thursday night.

The 5-8 guard netted 19-points for Meridian, including three fourth quarter 3-pointers.

“I still think we have a pretty good team and when it gets to postseason time we can still make a run,” said Coach Larry. “With all of the sets I have instilled this year, I want to get the ball inside and get easy buckets. Getting the ball inside will help set up our outside game. We did a lot of settling (for 3-pointers) tonight.”

A 14-0 first quarter run and a 15-2 march in the second quarter gave Meridian the separation they needed to take the first step towards a fifth consecutive SEC championship.

For Egyptian and head coach Jim Smith, it was a pretty good effort despite a rash of turnovers that fueled most of the Meridian offense.

Two of the Pharaohs' starters ended up in double-figures.

Six-foot senior Keaton Pearman scored 19-points for Egyptian (1-2) in just the squads' third game of the season.

Six-two senior Darmarion Clark scored 12 for the Pharaohs in the loss.

The duo were the only ones in double-digits in scoring.

The Meridian program has been built upon a pressure defense, uptempo style of play.

Nothing has changed this season as the Bobcats forced 31 Egyptian turnovers, 19 in the first half and 13 in the opening quarter.

Seven of Woodson's points came in the early game two-touchdown (14-0) run as he converted a rebound basket, a fast break score off a steal by Glover and a 3-point bomb for a 10-2 early lead.

Glover added a pair of made free throws and Jackson contributed the third of four transition baskets.

Pearman got Egyptian going at the end of the first frame with a drive to the basket for points and 3-pointer from the left win.

A score from freshman Bently Mathis closed the quarter with the Pharaohs down just 14-9.

Following a score from Clark which closed the gap for Egyptian to just 14-11, Meridian pulled away for good.

Both Glover and Woodson scored to begin the 15-2 sprint.

The defense converted the Egyptian mistakes into points.

Woodson took a lob pass from Jackson for a lay in and then scored on a fast break for a 24-13 advantage.

Two Jackson free throws and a 3-pointer from the right corner closed the half at 29-13.

After a pretty decent shooting first quarter (4-of-8) the Pharaohs connected on just 1-of-12 from the floor in the second stanza and trailed by 16 at the break.

In the first half, the Bobcats snagged eight offensive rebounds.

The scoring blitz continued at the beginning of the second half for Meridian.

Five more fast break scores off of Egyptian errors by Jackson (three) and Woodson (two) pushed the advantage to 41-16 with 2:54 left in the third quarter.

“When we're locked in, we force a lot of turnovers. I know what we're capable of doing,” said Coach Larry. “I just need to get these guys to understand what they're capable of.”

To their credit, the Pharaohs cut into the deficit.

Senior guard Bryce Windings scored at the rim and Pearman converted a rebound chance.

A Clark drive for points closed the Meridian lead to 41-22 heading into the final quarter.

Egyptian got to within 14-points of the Bobcats in the fourth quarter before the visitors pulled away in the final minutes.

Pearman scored seven of his points in the final minutes and Clark hit 3-of-4 free throws to make it 50-36 with 4:00 left.

Meridian then went on its final run big run, before the reserves finished off the game.

Woodson scored underneath the basket and then converted another Egyptian turnover into points.

Junior Makiyah Blankenship scored twice in the final minutes, including a rebound score.

Glover's third and final long distance shot of the quarter pushed the lead to 59-37 with just over two minutes left.

The numbers weren't pretty for either team but the Bobcats were significantly better in all categories.

Meridian ended up 27-of-71 from the floor in a contest where they hit just 7-of-31 from the 3-point line.

Egyptian was only 15-of-41, 3-of-9 from long range.

The key difference were the turnovers.

Meridian took better care of the ball with just 12-turnovers, just four in the second half in the triumph.

The Bobcats also hit the glass to coral 18 offensive rebounds in the win and held a 38-32 edge overall.

Egyptian will host Agape Christian on Friday in a non-conference game while Meridian will play host to Shawnee on Monday.

“I want to instill in the guys that we have to get out there and improve every night,” said Coach Larry. “At the end of the day it was important to come out and get a win tonight.”