Two days after carrying his club past Carrier Mills with a 29-point performance, Sesser-Valier’s Justin Mayti was sitting on 21 points at halftime of Friday’s sectional championship.
Not a bad formula for success, one would think. Except for that T.J. Eubanks’ first-quarter three-pointer, Mayti had all of his team’s points.
However, the top-seeded Meridian Bobcats led by just four points, and after they built that lead to 10 midway through the third quarter, Sesser-Valier – led by a mirror-image 21 additional points by Mayti in the second half – finished on a 30-11 push that propelled them to a 64-54 win.
For the second straight game, Meridian started slowly. They had trailed 7-0 on Tuesday against Trico, and 6-0 nearly three minutes in after Eubanks’ trey.
The Bobcats gained a lead on a stickback by Greg Nesby, fresh into the game, making the score 9-8 at the 3:05 mark, but Mayti found a soft spot at the back of the Bobcat press – what would become a frequent first half occurrence – to give Sesser the lead, and he extended it with a stickback on the next play.
Meridian closed with the final four points, though, and led 13-12 at the end of a quarter. That lead got as high as 23-18 with 3:45 left in the half, but back-to-back scores by Mayti – who scored all 12 Red Devil points in the quarter – his team within a point.
DeVante McClung countered with a three-pointer on Meridian’s next possession to bump the lead back to four, and that was where it stood at the half.
The Bobcats withstood Sesser-Valier’s first run in the third quarter, after Eubanks brought the Devils within 28-27 on a three-pointer. Brent Kennedy drained a three of his own on Meridian’s next possession, and Jerry Johnson stepped in front of a pass a minute later, then fed Kennedy for a layup to push the lead to 33-27 with 5:50 left.
The lead reached nine on a nearly identical play, when Edreco Amos picked off a pass near midcourt, but laid it in himself, drew a foul, and hit the extra shot for a 38-29 lead with 4:23 left. The advantage grew to 10 on a runout bucket by Brandon Madison with 2:47 left.
Sesser-Valier closed strong, though, on an 8-3 run capped by a big hustle play. Just into the game for the final seconds of the quarter, Cody Pitchford ran down a loose ball headed out of bounds, and saved it to Mayti directly under the basket for a layup that cut the deficit to 45-40 after three.
The lead would be erased within the first two minutes of the fourth. Mayti was fouled early on the first possession and hit a pair of free throws, en route to a perfect 10-10 fourth quarter from the line.
After McClung misfired on a three-pointer, Myles Tinsley shook free for a layup to cut the lead to one, then tipped a Meridian inbounds pass away, outhustled Timmy Hackney to scoop it up, and went in for another score, giving Sesser-Valier a 46-45 lead with 6:45 left.
The lead changed hands a couple more times, with Meridian rallying from as much as three down to regain a 51-50 lead on a fastbreak score by Johnson.
But Eubanks canned his third three-pointer of the night to give Sesser a lead they would never relinquish, as Meridian appeared to press, rushing some ill advised three-pointers and connecting on none of them.
Madison got Meridian as close as they would get, at 55-53, on a step-back jumper from the free throw line, with 2:40 left, but Mayti got open on the baseline, drew a foul going up for the shot, and hit two free throws to give his team breathing room.
On the other end, Kennedy missed a fadeaway three, and Kendall Gibson was fouled. The Bobcats had a chance when he missed the front end of the one-and-one, but McClung was called for a carry.
Gibson took the next Meridian foul as well, and again missed, but Johnson was called for a charge on the Bobcats’ end. And Gibson atoned for his errors, putting back a rare Mayti miss to bump the lead to 59-53 with 57 seconds left.
For the second straight game, Mayti was the only Red Devil in double figures, but the formula worked again. He scored 21 in each half – including 14 in the fourth quarter – for a total of 42 points and 11 rebounds. Eubanks added nine, Gibson seven and Tinsley six to round out Sesser-Valier’s scoring.
McClung had 11 for Meridian to lead their charge, while Hackney added 10, Madison nine, and Kennedy and Edreco Amos eight each.
Sesser-Valier moves on to the Salem Supersectional. They will face Woodlawn at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Woodlawn won a 61-60 overtime decision over Cumberland on Friday, to claim the Bridgeport Sectional title.
S-V 12 12 16 24 – 64
MER 13 15 17 9 – 54
S-V: Tinsley 3 0-0 6, Gibson 3 1-4 7, T. Eubanks 3 0-0 9, Mayti 15 12-14 42. Totals: 24 13-18 64.
MER: Hackney 4 2-4 10, Kennedy 3 0-0 8, Amos 4 0-0 8, Johnson 1 0-0 2, McClung 3 2-2 11, Nesby 2 2-2 6, Madison 4 1-2 9. Totals: 21 7-10 54.
Three-point field goals: S-V 3 (T. Eubanks 3), MER 5 (McClung 3, Kennedy 2). Rebounds: S-V 31 (Mayti 11), MER 31 (Hackney 6). Turnovers: S-V 13, MER 16.
