Basketball Game Preview: Meridian Bobcats vs. Elverado/Zeigler-Royalton

The Meridian Bobcats and Elverado/Zeigler-Royalton will compete for holiday cheer at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday.

Meridian's tournament run continued when they took on Cairo on Monday. Meridian fell to Cairo 54-48.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Elverado/Zeigler-Royalton). Everything went their way against Century on Monday as Elverado/Zeigler-Royalton made off with a 60-35 victory. The team's explosion on offense also rewarded Elverado/Zeigler-Royalton with their most commanding win of the season.

Meridian better keep an eye on Ashlyn Stayton. She was instrumental in Elverado/Zeigler-Royalton's win, dropping a double-double on 18 points and 12 boards. Those 18 points gave Stayton a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Cara Tripp-Reams, who posted eight points and seven rebounds.

Elverado/Zeigler-Royalton's win ended a five-game drought at home and bumped them up to 3-6. As for Meridian, they have traveled a rocky road recently having lost four of their last five matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 2-5 record this season.

Everything came up roses for Meridian against Elverado/Zeigler-Royalton when the teams last played back in January, as the team secured a 52-16 victory. Will Meridian repeat their success, or does Elverado/Zeigler-Royalton have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.