Sesser-Valier handled the Meridian pressure. And the Red Devils got the ball to Justin Matyi.
And that added up to a 64-54 win over the Bobcats in the sectional championship game at Eldorado Friday night.
Sesser-Valier will play in its first super-sectional game in school history Tuesday night in Salem.
The Devils will face Woodlawn, 61-60 overtime winners over Toledo Cumberland at Red Hill Friday night. The win was Woodlawn's 20th straight. The last team to beat the Cardinals was Sesser.
Sesser had just four players score against Meridian, but the boxscore truly doesn't show the contributions all eight players that took the court made for the Red Devils.
"It was a complete group effort," SV coach Chip Basso said. "The night Matyi had was outstanding and Justin is so special, but everybody picked it up and did the little things we needed to win."
Matyi had a great game. The senior center scored 42 points — 21 in each half — and took advantage of an overzealous Meridian press time and time again.
He had 21 of Sesser's 24 points in the first half alone. T.J. Eubanks hit a 3-pointer to give Sesser an early 6-0 lead — those was the only other points Sesser scored in a first half that found it trailing 28-24 at intermission.
The Bobcats went on a 13-6 run to close out the first period and lead 13-12. Gregory Nesby converted two straight offensive rebounds and Timmy Hackney hit a 5-foot banker as Meridian erased the Sesser lead,
Matyi scored all 12 of Sesser's points in the second period, but the Devils could never grab the lead.
The Bobcats took as much as a 6-point lead, 28-22, when Edreco Amos banked in a runner with exactly one minute to play in the first half.
Matyi closed the half with a basket inside, Myles Tinsley just missing from 50-feet at the buzzer.
And that was the story of the first half for Sesser. The Devils just missed on several layup attempts and could never pull away when it had chances.
Tinsley said Basso's halftime speech hit home.
"After we went into the locker room, coach said we missed a lot of layups, but we were still in the game," the senior point guard said. "I knew that if we made them in the second half, we had a good chance to win. I was just doing everything in my power to help my team win."
T. Eubanks and Brent Kennedy traded 3-pointer to start the second half, but Meridian followed with an 11-5 run to take its biggest lead of the game, 42-32, with 2:58 left in the third period.
Tinsley said he knew what his team needed to do to get back in the game.
"I was thinking, we just needed a stop and needed to pick up our rebounding a whole bunch," he said. "We did that and it helped out a bunch. And we were able to find Matyi inside.
"And when the big dog's going, you've got to keep on feeding him."
A Sesser turnover could have been disaster, but Hackney was called for carrying the ball one trip later. Matyi scored to cut the lead to 42-34, but Amos hit a short jumper to boost the lead back to double digits for the Blackcats.
The Devils then ended the quarter strong. Kendall Gibson rebounded his own miss and scored and then, after a Matyi steal, scored again when T. Eubanks found him all alone underneath to cut the lead to 44-38.
Brandon Madison followed with 1 of 2 at the line for Meridian, but Matyi scored just before time expired to cut the 10-point lead in half, Sesser trailing 45-40 as the fourth period began.
Matyi said he was a little worried when the Devils fell behind by 10 points.
"It was scary, but we fought back," he said. "We all just picked it up and hustled. That was the main thing, we hustled. Myles handled the pressure great and, except for a couple of bad passes, we handled the pressure all game. We knew if we could just get it past halfcourt we would be good."
Basso was relieved that his team had its scoring spurt before the end of the third quarter.
"I knew we couldn't let (the deficit) get any bigger," he said. "I knew we had to make a run. We kept our composure and, even though we made a couple of turnovers, we didn't let the lead balloon any more."
The Devils caught up quickly.
Matyi hit two free throws right off the bat and, after Dane Eubanks rebounded a DeVante McClung miss, he shoveled the ball to Tinsley, who streaked to the hoop for an acrobatic layin and a 45-44 Meridian lead.
"Myles was pretty special tonight," Basso said. "He didn't score a lot of points, but how many times did he bail us out? Hustle plays are how you win sectionals."
After Tinsley's layin, Meridian called timeout and then got the ball inside for what looked like an easy bucket. But Gibson came out of nowhere to send the ball into the stands. Meridian did not go back inside the rest of the game, settling for jumpers instead.
"Kendall looked like LeBron James on that block," said Basso. "I don't know where he came from, he was all the way on the other side of the lane.
"That was just another little play that added up to a big win."
Tinsley followed that defensive gem with one of his own, picking up a steal and coast-to-coast layin to give Sesser the lead, 46-45, with 6:40 left.
The two teams traded the lead until Sesser took it for good on a T. Eubanks 3-pointer, 53-51.
"It sure makes it easier when they don't guard T.J.," Basso said. "He got loose a few times and he hit three 3-pointers. They were all huge, but that last one was really big."
Matyi then hit four straight free throws as Sesser led 57-53.
Then, with 1:32 left, two big exchanges sealed the win for the Devils. First, D. Eubanks rebounded Kennedy's long 3-point attempt and got the ball to Gibson, who was fouled. Gibson missed the freebie and Meridian looked to have an easy layin coming that would have made the game a one-possession affair.
But D. Eubanks got right in front of Jerry Johnson as he went to the hoop, drawing the charge with 1:10 left. The charge was Johnson's fifth foul, to boot.
Gibson then hit a stickback for a 59-53 lead at the 1:08 mark.
"Dane has done that in the postseason," said Basso. "When we need a big defensive play he steps up. That charge was huge."
Hackney and Gibson traded free throws, but Hackney had a big miss with 41 ticks left. Matyi boarded and was fouled, hitting both tosses for a 62-54 lead, icing the game.
"These guys have played a lot of big ballgames," said Basso. "They have been winners their whole lives and won championships. We only had a day to prep and we did a great job. We had a few turnovers here and there, but we played great.
"This win is good for our fans," he added. "They are loyal and turn out win or lose. And the kids worked so hard this year."
Matyi led the way for Sesser with his 42 points, T. Eubanks adding nine.
McClung had 11 to lead the Bobcats, Hackney adding 10.
Meridian finishes the season 29-2, while Sesser improved to 23-9.
Sesser will play Woodlawn at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Salem Class 1A supersectional.
Sesser 12 12 16 24—64
Meridian 13 15 17 9—54
Sesser (23-9): D. Eubanks 0 0-0 0, Tinsley 3 0-0 6, Gibson 3 1-4 7, T. Eubanks 3 0-0 9, Matyi 15 12-14 42, Donovan 0 0-0 0, Pitchford 0 0-0 0, Edwards 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 13-18 64.
Meridian (29-2): 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, Mitchell 0 0-0 0, Nesby 2 2-2 6, Madison 4 1-2 9. Totals 21 7-10 54.
3-pointers: SV 3 (T. Eubanks 3), MER 5 (McClung 3, Kennedy 2). Team fouls: SV 11, Mer 17. Fouled out: Johnson, McClung
