Meridian couldn’t recover from a 19-point halftime deficit and the No. 10-seeded Trojans were eliminated in the first round of the boys 1A state basketball tournament by No. 7 Seton Catholic, 72-60, Wednesday, Feb. 28 at the Yakima Valley SunDome.
Seton Catholic (18-6) made 9-of-15 shots from 3-point range in the first half, building up a 43-24 lead after two quarters. In the game, the Cougars shot nearly 60% from the field. Junior guard Brady Angelo scored 25 points on 9-of-10 shooting to lead Seton Catholic.
Meridian (13-12) struggled to limit its mistakes, allowing Seton Catholic to pour in 28 points off turnovers.
“In the first half, we just could not get into the paint like we wanted to begin the game, and get any easy buckets or get to the foul line,” Meridian head coach Shane Stacy said. “We just kind of settled for some deep shots early on and got out of rhythm. We didn’t do a great job taking care of the ball and [Seton Catholic] just shot the lights out.”
Meridian outscored the Cougars 36-29 in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to bring the Trojans all the way back. Junior guard Talon Jenkins led Meridian with another outstanding performance, scoring 25 points while pulling down 11 rebounds.
Jenkins, along with fellow junior guard Jaeger Fyfe (who scored 11 points in the loss), will be back next season. Those two will be pivotal in getting Meridian back to state next season, Stacy said, as the team’s centerpieces.
“[Talon is] just going to continue to add to his game,” Stacy said. “He just showed a lot of poise throughout the season and grew a lot as a leader and just kind of an all-around basketball player.”
This season was the Trojans’ first trip to Yakima since 2020. Meridian will lose five seniors to graduation ahead of next season: Alex Short, Jacob Amundson, Taran Burks, Christian Clawson and Cohen Fuller.
“This is definitely a group that we felt good about playing through till Saturday,” Stacy said. “I mean, we were very confident, and it’s just … it’s the game of basketball.”
Connor J. Benintendi is CDN’s sports editor; reach him at connorbenintendi@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 104.
