Petal fought tooth and nail with Meridian in Friday’s first half, but in the end, the Wildcats showcased why many consider them to be the No. 1 team in the state. Propelled by a huge third quarter, Meridian, the defending Class 6A champion, went on to hand Petal only its 3rd loss of the season, 74-60.
The Wildcats held a 32-27 lead at halftime and followed up by outscoring the Panthers 23-9 in the critical quarter.
“The whole basketball game was the third quarter,” Petal head coach Todd Kimble said. “That was the difference of the game. We had been coming out of the dressing room playing well in the third quarter, and we didn’t tonight. You can’t do that against a good team.”
Kimbles’ Panthers fought back to within 8 points at 64-56 late in the fourth quarter, but the Wildcats answered with another surge in picking up the double digit win.
“That’s a good basketball team. Not only is that a good basketball team, that’s a good basketball that played really well,” Kimble said. “I’ve never seen them play that well on any film that I’ve watched.”
Meridian improved to 24-1 with the win, while Petal fell to 12-3. The Panthers were led in scoring by Caleb McGill and Mykah Brown. Both finished with 19 points apiece.
Meridian Lady Wildcats 57, Petal 50
Like the Panthers, the Lady Panthers fought back from a second half deficit only to come up a bit short in the end. After trailing by as much as 14 points in the fourth quarter, Petal pulled to within 6 points, 50-44, of Meridian with 4:32 left to play. The Lady Wildcats were able to hold off the comeback attempt though and pick up their 12th win of the season. Petal, who fell to 8-11, was led by Myla Cox’s 21 points.
