Defending champ Northwest Rankin rallies past Meridian 65-60

Coach Josh Luckett believes things are starting to come together for the young Cougars

FLOWOOD — This season has served as a rebuilding year for last year's Class 6A state champions, but the Northwest Rankin Cougars are getting hot at the right time.

Northwest Rankin used a late 13-2 run in the fourth quarter to rally past the Meridian Wildcats 65-60 in a key Region 3-7A matchup on Thursday night.

“We were losing but the guys stayed focused and made a couple key buckets down the stretch to take the lead and held on at the end,” said Northwest Rankin coach Joshua Luckett. “In district play, we’ve lost three games by eight total points. We just don’t have a lot of experience. But the last five games, we’ve been playing pretty good basketball, so I feel like we’re starting to turn that corner and get hot at the right time.”

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The Cougars (7-14, 2-4 Region 3-7A) couldn’t have asked for a better start, as they raced out to a 24-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Meridian (13-8, 4-2) answered back in the second quarter with a 10-2 run that trimmed the Northwest Rankin lead to 26-22. The Cougars held a slim 36-33 lead at halftime.

At the end of the third quarter, the Wildcats went on a 7-0 run to take a 52-48 lead that was highlighted by a three-pointer by D.J. Johnson with 41 seconds left to give Meridian their first lead of the game.

The Wildcats stretched their lead out to 58-50 in the fourth quarter, but the Cougars put together a 15-2 run in the final three minutes, highlighted by a three-pointer from DeShawn Dillon with 1:04 left to give the Cougars a 60-58 lead.

“We came out of a timeout and drew the play up for him and made the shot,” Luckett said. “We’ve been in those situations a few times this year and he’s came up short. But I told him early in the year (that) yes, he’s a freshman and that we were to keep putting him in those situations, because at some point he’s going to make those plays, and he did tonight. We really needed this win, especially at home to turn this district around and get a better seed going into region tournament.”

Antoine Harris had a game-high 19 points to lead Northwest Rankin, while Dillon added 17 points for the Cougars.

“Coach had trust in me," Dillon said of his go-ahead bucket. "I was confident that I was going to make the shot, and before the ball left my hand, I knew it was going in. This is a big win for us because it builds our confidence.”

Javion Yarbrough had 17 points to lead Meridian, while Johnson added 16 points for the Wildcats.

“The tougher team won," Meridian coach Ron Norman said. "They made more plays down the stretch than we did. We battled to get back up eight in the fourth, and they just out-toughed us, and all credit goes to them. They’re the defending state champs, so they know what it takes to win.”

It will be a quick turnaround for both teams as they continue Region 3-7A play on Friday night. Meridian hosts Oak Grove, while Northwest Rankin travels to Petal.